Hi, I’m Eeyore, the coach for Elan DeSpoir in the SESL and I’ve taken some time, in cooperation with others, to make a power ranking of the players and teams in LEC this year. Starting off with support, we’re going to work our way up the map, from the 17th to the 21st. The LEC is super stacked for support players (most roles this year) this year so while players may end up looking low ranked, I don’t believe they are bad! If I compared this to previous years, the level has increased dramatically, where even the bottom player is still better than the majority previously!

10. SK Dreams

Starting off our list, we have Dreams, rumoured to be hitting the rift this Spring with SK Gaming on their return. Ranking him this low wasn’t fun for me because I do rate him highly but coming in to a split where the role is so competitive, I had to place him in 10th. Having watched him previously on Misfits Academy qualify for the LCS he looked like a strong player mechanically but the level of team he played on (Mysterious Monkeys) was not cut out to compete at that level, whereas Dreams as an individual is. From his 10 events on Vitality Academy he has taken part in 10 tournaments attaining 4 1st places along with a further 3 top 4 finishes. This all lead him to attend the World Championships with Vitality as their substitute player, where he didn’t play but the experience gained will have helped him to improve and he will be hoping to show that in Spring with SK.

Unfortunately for him, the level of the rumoured SK team doesn’t seem to be too high, so it will be interesting to see if he can carry them to wins with his support play. His mechanics are good, but his team and experience are lacking so this is why he’s down at number 10 on our list.





9. SPY Norskeren

Norskeren is another of the players who doesn’t deserve to be ranked so low, but this is again due to the high level of the support role this upcoming year in LEC. Now on Splyce, he should have a better team around him this year to allow him to grow towards his full potential which we saw glimpses of while playing for Roccat, where he seemed to be one of the better performing players. The problem we could see here while playing for Splyce is the mismatch in playstyle between him and the team, at least last year’s iteration. 2018 Splyce liked to scale up and play for the late game allowing Kobbe to carry. This may be a problem however as Norskeren performs best during the laning phase, with him lacking the ability to play champions like Rakan or Braum to a high level, losing 72.7% of games on Braum and 93.3% on Rakan.

Given time, the synergy between him and Kobbe may grow and give them a way to win the early game and not be as dependant on late game team fighting but currently it looks as though the clash of playstyle may hinder the team early in the year.





8. VIT Jactroll

In at 8th we have one of the supports who attended Worlds for EU in Jactroll. Jactroll came in to the LCS last split with most of the Vitality squad as rookies and took the league by storm. As a team they made it to Worlds and barely didn’t make it out of the group stage. Looking at the champions he played over 2018, there was a heavy emphasis on tank champions, which highlights a smaller champion pool than other supports on this list. Thresh was one of his most played champions over the course of the year and he barely had a positive win to loss ratio (W/L) while picking him. Out of 13 games played he won 7 of them, losing 6, and this ratio should be arguably higher when playing on one of the top EU teams. The only mage support Jactroll played more than two times in the whole of 2018 was Rakan, while other teams put heavy priority on it. He played Rakan 4 times out of 66 total games in 2018 which highlights a weakness in his play to adapt away from tank champions.

Coming into 2019 however, Vitality has stuck with 4 out of the 5 members they attended Worlds with, including both Jactroll and Atilla which should give him a boost early in the season while other teams are working on their synergy. This may allow him to focus more specifically on himself and improve around these champion pool weaknesses. However, the only member they changed was the jungler, bringing in Mowgli. The roles of support and jungler are two of the main ones that need good synergy to work together to ward and control the jungle. Dependant on Mowgli’s English levels, this may hinder Jactroll from improving as he will not have the synergy or even communication needed to work with Mowgli.





7. RGE Wadid

Here’s a surprise one, a Worlds semi finalist all the way down in 7th place! Wadid is an insanely strong player when it comes to the mechanics he possesses. Playing with Hjarnan for 2 years, they became a force to be reckoned with on both Roccat and G2. His mental strength is one of the strong points for Wadid, moving from his home, to a single bedroom apartment in Seoul to focus only on League before getting an offer to play for Roccat in Europe and just moving to Germany without any family, friends or anyone. This mental strength helps him to progress as a player and prevents tilting so that there is always the chance for him to carry his team from losing positions and emits a large element of leadership.

While playing on G2 however, the team never played around his lane, showcasing his ability to sustain pressure while also preventing his ADC from being too far behind. He did this all the way up to the semi finals of Worlds 2018 while the team focused on mid and top. While this was good for G2 as it fit the team’s playstyle, it will be interesting to see if he can do this on Rogue, where the team has weaker solo laners. Playing without Hjarnan for the first time in Europe may prevent him from playing his best, as HeaQ is a downgrade in the ADC position and the synergy will need to be built up. Wadid’s speciality on playing around keeping his ADC alive is going to be needed on this team but having weaker team around him should prevent him from hitting the same levels as he did on G2.





6. xL kaSing

Rounding out the ‘bottom’ 5 support players is newcomers Excel Esports team captain kaSing who has been around the professional League of Legends scene for a long time now. Since he joined the LCS, he has been a consistently strong player, even reaching the World Championships in 2015. One of the biggest strengths kaSing possesses is the way he enables the ADC’s he plays with. He gives these ADC’s the license to carry games when the trust is put into them from the team. Combining kaSing with Jesklaa, a talented rookie ADC, we should see him get back to his previous best, and we should be able to see him rise through these power rankings. He performs best when playing champions that can enable his ADC or have effective peel for them. During the summer split he boasted a 75% win rate on Tahm Kench, and a 100% win rate with Zilean (albeit he only played 1 gam of Zilean) but these champions allowed Kobbe to play aggressive an still be kept alive. Although he plays best on these kinds of champions, he was still able to perform at a good level on champions like Alistar (100% win rate) and Braum (66%) win rate. This shows that his champion pool is larger than the supports below him on this list, playing a total of 15 supports over the course of 2018.

This may not happen as we have seen him underperform when he hasn’t had a high level around surrounding him, which may be the problem playing with his new team on Excel. Coming in as team captain, a role he isn’t unfamiliar with, he should make use of his leadership skills however, and his, self-confessed, biggest strength, his confidence ( https://youtu.be/CI4BM0KWRKU?t=48 ) and how vocal a player he is. These strengths help to show why he is team captain and should help him lead the team.





5. FNC Hylissang

Starting our top 5 supports, we have the third and final player to have attended Worlds with a European team in 2018. Seeing a Worlds FINALIST down in 5th player probably has you all thinking I’m crazy but hear me out! Now that Fnatic have lost Caps from mid, the playstyle may shift from mid lane up to top, to allow Bwipo to be the main carry of the team. This takes away one of Hylissang’s strongest parts of his game, roaming. His most played champions of 2018 are Braum, Rakan and Pyke, with 29, 15 and 10 games played respectively on each champion. Each one of these champions has good roam potential to help set up the mid lane to carry. These roams were completed in tandem with Broxah with the team acknowledging Caps was the win condition in the majority of games.

Now with Nemesis on the starting line-up, the focus is likely to switch to top lane where Bwipo is going to be expected to carry. This takes away a huge aspect of Hylissang’s game play as he will be more restricted to laning which has never been one of his strengths. The biggest issue within in Hylissang’s gameplay however is the lack of consistency he has shown, resulting in him making poor decisions throughout games. When the team had Caps on the roster, these mistakes didn’t get punished but this year that is less likely, so Hylissang is down in 5th.





4. OG Mithy

In at number 4 we have a player returning to EU after a year in North America, with Mithy coming back and re-joining Origen since he left back in 2016. When playing in EU, Mithy always had strong performances, arguably the best support alongside Yellowstar. Since then, he spent time playing on TSM where he failed to make it further than the semi-finals in either NA split and didn’t attend the World Championships for the first time since 2013, except for 2014 while he was banned. When playing for TSM, he was not playing to the level he had previously shown but coming back to EU should give him the boost he needs to return to a Worlds level. One of Mithy’s strengths is taking young ADC players and nurturing them. Now playing on Origen, he has Sheriff in the ADC role, allowing him to play the style that he wants to. His in-game leadership should prove to be a strength on this Origen team where he should be the main voice.

Playing without Zven for the first time since 2015 may cause an issue as he will have to build the synergy up with Sheriff in lane. Sheriff is not the same level of player as Zven so this may have a negative impact on Mithy, preventing him from hitting that skill level. Through Alistar nerfs and Ardent Censer buffs coming soon, Mithy should be enabled to play champions he has excelled on in the past, such as Lulu, Karma and Janna with 65 games on them in total and Thresh who he has 49 games played with a 65% win rate. These patch changes, combined with a return to EU should see Mithy return to a high level of play, although this may be restrained due to the Origen roster.





3. G2 Mikyx

Starting off our top 3 supports we have Mikyx who has recently transferred over to G2 for the upcoming LEC split. While playing for Misfits, he had a strong synergy with Hans Sama in the bottom lane. His Alistar play is not up to scratch however, with only a 33% win ratio over the course of 2018. With the Alistar nerfs coming in preparation for the new split of LEC, he will be enabled to play more of Braum, his most played in 2018. The high levels of mechanics he has showed over the last couple of years highlights why G2 have picked him up to support their team. He may be forced to play Tahm Kench more this year to try and keep Perkz alive in his new role of ADC. Mikyx is good at both champions however so this may help him to reach a high level of play. He has a 5/3 W/L ratio between both champions throughout 2018. Playing with Perkz this year may prevent Mikyx from hitting such a high level however as he may have to play primarily around keeping Perkz alive incase of any mistakes he makes, while he didn’t have this problem last year with Hans Sama.

Mikyx has only played on an international stage once however when his Splyce team made it to Worlds in 2016. The team only won 1 game during this time so a lack of international experience may be a cause of concern for G2 if they reach MSI, Rift Rivals or Worlds in 2019. The team did however reach the Worlds semi finals in 2018, which may cover the lack of Mikyx’s experience. During this time, the played play primarily around top and mid lane to get their wins in a split push style. Mikyx should fit in to this playstyle as he can play Tahm Kench and Shen, as shown in 2018. Overall, Mikyx should show why he can be and is currently a top 3 support in EU, which strong mechanical play and a fit in to the playstyle required of him.





2. S04 IgNar

IgNar is another support returning to EU after spending 2018 away from the region after having a strong 2017 in Europe. IgNar returned to his home of Korea to play with BBQ Olivers in 2018 with the team ending up relegated for the 2019 LCK split. During this time however, IgNar was the best performing player on the team, putting up a KDA in the summer of 2.69, which was 7th of all starting supports, even while playing on the 10th placed team. He had only the 4th most deaths of the starting support players however his team wasn’t getting the kills to be effective. When IgNar was on Misfits in 2017, he performed at a high level, helping the team reach worlds and being an innovative player who lead the way for others to play Fervor Leona. It’s this innovative approach to the game that puts him high up on our power rankings, showing a deep champion pool to prevent him from being target banned. IgNar played champions ranging from Soraka to Alistar to Pyke in the 2018 summer split, showing an ability to play varying types of champions.

Joining Schalke 04 for the LEC, he has got Upset as his ADC who boasted the best KDA in the 2018 LCS summer split. Putting these two players together, you get a bot lane who won’t die which should allow the team to play around Odoamne and play effectively in the top side of the map. This should benefit IgNar as well through his ability to play Shen and show how good IgNar is and why he is a top 2 support coming in to LEC.





1. MSF GorillA

And we’ve made it, to the top ranking support coming in to the LEC for 2018 Spring! GorillA, arguably one of the greatest players of all time, is moving over to Europe and I am one of the most excited people to see him play with this new look Misfits roster. GorillA comes into Misfits with a wealth of experience behind him at the highest level, having played in the LCK and Champions since 2013, attending the World Championship each season between 2014 and 2017. During 2018 in the LCK, GorillA was involved in getting first blood for his team 27.9% while only giving it up 9.3% over the split, giving his team early advantages while not giving the enemy team early game leads. This highlights the strength in lane he has always had, which is going to benefit Misfits now he is linking up with Hans Sama who has the potential to carry games early. Throughout the whole of 2018, GorillA played 19 unique champions in the support role, showing he has a deep champion pool, bringing out innovative picks such as Taliyah and Sejuani who nobody else played during the split. The most well-known picks popularised by GorillA are Miss Fortune support in Worlds 2016 and Janna during season 4. With the heal and shield meta getting buffs, some of GorillA’s main champions should be making a resurgent comeback, such as Janna, Karma and Nami who are 3 of his top 7 most played during his career, which will not only benefit GorillA but also Hans Sama and the rest of the Misfits line up.

GorillA brings with him the experience of knowing how to win the LCK which fans of Misfits will be hoping he can translate to the LEC. One thing which may prevent GorillA from performing at a high level in the LEC is his English levels. We currently do not know how good his English is, but when he can communicate effectively with his team they knowledge and information he will be able to share with his team should repay why Misfits have brought him over. It is also the first time since 2014 that he won’t have PraY next to him in the bottom lane so the instinctive plays won’t work like they used to. Both these weaknesses in his game should disappear over time however and GorillA will show why he is one of the best supports to have played the game, let alone in Europe.





I’d like to thank everybody for reading my power rankings for the support role for the 2019 LEC Spring Split and hope you are looking forward to seeing ADC tomorrow! Feel free to follow me on Twitter for more League related things! @Eeyoree_LOL