Power Rankings : Week 1 / Week 2 / Week 3 / Week 4 / Week 5 / Week 6 / Week 7

Last week was very chaotic across most leagues with a lot of contenders dropping games and even series to lower tier squads, reducing the gap in several rankings between the top 5 and the rest. Also, it’s worth noting that Patch 7.14 went live in the LCS, disrupting a bit more the balance in the leagues. It’s going to be very interesting to analyze how Asians organizations will adapt to the patch and if they develop their own priorities on this new Meta.

Note: Teams are now ranked inside the Tier (not on the Picture but on the listing below), but the gap between them is pretty small. A team at the top of Tier means the formation is close to the next one while the bottom ones are probably in danger of falling to the lower one.

No one would have thought about Longzhu Gaming being the best team in the world after such an abysmal spring break (the organization had financial issues, Expession left and three players were added to the line-up). Yet, LZ has been dominating the LCK while most top teams failed to stay consistent during the summer. Facing a struggling SK Telecom T1, Bdd and co prevailed thanks to a great play by Cuzz in a 20 minutes teamfights, allowing PraY to around on Kalista. In the second match, GorillA selected Blitzcrank, a usual pick for him, which allowed the veteran to put a lot of pressure on the lanes (like when he flashed grab Faker) and LZ steamrolled SKT in 28 minutes victory. Against Ever8 Winners, Longzhu displayed its ability to take care of business against lower tier Korean teams : the squad ended the series in less than an hour of game time, propelling LZ to first place in the Korean rankings.

KT Rolster has won its last 4 series, putting the team in contention for a first place finish at the end of the summer. Smeb’s teammates won the series against MVP 2-0 but the first game was a very difficult one: KT built a small lead early on but couldn’t seal the deal until the 52 minute mark. However, the squad was extremely efficient against MVP poke comp in game 2, scoring a win in just 30 minutes. But the main series of the week was its matchup against Afreeca Freecs. After a quick game one, dominated by Score’ pressure on the Toplane and PawN roams on LeBlanc, was followed by a great match by AF. The Freecs transformed a pick on PawN into a Baron Nashor. Still, during the last match, KT used the same tactic as in game 1: Score camped the Toplane very early, abusing Spirit and MaRin to build a large lead (+5K at 10 minutes). KT Rolster ended the series in a 27 minutes victory which put the superteam at the same level as Samsung Galaxy and Longzhu Gaming on top of the LCK rankings.

Samsung Galaxy (KT next opponent) might lose its first place finish after a 2-1 defeat against MVP. The team started the week with a strong performance against bbq Olivers: game one was very methodical (SSG allowed only one tower and one kill) while the second match was closer at first, before a pick made by Crown gave Samsung the Baron. Yet, this performance was overshadowed by its upset against MVP. The organization decided to start Haru, the Jungler was very solid in the laning phase and SSG got a lead early on. Still, Ruler was picked several times during the set which allowed MVP to come back and ultimately win the game. This result prompted Samsung to switch back to Ambition: the veteran focused heavily into counter-jungling Beyond’s Amumu (stealing the first three Blues) but it’s mainly the bad execution from MVP (Ian couldn’t hit several shockwaves) that gave the game to SSG. However, MVP dominated the last match thanks to several roams from Max around the map. The Support derailed the scaling power of Samsung which enabled MaHa to carry its team in the lategame. Given its very difficult schedule (KT Rolster, Afreeca Freecs, ROX Tigers and Longzhu Gaming), Samsung might have lost there the opportunity to directly qualify for the LCK Playoffs Finals…

Afreeca Freecs thought it has won the fight for the fifth spot after Jin Air’s collapse against bbq Olivers. However, the Green Wings 4-0 week put the team back into Playoffs contention. While AF struggled against bbq Olivers (the same squad that won against Jin Air two weeks ago), the team also dropped its series against KT Rolster. Starting Mowgli, game one was quickly lost because of Score overall early pressure on the lanes. Yet, with Spirit back into the line-up, the Freecs took the second match thanks to a great performance from Kramer in teamfights. Overall, the Botlane has improved during the year, from one of the team main issues to one of its best traits lately. TusiN was the only bright spot for AF in the final game, his hooks on Thresh were pure highlight materials.

After an abysmal performance against bbq Olivers, Jin Air Green Wings hard to perform last week in order to keep its Playoffs dreams alive. The players answered the call and the team ended the week with a 4-0 record. Against SK Telecom T1, Jin Air took advantage of its opponent’s struggles by focusing on the early game: UmTi dominated the field in the laning phase and camped Faker (4 ganks in the first minutes of game 2) to give an advantage to Kuzan. The young Jungler was also the star of the series against the ROX Tigers. UmTi tried to shutdown Shy in the Toplane in both games but it’s his Baron steal in the second match that allowed Jin Air to win the series 2-0. Now one victory away from Afreeca, Jin Air might overtake the Freecs if they can beat MaRin and co in one of the last series of the regular season.

SK Telecom T1 losing streak keeps on growing; the worlds champs have now lost 9 games in a row, the worst series for Faker since his professional debuts in spring 2013 (5 loses in 2014). The squad dropped both series 2-0 against Jin Air and Longzhu Gaming because the team couldn’t effectively react to its opponent rotations in the early game. In every match, SKT was behind at 15 minutes, despite a stronger showing in the very first game against LZ. The strategy to last pick Support didn’t worked; the Botlane struggled in most scenarios. 0-8 in 7.13, the organization needs to regroup with the new Patch. As a side note, the new Meta might be more favorable to Blank, with tanks dominating the scene in NA and EU. While the last 4 games looks winnable (despite a series against KT Rolster), this losing streak might force SKT to participate in several Playoffs series this summer.

Immortals is the big winner of last week results in the NA LCS: the organization won both of its series and sits on top of the NA rankings thanks to its victory over CLG and TSM defeat against Team Dignitas. Still, the squad did drop game one against FlyQuest despite a comfortable lead at the thirty minute mark (+9K and 4 dragons). However, IMT went back at it and won the next game thanks to Xmithie early game pressure on Balls. After a 27 minutes victory, the last set started with FlyQuest leading the early game. But some good rotations in transition (from Pobelter and Xmithie) and a very impression 20 minutes teamfights allowed IMT to come back into the game. On Sunday, Immortals faced off against Counter Logic Gaming in a fight for the first place in NA. Once again, all eyes were on Dardoch and Xmithie, both Junglers swapped positions during the spring break. Still, Xmithie dominated the fight by focusing on the Botlane while Dardoch was almost useless in game one (and then replaced by Omar God). This strategy allowed Cody Sun to snowball in game 1 and 3 on Jhin, the Botlane being once again very effective in this series.

Thanks to EDG’s mishap, Team WE keeps its status as the best LPL teams. The leader of group A won its only series of the week, a 2-0 against Oh My God. However, the games were far closer than what the score would indicate. Indeed, OMG led most of the first match (+4K at the 15 minute mark) and the second game ended after 46 minutes of very close teamfights. In the end, xiye and company were better in teamfights, the Midlane managed to knock-up 4 members of OMG with his Galio ultimate in game one while Mystic scored a Pentakill in the very last fight of the series.

Probably the best Western team after Rift Rivals, Team SoloMid struggled last week-end. On a new Patch, TSM dropped its first series 2-0 against Team Dignitas. Against Shrimp and company, TSM was very passive in the early game, something strange for a team knew for its solid early map movements. While its 2-1 victory against Echo Fox keeps the organization close to Immortals in the NA LCS rankings, this off week might cost Team SoloMid a first round bye.

The three times LMS champions are definitively back! Flash Wolves have won their last 8 series since their last defeat in June (with two backups). Last week, FW easily took care of Fireball (last in the LMS) and J Team (now third) in two 2-0 series. Against J Team, Maple and company controlled both games from start to finish, building an early lead against one of the best early game squads in Asia. Despite some solid plays from Fofo in the first game (his solokill on Betty allowed his team to stay in the game), J Team was unable to stop a very well oiled machine. In game 2, FW snowball very hard after a nice engage in the Midlane: Maple scored an unofficial quadrakill and his team took two Towers just after the 18 minute mark.

EDward Gaming went off against JD Gaming earlier in the week but got upset later on against Suning Gaming. Facing JDG, Scout and company dominated most of the series despite some close calls during fights around the Rift Herald. EDG ended the series with a 26 and a 29 minutes stomps over JDG. However, the Chinese organization dropped the ball against Suning Gaming. In game 1, the team crushed its opponent for the first 32 minutes of the match (one inhibitor down and a very comfortable gold lead) before losing two back to back teamfights. This result might tilted the group, EDG was totally shutdown during game 2, scoring only one tower in a very one sided defeat.

As for Counter Logic Gaming, despite its 2-1 defeat against Immortals, the team keeps its elite status. CLG easily dominated Echo Fox, besting them in less than one hour of game time. While Froggen and company didn’t use their best line-up in game one, the main roster played the second match. Against IMT, its tactic to focus on the Midlane and Toplane was ineffective and while Dardoch spend a lot of time on those lanes, Xmithie was able to build a lead with effective ganks on the Botlane. The Jungler got benched for the rest of the series, which allowed OmarGod to showcase once again its abilities. The rookie was more successful in game 2; CLG took the game thanks to great teamfights in the midgames. Still, IMT Botlane took over the last match of the series, similarly to the series against Team Dignitas two weeks ago.

Once again, Cloud9 went 2-0 after a 0-2 the week before. C9 started the week-end with a 2-1 victory over Phoenix1. Game 1 was a stomp thanks to Contractz great performance on Kayn. But on the second match, the team surrendered a nice lead by forcing teamfights against a better 5v5 composition. Still, Cloud9 took care of business with once again a great early start by taking advantage of P1 long setups and unusual slow starts. In its second series of the week, C9 faced against Team Dignitas. Shrimp and company steamrolled Cloud9 in game 1 (a 23 minutes victory) but the next two games were dominated by the guys in blue. Jensen combined for a 14-1 stat line while Smoothie’s Taric was very effective against Nunu in the final game. If the organization can find a way to keep the same level of play weeks in and weeks out, Cloud9 might be one of the best western team in the Playoffs.

Fnatic is the first EU LCS organization to qualify for the Playoffs. The European squad took down Unicorns of Love in a close three games series. While the first game was highly contested between the two, Unicorns of Love took the match thanks to better teamfights throughout the game. Still, Fnatic scored two quick victories (in less than 30 minutes) thanks to a better draft in the second game and a great focus in the Botlane by Broxah (Samux played Kog’Maw).

In NA, Team Dignitas keeps on winning against the best squads: the team took down Team SoloMid 2-0 to climb further into the rankings. Against TSM, Dig was very efficient and proactive in the laning phase, growing its lead with ease. Still, the same setup was less effective against Cloud9. A quick game one (Dig destroyed C9 Nexus in just 23 minutes) was followed by a very strong performance from C9 who found ways to stop the momentum. Dignitas draft in the second game was also less efficient, Cho’Gath was lacking proper setups, even though the squad was able to win a teamfight with a 13k deficit and Baron. Despite the 2-1 loss, Team Dignitas looks poised to qualify for the Playoffs. It’s worth noting that one of the main reason for this sudden success is the new Botlane, Altec and Adrian were once again great this weekend, showing how important new additions can change the face of a team.

Is G2 Esports back? On paper, the three times European champions have won their last 4 series in the EU LCS. However, G2 isn’t quite the same dominating team as before. The organization struggled at times against both H2k-Gaming and Team Vitality. After a very close game one, G2 went down hard against H2k because of a great early game from Jankos. Still, the final match was dominated by Expect; the Korean Toplane, usually put on losing matchups went ham against Odoamne. Later during the week, Team Vitality scored the first point by building a solid lead in the laning phase. But G2 came back with great teamfight compositions (the last game was centered on Zven’s Tristana, with a heavy frontlane to protect him). G2 still needs to clean up its early game, but the team has been way more efficient in recent weeks.

Ahq e-Sports Club probably dropped the ball last week: Hong Kong Attitude scored a very impressive, 2-0 victory over Westdoor and co. Before that, ahq did a reverse sweep on J Team, thanks to a great game from its Midlaner (7-2-10 on Corki) in game 2 and some very bad calls from its opponent in the last match. Indeed, J Team threw its 3k lead at 10 minutes by overextending and letting Kassadin and Camille scale. Still, ahq’s defeat against HKA might cost them in the long run. HKA profited from a very bad draft from ahq (mostly losing lanes in game 1) to take over the laning phase and cruise to an easy victory. The second game was quite different: the pace was slower and both teams were fairly close for most of the match until the last teamfights. Still, ahq was unable to take down Unified, who was perfectly protected (on Ashe) by a great frontlane (Gnar, Gragas and Thresh) and by M1ssion on Orianna.

This week, H2k-Gaming was close to take down G2 Esports. Both teams exchanged leads for most of the first game thanks to great teamfights. While H2k took down the first inhibitor of the game, G2 ended the match victorious. The second set was all H2k: Jankos did his thing early on which led to a quick snowball for the squad. Still, the team got outdrafted in the final match, Expect destroyed Odoamne (with some help from Trick) which gave G2 a fairly easy win. Now tied with Unicorns of Love and Splyce on top of group B, H2k-Gaming will have to end the season on a high not to clinch a first week bye.

Despite being the leader of group B since the start of the summer, Oh My God’s level of play has yet to match Team WE and EDward Gaming. Indeed, both teams scored 2-0 victories over OMG in recent weeks. Still, OMG fought hard against the spring champions: the squad led game one for the first twenty minutes and came close to a game 2 victory in a very close match. However, the recent results of OMG indicate an inability to perform clean games despite a better draft phase against Team WE.

Unicorns of Love went down twice in the same week, allowing both Splyce and H2k to sit next to UoL on top of group B. Against Team ROCCAT, the Unicorns lost the first game quickly: the focus was on the Midlane and Exileh got once again destroyed (0-6 on Vladimir). The Midlaner has troubles controlling his lane, usually going overboard while his Jungler is away or pushing without proper vision. UoL executed its strategy to perfection in game 2, winning the match in just 23 minutes after a nice ACE at the 15 minute mark. Still, ROCCAT went home with the win thanks to a great late game teamfights in the last game. After this defeat, the Unicorns of Love were playing against Fnatic. The first game displayed some solid moves from the squad: Exileh managed to hold his own against Caps (he scored a solokill early on) and Xerxe played a very solid laning phase. Still, Fnatic almost took the Nexus down after winning a fight after the half hour mark. But the young Jungler was way less effective in the next two games, letting Exileh heavily exposed to the pressure of Fnatic.

Raise Gaming still holds the first place ranking in the LMS after two solid victories against Wayi Spider and Marchi E-Sports. In both series, Laba was great, adding pressure to the lanes while the overall macro game of RG was once again very solid. But it's the return of LilV (who missed the past two weeks), the starting ADC that really gave the edge to the squad. However, this week might be very difficult for Raise Gaming: the young organization will have to play against ahq e-Sports Club and Flash Wolves.

Thanks to 2 solid victories, Splyce is now tied with H2k-Gaming and Unicorns of Love on top of group B. Against Ninjas in Pyjamas, the team took care of business. The second game was very methodical, Mikyx roamed in the Midlane to put Sencux ahead while the setup was perfect for Cho’Gath. On Sunday, Splyce played a very tense three games series against Misfits. Kobbe and his teammates got a 4k lead at 20 minutes but got destroyed in a fight around Baron (POE scored a triple on Orianna) which gave MSF the Baron buff and pretty much the game. The scenario was quite the opposite in the second match: MSF led the game for over thirty minutes until some great teamfights from Splyce. Still, Sencux and Kobbe had to backdoor the enemy Nexus to tie the series. However, the last game was totally one sided: both Sencux (11-0-13) and Wunder (11-0-11) went ham on a titled Misfits squad.

As expected, J Team lost both of its series against the two best LMS teams. Facing off ahq e-Sports Club, J Team took the first game in a very convincing fashion. But FoFo and company were powerless in the second match before letting go a solid lead in the final game. Known for its snowballing abilities, the team allowed a very late game ahq composition to crawl back into the game. Despite a small gap, J Team was able to destroy the first inhibitor of the game but the squad decided to force a fight in the Jungle while FoFo was unable to setup its shockwave. During the week-end, J Team went down 2-0 against Flash Wolves. Despite a solid performance in the first game (Alex focused on Maple to allow FoFo to take over), the organization was unable to get a lead in both matches.

Amazing showing from Ever8 Winners against ROX Tigers: the freshly qualified organization won the series 2-0. Taking advantage of the lack of communication between Shy and the rest of the Tigers, Ever8 forced teamfights around the map. While the team might end in the promotion tournament, such victories are great moral boost for the young line-up.

MVP might be ranked ninth in the LCK, the squad has been a difficult opponent lately. Against KT Rolster, Beyond and co resisted for 52 minutes in the first game of the series. But it’s the team amazing upset over Samsung Galaxy 2-1 that might help them stay in the LCK. Behind for over 25 minutes, MVP picked Ruler several times to come back and finally secure game one. While the Amumu pick wasn’t really a success (Ian’s ultimates probably could have changed the course of the game) in the second match, a very strong performance from Max gave MVP the lead in the last game. In the end, MaHa took over the final teamfights on Xayah.

Abysmal performances for ROX Tigers, the team went down without even scoring a single victory against Ever8 Winners and Jin Air Green Wings. Facing off the lowly Ever8, the overall communication of the Tigers looked awful: Shy canceled his TP several times, letting his team fight 4v5 around the main objectives. After this very disappointing showing, Jin Air crushed the squad in game one (a 29 minutes victory). But ROX found a way to stay around during the second match, before an amazing Baron Nashor steal by UmTi. Now three wins away from the Playoffs, the team will need a miracle to qualify.

As expected, the return of Uzi in the Botlane broke the balance of Royal Never Give Up. The team is now focusing on its Botlane, allowing Uzi to powerfarm while Xiaohu and LetMe have now reduced roles. Against I May, this strategy was effective only once: Uzi finished the first game 10-0-5 but RNG struggled to close out the match. Worse, the team went down twice after this victory with both Mlxg and Y1HAN starting in the Jungle in the series.

Since the start of the season, NewBee has been trying several line-ups. Against Invictus Gaming, Coco and Swift were once again the leaders of NB in a pretty quick 2-0 victory. While IG put its best player (RooKie) on Galio, Coco played Jayce and Taliyah to carry its team to the finish line. NewBee has won 4 of the last 5 series and sits just behind OMG in group B.

In North America, both Team EnVyUs and Phoenix1 went down against the surprising Team Liquid. While P1 was completely dominated by TL, losing both games in less than thirty minutes, Team EnVyUs lost the first match on a very badly executed Baron call. With Kalista and Cho’Gath in the pit, the squad still lost the objective to Reignover’s smite. While LirA and his teammates still look poised to qualify for the Playoffs, P1 are now officially out of the race after this upset.

Misfits ended the week 1-1 despite some solid performances against Splyce. Indeed, after its 2-0 victory over Mysterious Monkeys, the squad held several leads over Splyce but couldn’t really seal the deal in the second game. In the end, the organization crashed really hard in the last set with Splyce sololaners going ham on the rest of MSF

No miracle this time for bbq Olivers, the team took a game off Afreeca Freecs thanks to a solid performance from Bless. Usually criticized by the fans for his bad decision in the early game, the Jungler took over the game in the laning phase. Holding the last place before regulation, the Korean squad with face off against MVP next week, in what might be one of the most important game of the season for both organizations.

Very disappointing results for LGD-Gaming who might have let go the opportunity hold the second place in group B. The team went down 2-1 against last place Snake Esports (1-7 in series before the game) despite two solid starts in the first two matches. In the third game, LGD got outdrafted and executed poorly its composition which allowed Flandre and its teammates to score their first victory in the past six weeks.

Frequently mocked by fans, Team Liquid has been struggling since the start of the year. However, the team took home two very important wins over Playoffs contender (Team EnVyUs and Phoenix1) this week. While the release of Patch 7.14 might have helped reducing the gap between some teams, TL also made tons of progress in the early game and in its overall macro game. While the organization might have abandoned the idea to qualify for the Playoffs, a strong finish can still be useful for the line-up in order to prepare for the next season.