Following the conclusion of the first week of the newly branded LEC, we’ve learned quite a bit about what to expect over the next 9 weeks. However, being this early in the split it can still be difficult to say for sure what trajectory a team is headed towards until we can see them play against a bigger variety of opponents.

Previous rankings are based on my Spring Split predictions here.

10th — Rogue

Previous Week Standings: 9th (-1)

Current Record: 0–2

Rogue certainly didn’t give their fans much to hope for following their first two matches in the LEC. Having experienced losses to both Misfits, a projected top team, and Excel, a team rivaling Rogue to stay out of the bottom, they have a lot to work on if they want to find any success.

9th — Excel Esports

Previous Week Standings: 8th (-1)

Current Record: 1–1

Excels match-up against Splyce was a demonstration on just how much this team is lacking in the Jungle. When Caedrel was announced to be Excel’s jungler for this split, the announcement was met with great criticism. With arguably much better junglers available at the time, this decision may be what keeps Excel from contending for a playoff position come the end of the split.

8th — Fnatic

Previous Week Standings: 2nd (-6)

Current Record: 0–2

The defending Worlds Finalists have not started the 2019 season off on the right foot, or perhaps on their feet at all. Fnatic’s combination of losses to both SK Gaming and Origen indicate that there is a severe lack of cohesion in their new lineup with mid-laner Nemesis. All around, none of the players seemed to step up to their new challenge which could prove costly if not quickly turned around. Unfortunately the current meta doesn’t place AD Carry Rekkles in the best of positions to make up for their loss of Caps.

7th — SK Gaming

Previous Week Standings: 10th (+3)

Current Record: 1–1

SK returned to Europe by devastating Fnatic in what could be a split-defining moment. While it certainly wasn’t a clean win, Crownshot’s performance gives SK fans something to be cheerful of. Their only loss comes from Misfits, which after their showing in the first week, isn’t too much to be worried about.

6th — Splyce

Previous Week Standings: 7th (+1)

Current Record: 1–1

Splyce is looking to compete with the middle half of the bracket this split and their loss to Vitality puts quite a damper on that expectation. Humanoid showed a bit of promise, however, indicating that it isn’t completely hopeless for this team to rally up towards the top half of the standings as the split progresses. Their dominance over Excel that this team should have no problem remaining out of the bottom tier.

5th —Team Vitality

Previous Week Standings: 3rd (-2)

Current Record: 1–1

Vitality began its split competing against what many would consider to be two of their closest competitors for this split. Being victorious against only Splyce suggests that Vitality may fall slightly lower in the standings by the end of the split than had they shown the ability to defeat the ‘mid tier’ teams cleanly. The coming weeks will determine if they have any hopes of keeping up with the top teams.

4th — FC Schalke 04

Previous Week Standings: 5th (+1)

Current Record: 1–1

Schalke, Vitality, and Splyce seem poised to compete for the upper half of the mid tier teams this split. That being said, being victorious over Vitality suggests they could potentially pull off even more. They’ll be looking to clean up their overall macro play, however, as their win over Vitality did not come easily, and their loss to G2 Esports indicates that this team is far from competing for a playoff bye.

3rd — Origen

Previous Week Standings: 6th (+3)

Current Record: 1–1

Origen looked absolutely lost in their first match-up against G2 Esports. That being said, it may be a common theme this split for most teams to perform just as poorly against the early season favorites. What is promising was Origen’s ability to fight back the very next day to take down last splits champions Fnatic. A strong showing from the Mid-Jungle combo of Nukeduck and Kold suggests that with a bit more cohesion, this team could turn out much better than expected.

2nd — Misfits Gaming

Previous Week Standings: 4th (+2)

Current Record: 2–0

One of only two teams to make it through the first week undefeated, Misfits is looking like the only team with the potential to compete with G2 Esports for first in the standings. Hans Sama has yet to die this split and the teams extremely one sided victories over Rogue and SK Gaming gives this team a lot of momentum to work with going into week 2 where they’ll be further tested against Origen and Team Vitality.

1st — G2 Esports

Previous Week Standings: 1st (-)

Current Record: 2–0

Convincing wins over both Origen and FC Schalke 04 allow G2 to be the only team to maintain their power rankings position from our pre-split predictions. It’s still early, but G2’s acquisition of Caps could be what this team needed to dominate the European scene once again. Their next week match-ups against Rogue and Excel should prove to be trivial given their performances this week, but anything can happen and this early in the split, it usually does.