This week, more than half of the LEC team’s shift in our rankings. In the upper echelon, we’re seeing the stronger teams try to refine their gameplay while teams in the bottom half of the standings have shocked the league, displaying that they’re not out of the race just yet. As always, we hope you enjoy the read, and if you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know!

Also if you’re keeping up, we’ve currently been correct in 80% (16 of 20 games) of our weekly game predictions and hope to end the split with a similarly high rate.

1: G2 Esports (6-0)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: 0 (From 1st)

G2 Esports continues to tear through the inaugural season of the LEC, still being undefeated and yet to be truly challenged by another team.

Their draft into SK Gaming was surprisingly normal, and the game wasn’t anything special. They fell behind for a short amount of time until teamfighting began, in which the skill gap was enough to decide the game.

Their game against Splyce was unexpectedly close though, with the gold lead fluctuating between the two teams throughout the first 20 minutes. They won a major teamfight soon after their standard teamfighting phase began, but unlike their previous games, they could not extend their lead. They attempted to do so, but were thwarted when Splyce gave G2 a taste of their own medicine, answering G2’s aggression with their own, trading 3 kills for 3. This stalled the game out for a bit, diminishing G2’s gold lead. Splyce then went grabbed several key objectives, including 2 dragons and a Baron. That Baron play cost them, as G2 perfectly collapsed onto them, securing two kills and an inhibitor. Splyce again tried to counter G2’s aggression by engaging, but a perfect blast cone by Perkz split up the Splyce team, giving them an easy teamfight and game victory.

So while Splyce did finally show that G2 has openings, it’s unclear whether any team can do enough to challenge the current LEC overlords. The question remains: Will G2 be the second team to have a perfect 18-0 split, or will the rest of the league catch up and give them a run for their money?

2: Schalke 04 (5-1)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: +2 (From 4th)

While Schalke’s opponents this week weren’t the strongest, Schalke played some very clean matches, displaying what one wishes to see from a top team facing a weaker one. They practically never fell behind and averaged a sizeable average gold lead of 2324 at 15 minutes, the highest of any LEC team.

In their first game, Schalke made a few mistakes early, giving up two kills pre-ten minutes, but as mentioned above, never fell to a deficit. They hadn’t accomplished much until Abbedagge outplayed a gank mid and proceeded to solo kill Xerxe. From then on, they pressured all three lanes until an explosive fight in the mid lane which they decisively won. With four members of the team surviving, they picked up their second infernal dragon and Baron, and went for the Splyce base. Their siege ended after taking all 3 inhibitors, and the second Baron was enough to finish out the game.

The Excel game was far more controlled. Schalke gained leads through pure laning and a quick pick was enough to secure them the Baron buff at 21 minutes. With proper lane management, their “Baron power play” stretched their already large gold lead to 10,000 at only 26 minutes into the game. With an item advantage and champions that do very well with said items, they finished the game out with ease.

Schalke moved up this week due to their continued consistency and clear week-by-week improvements. But this team hasn’t done enough to prove that they’re worthy of our number one spot. If this team continues to perform, they may be able to give G2 a run for their money at the title.

3: Vitality (5-1)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: 0 (From 3rd)

Vitality had somewhat of a strange Week 3, with a decisive win against Origen, but an unconvincing victory against Rogue.

The game against Rogue was peculiar: They were down in kills and losing every fight, but they hadn’t fallen into to a significant gold deficit throughout the entire game. This was mainly due to Cabochard’s lane advantage and Vitality’s superior macro play. 16 minutes into the game, Rogue won a fight, getting 2 kills, while in the meantime, Jayce knocked down a turret. 23 minutes into the game, Rogue won a fight, got 2 kills, and lost another turret. With Rogue forgetting that their Sion had a Teleport of their own, this style of play continued on and on, with Jizuke mainly sitting in the bot lane while Rogue did as they pleased. Rogue took note of that and pulled the trigger in the mid lane, gunning for Vitality’s inhibitor. They quickly faltered though, as they didn’t press hard enough, failing to take the initiative to finish the game. The Vitality players took notice of Rogue’s cold feet, and made a quick call to stop the recalls of their opponents. With this delay, Cabochard and Attila Teleported in to join Jizuke in the enemy base, typed “Nothing personal kid” in all chat, and stole the game right from under their enemy’s nose. Even though this game wasn’t the cleanest out of Vitality, it exhibited the creative and decisive shot calling that this team is famed for, and we should expect nothing less.

Like we mentioned earlier, much of what Vitality were able to accomplish came off the back of Cabochard, who held the highest gold difference at 15 of any LEC player this week (+1286), as well as the highest CS and XP differential at 15 among all LEC Top laners (+18, +794, 2nd overall in the LEC). In the game against Origen, he carried his team through team fights, which earned him a 7.5 KDA this week (1st among Tops), while his game against Rogue was much more focused on smart map movement and split-pushing, creating CS leads rather than going for kills.

Vitality have shown prowess at both micro and macro play, with strong teamfighting against Origen and smart map movement, against Rogue. Had they shown a more convincing performance against the 10th place team in the league, their spot in our standings might be more secure, but as of right now, Vitality being 3rd is questionable, and could easily change by next week.

4: Misfits (4-2)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: -2 (From 2nd)

This super team fell from grace, losing in an embarrassing fashion to Excel in the biggest upset of the split. With other team’s showing higher consistency, a near perfect game against a 9th place Fnatic wasn’t enough to redeem the Misfits lineup.

In their game against Excel, Misfits uncharacteristically failed to create any openings, and proceeded with a lack of any teamfight cohesion. By 15 minutes in, Soaz was 0/2, lost his turret, and down 1,400 gold to Expect, while Maxlore failed to achieve anything more than killing jungle camps. Their teamfight efforts were uncoordinated, and nearly every Misfits member died due to bad positioning. Misfits attempted to come back with a risky Baron attempt, but were thwarted by Expect’s spellbook Urgot Baron steal. With an already growing gold deficit, the Baron steal by Excel was enough to swing the game out of their control.

It’s important to note that in the game against Excel, both Febiven and Hans Sama had early leads but failed to translate their advantages into anything meaningful, especially with Soaz losing lane so hard. This is a clear sign of weakness from Misfits, other teams may take games off of Misfits until they fix their glaring issues.

With such a devastating Day 1, Misfits came into their Fnatic game hoping to make a statement, nearly achieving a perfect game (save for 2 deaths from the Misfits’ bot lane due to greeding for an inner turret). The game started with Soaz getting an early solo-kill on his former counterpart in the top lane, and Misfits proceeded to outmaneuver Fnatic in just about every way possible, netting them a 5000 gold lead at 15. Ultimately, Misfits brute-forced their way through Fnatic, with stellar showings from Febiven on LeBlanc and Maxlore on Olaf.

With other teams being far more consistent, Misfits loss to Excel was enough cause to bring them a bit down in the rankings. It’s obvious by now that Misfits cannot win without a lead in the bot lane and if they want to regain their shot at the title, they need to patch up these undeniable issues.

5: Splyce (3-3)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: 0 (From 5th)

A 0-2 week may disappoint Splyce and their fans, but neither should be worrying after Week 3 of the LEC.

Into Schalke, they made some early moves, with Xerxe securing a kill in the top and mid lanes. By intelligently timing the recalls of Schalke’s solo lanes, they went on to take what should have been a secured infernal dragon. Conceptually, this was a pretty good idea, but quickly, the play went south as they lost both the infernal dragon and two kills. From this point on, Splyce was unable to regain the little control they had, and their inability to teamfight resulted in a steady 35-minute loss.

Their second game against G2 showed more promise. Splyce seemed to have a grasp on G2’s playbook, taking two early kills and setting Caps far behind. With their pressure, they were able to take the mid lane outer turret as well as the early cloud dragon. With a good team fight composition and two scaling mages, the game should’ve been in Splyce’s hands—if they played perfectly. To their dismay, a lack of vision control in the topside resulted in three quick picks from G2, and the momentum of the game began to shift. Splyce gave up the first teamfight of the game, but won the next couple. The game was neck and neck, but was looking good for Splyce as they secured a baron buff later in the game. With Perkz split from his team and vision of Caps up top, Splyce took a smart engage onto G2 in the jungle, but a slight mispositioning by Kobbe turned an easy 4v5 into a game losing teamfight.

Even though they had no wins this week, Splyce showed real promise in their match against G2, and only lost to teams they weren’t expected to beat. This lets Splyce sit comfortably in the middle of our rankings, showing that they may not be the best in Europe, but are a clear step above the teams below them.

6: Excel (2-4)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: +2 (From 8th)

Excel showed signs of improvement this week, beating Misfits decisively but losing to Schalke.

Excel’s game against Misfits shocked fans as they witnessed a team, thought to be at the bottom, decisively take down one of the top teams. The game started off relatively even, with both bottom and mid lane falling slightly behind early on. But, thanks to the efforts of Expect and Caedral, Excel was able to slowly develop a lead, creating several key picks that allowed them to secure several objectives. The game slowed down, prompting Misfits to attempt a cheeky Baron play. Misfits nearly got away with it but Expect, being 4 levels up on Maxlore, was able to smite away the buff. After that, Misfits feel apart and they were able to secure the victory within the next 5 minutes.

Their game against Schalke was less than impressive though. Excel was not able to create any leads and while Expect had a carry pick; Kasing and friends were simply outclassed, with the game quickly spiraling out of their control.

Expect really stood out this week and we’d like to highlight his performance. Averaging 31.3% of his team’s damage, Expect had a stellar performance against Misfits, winning lane heavily, with a 1600 gold lead 13 minutes in the game. Then, Expect heroically stole the game away from Misfits when he smote away the Baron.

It seems that Excel has finally found a gameplan: play through Expect. This is not surprising, given that they have a weak mid and AD player. In a bottom-heavy meta such as this one, it’s unclear how this type of strategy will fare, but, we will watch their careers with great interest.

7: Origen (2-4)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: 0 (From 7th)

The hype for this team could not have died any faster. Origen came in with a huge rebrand, adding a star to their logo, and no stars to their team. The latter was overshadowed by their acquisition of Deficio and the return of Xpeke. Once the team actually began playing, it’s been clear that their offseason acquisitions were ineffective.

The game into Vitality was unfortunate. Kold decided to play this game, netting Origen first blood and shutting down the Rift Herald play from Mowgli. The game slowed down (minus Cabochard solo killing Alphari) for 15 minutes or so until a quick pick set up by Mowgli lost them the Baron. From there, Origen continued by taking and losing fights, and a lack of vision from the team lost them another Baron and then the game right after.

Their second game of the week featured plenty of teamfights and little map play. Neither team held a substantial gold lead, and SK and Origen seemingly just bashed heads until someone would win the fight. Luckily for Origen, Patrik popped off and took over, securing the game for his team.

With a split comparable to that of their last one, it’s clear Origen needs to do something different and I for one cannot wait to see xPeke and Deficio in the bot lane.

8: SK (2-4)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: -2 (From 6th)

After a 0-2 week, things are not looking good for the SK roster. Playing against G2 and Origen, SK’s problems became more apparent than ever: their lack of a carry player. Across the board, SK is a team of rookies and rejects, and their stats say the same.

Werlyb sits at a 1.3 KDA (10th among Tops), 397 DPM (7th among Tops), a -161 gold differential at 15 (6th among Tops), -13 CS differential at 15 (10th among Tops), and averages 2.3 assists per game (10th among Tops).

Pirean sits at a 1.6 KDA (9th among Mids), averages 1.5 kills per game (10th among Mids), 399 DPM (8th among Mids), -344 gold at 15 (9th among Mids), and a -265 XP differential at 15 (9th among Mids)

Crownshot is sitting at a 1.9 KDA (10th among ADCs), 472 DPM (8th among ADCs), -544 gold at 15 (8th among ADCs), -488 XP differential at 15 (10th among ADCs)

Dreams has a 1.3 KDA (10th among Supports), averages 4.2 assists per game (10th among Supports), and has the 3rd worst vision score per minute in the league (2.13).

The only player who has somewhat stood out is Selfmade, yet his stats this week were far from good. Sitting at the lowest KDA among Junglers (2), Selfmade had subpar early games, as well as horrible vision control (1.34 vision score per minute, 10th among Junglers) and 0.32 wards cleared per minute (10th).

While many teams are looking to take down G2, SK have a different team in mind: Rogue, sitting at 10th place. With how the stats are looking, SK in 10th place isn’t far from reality.

9: Fnatic (1-5)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: 0 (From 9th)

To the elation of their fans, Fnatic finally secured their first win of the split this week—against Rogue. They then continued their week getting dismantled by Misfits in a near perfect game.

Their game against Rogue was far from impressive. After early deaths from Nemesis and Bwipo, Fnatic went for a full soloqueue strategy, as they ran at Rogue and took any skirmish they could find. By 30 minutes in the game, Fnatic had taken most of Rogue’s base, and held a very small gold lead. With an actual AD carry on their roster, a fight at 31 minutes ended with a Pentakill for former star carry, Rekkles, dodging a winless record.

In their game against Misfits, Youngbuck seemed to be playing for Misfits as he drafted 3 losing lanes and a scaling tank jungler. Besides Bwipo being smashed by Soaz in the top lane, the game was actually going relatively fine until a tragic lane swap by Fnatic, in which they lost dragon, 2 kills, first turret, rift herald, and the mid lane turret. This terrible and poorly executed call net them a 6000 gold deficit at 15 minutes, leaving them little-to-no hope as the game moved on. The rest of the game went as expected, with Fnatic’s Nexus dropping at 34 minutes.

As of right now, reaching playoffs is not impossible for the Fnatic lineup, but unless they show some major improvements in preparation, drafting, laning, teamfig—This team has a lot to work to do before they’ll see any success.

10: Rogue (0-6)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: 0 (From 10th)

Rogue finally showed signs of life this week, nearly securing a win against Vitality but falling just short. They did get rolled in their first game against Fnatic, but their match against Vitality was surprisingly close. Kikis had an unusually proactive game, creating plays across the map and creating multiple plays that netted Rogue key kills. But while Rogue may have played their first cohesive game, they failed in the macro department, constantly losing out in objective trades and never creating a lead. In fact, Rogue was never up in gold during the entire game even though Vitality only secured 3 kills as opposed to Rogue’s 13. Moreover, while Kikis did have a proactive game, he had no Jungle control, with Mowgli killing nearly twice as many camps as Kikis. It was macro and poor map movement that lost Rogue that game more than anything else.

With all that being said, HeaQ continues to be a problem, having by far the largest average gold and CS deficit at 15 with -1102 gold and -21 CS respectively. Moreover, he averages the lowest damage per minute out of any ADCs in the LEC at 353, and deals only 24.9% of his team damage, the 2nd lowest for all ADCs. Luckily for him, he’s not even the worst performing member of the Rogue lineup in terms of damage output, with Sencux averaging an even lower 306 DPM. Both of these Rogue carry players (although it should be noted that these two do anything but carry) stand at the very bottom in terms of raw stats, and while much of this is due to the team not having any victories, it can reasonably be said that these two have failed to show up game after game, often making questionable plays and never doing anything noteworthy.

If Rogue wants to secure even one win this season, they need to reevaluate their approach to drafts and games. They lack the carry players that many of the other teams have in the league, and as a result should focus on playing as cohesively as possible, as they did in their near-win against Vitality.

We do have to commend HeaQ on honorably holding onto Forgiven’s spot until the Summer split, and can’t wait to see what this team does in summer.

MVP of the Week: Abbedagge

Last week we noted how Abbedagge had been improving and this week, he surpassed our expectations. In his two games, Abbedagge’s sported some crazy numbers, demonstrating a performance of a seasoned veteran.

Key Stats (Among Mids):

KDA: 4.3 (2nd)

CSm: 10 (1st)

GPM: 450 (1st)

DMG%: 27.6% (1st)

DPM: 593 (1st)

[email protected]: 960 (1st)

[email protected]: 42 (1st)

[email protected]: 1081 (1st)

Solo kills: 1 (2nd)

Against Splyce, he proved he was the better rookie mid laner, destroying Humanoid in the lane phase, and taking over the later teamfights. His only real mistake came early as his attempt to solo kill Humanoid was stopped by a cheeky Sejuani gank through the lane. After this mishap, he remained poised, later solo killing Xerxe himself.

Into Excel, his scoreline wasn’t stellar, but he created a lead simply through lane advantages and playing around the map post lane phase. This game didn’t display the most exciting display of skill, but he was a key part in his team’s gameplan of starving out their opponents.

With continued high level play coming from Abbedagge, it’s undeniable that he’s going to receive one of two awards at the end of the split. The question is—which one?

Predictions for Week 4

Prediction Tracker: 16 of 20 Correct

Friday, February 8th

Match 1: Schalke vs. Misfits

Predicted Winner: Schalke

Now, this is going to be one hell of a game. Schalke have been looking increasingly good, while Misfits have looked shaky, but the team has shown very high highs. Player per player, these teams are very evenly matched and any of the 10 players could pop off.

To win this game, Schalke is going to need to continue with their early game movements, making sure they stay at least even in the bot lane. If they go into the mid game with a lead, it’s hard to imagine them dropping the game.

Misfits, on the other hand, should heavily target the bot lane to force a lead for Hans Sama. When their bot lane is ahead, they win games; if Misfits can create an advantage for their bot lane, the game should be theirs.

Predicting a winner for this game is tough, but I give the slight advantage to Schalke as they’ve been more consistent in the first leg of the LEC.

Match 2: SK Gaming vs. Splyce

Predicted Winner: Splyce

As we highlighted earlier in the article, Splyce is a pretty solid team that should handily beat the teams below them in the standings. They’ve shown improvements week-to-week while SK Gaming has not done so. I expect Splyce to get an early lead through movements made by Xerxe, and for this lead to grow until the end of the game.

Match 3: Origen vs. Rogue

Predicted Winner: Origen

This game is another toss-up: Last week, Rogue showed improvement in the early game, as they pushed Vitality to their limits while Origen won a very sloppy game against SK Gaming.

This game between Origen and Rogue will most likely be a mess. Expect many teamfights and little macro play as these two low-level teams duke it out. I give Origen a slight advantage solely based on Patrik being a better player than HeaQ. With such a liability on the Rogue roster, it’s tough to imagine them taking a game anytime soon.

Match 4: Fnatic vs. Excel

Predicted Winner: Excel

Last week, Excel showed promise. They took down the team that stomped Fnatic, while Fnatic themselves won an unconvincing game to Rogue. This alone is enough to predict Excel winning this game. Fnatic has shown no development over 6 games, while Excel seems more eager to change things up. If this pattern continues, the game should be in the bag for the English organization.

Match 5: Vitality vs. G2

Predicted Winner: G2

If G2 were to lose in the first half the LEC, Vitality would be the team to take them down. They’ve shown proficiency in the current meta, with the ability to create leads early as well as split the map when necessary. Considering G2’s last couple games being not the most convincing, Vitality may be the favorites for this game. However, I fully expect G2 to approach this game differently, with a meta draft and predetermined gameplan. If they do manage not to fall behind, a strong draft alone should be enough for G2 continue their undefeated streak.

Saturday, February 9th

Match 1: Schalke vs Origen

Predicted Winner: Schalke

If Origen wants to prove they are a strong team in the LEC, taking Schalke down would be an excellent first step. All this requires is Alphari holding the top lane and Kold not falling too far behind in the jungle. Then, once Patrik channels his inner Niels, he and Mithy will take over the game as they become the best bot lane in the west. On the off chance that not all of this occurs, the game should be Schalke’s.

Match 2: SK Gaming vs. Rogue

Predicted Winner: SK Gaming

SK hasn’t shown much greatness on stage, but Rogue has shown even less. Both teams have strong junglers, weak top laners, and forgettable mid laners. This game will most likely come down to who makes the first couple of moves, as either team has shown they can take a lead back after the early game. The game is leaning in SK Gaming’s favor as HeaQ still remains on the Rogue roster.

Match 3: Splyce vs. Misfits

Predicted Winner: Misfits

A strong Splyce facing into a seemingly stronger Misfits should be a good game to watch. If Splyce can step it up in the bot lane, they may be able to snag this game away from Misfits, but the chances of Kobbe and Norskeren popping off pre10 minutes is very small. Hans Sama and Gorilla, a far stronger botlane, should do enough to bring their team ahead and further win the game.

Match 4: Excel vs. Vitality

Predicted Winner: Vitality

Excel’s hopes are looking up, but not high enough to take down the Vitality powerhouse. They showed they can make plays early in the game, but they are nowhere near as practiced at this as Vitality are. In this match, Excel should try and get Jizuke on a weak champion, focusing the draft towards the mid lane. Then, they should go on and try to match whatever Vitality throws at them and they should be fine. This game is nowhere near favored for Excel, but with already pulling off one upset—who’s to say they can’t do it again?

Match 5: G2 vs. Fnatic

Predicted Winner: G2

Fnatic handing G2 their first loss of the LEC would be poetic, to say the least. It would also be the biggest upset of the split so far. G2 have looked dominant while Fnatic has looked unfocused and weak. This game should be similar to the Misfits vs. Fnatic game: The former Fnatic player (Caps) stomps the current lineup, and Fnatic rolls over and loses the game.

We hope you enjoyed this third installment of LEC power-rankings. If you have any comments, questions, or complaints, please feel free to ask them in the Comments section below.