* Courtesy of Riot Games

The new season is a time where we make arbitrary lists that have little traction to ground themselves in, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

This list was made with having player’s past splits and performances in mind, not organization history.

1. Team Liquid

Surprise, surprise, Team Liquid is at the top of my list due to their incredible star power. The powerful duo of Yiliang “Doubelift” Peng and Kim “Olleh” Joo-sung in the bot lane is the main selling point of this team, as we have seen previously that these players have shone on their former teams, but this is the first time that Doublelift has had a foreign support, so that may be the only question mark in terms of cohesion.

While I don’t think this team will have the strongest start out of all of the LCS teams, by the end of the split, I expect this team to be number one in the standings. The only problem with this lineup is a lack of risk. In terms of playstyle, only Doublelift can be considered a player that is comfortable playing a high-risk high-reward playstyle. While normally a playstyle like this has a tendency to be erratic in terms of results, TL have players in other parts of the map that can stabilize the bot lane’s decisions and provide a safety net to win the game.

2. TSM

The powerhouse of the league, TSM have made significant changes to their roster in order to compete at the highest level. With the addition of Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen and Alfonso “Mithy” Rodriguez, the team has assembled a star-studded roster, with the exception of Michael “MikeYeung” Yeung.

The asterisk that must be attached to TSM is in fact their jungler MikeYeung. He has yet to prove himself in being able to adapt to multiple different meta, given that he is still fresh from the trenches of solo queue. The multiple members of TSM will be able to provide leadership and help develop MikeYeung into a player that can communicate and make sound decisions based upon the current state of the game.

The authority of coach Kim “SSONG” Sang-soo should provide direction and guidance to the entire squad, with the help of Ham “Lustboy” Jang-sik to assist in implementing an efficient system.

Time is the only thing that will tell us whether this team will be championship material or not, simply because too many parts were changed in order for TSM to retain their number one spot during the Spring Split.

3. Counter Logic Gaming

Out of all the teams in the league, Counter Logic Gaming stand the best chance to climb the standings early on in the season. The core of the team was once Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black, but has now shifted that burden to the rest of the veterans. The historical playstyle of Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin suggests that he should fit in perfectly with the playstyle of CLG, being that they’ve always had a controlled and measured game plan, looking to get very small advantages that accrue over time to then eventually win the game. Reignover is the king of control, making sure the map is littered with vision and making intelligent plays that have high statistical chances of succeeding. His style is similar to Xmithie’s former style, so CLG already know what to expect out of this kind of jungler, which should make adapting to his playstyle second-nature.

The bot lane duo of Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes and Vincent “Biofrost” Wang has the entire audience bubbling with anticipation. The prodigies of the ‘Rush Hour’ bot lane have joined forces to take down their senpais, but along with the storyline, the expectations for them are astronomical. There will be even less guidance for these two players to rely on than ever before, so this could be the lane through which CLG either sink or swim. This will be their Achilles’ heel. Until they can prove themselves, it’s difficult to place this team any higher in the standings, but come Summer Split, there will be solid evidence to look back at when judging this team and the young duo.

4. Cloud 9

Team Liquid is breaking memes and doesn’t own this spot on my list. Cloud 9 have changed their roster for a better ‘theme’. Before, their playstyle was based upon Jensen gaining leads for the team and to carry that into late game to eventually win. Without an early lead, C9 looked lost and their late game decision making when behind or breaking even didn’t allow for the team to get wins that other teams would have easily gotten. With that said, Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen is the perfect addition to the team.

Svenskeren will be able to function in a similar fashion as he did upon TSM. Serving as the third summoner spell to Jensen will be familiar and this is the true test of whether Jensen can properly use his team’s resources to close out the game. Along with this, Eric “Licorice” Ritchie was picked up for the top lane. In a previous article, I outlined some of Licorice’s history, and with that in mind, Licorice could be a potential lane for the team to give resources, both in the draft and in the early lane phase. Licorice has shown competency on carry champions, so let this be a fair warning that other teams will now have to watch for another early game threat from C9.

5. 100 Thieves

100 Thieves have come out swinging from the gates as a new organization willing to get adequate firing power for their NA LCS team. Aphromoo can be seen as the central voice for this team to operate around, along with William “Meteos” Hartman being a figure that can criticize calls and bring an educated second opinion into the decisions of how the game should be played.

The top side of the map is incredibly strong with Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho having a strong presence in the 2017 Summer Split. The synergy between Ssumday and mid laner Yoo “Ryu” Sang-wook is expected to be at a higher level than normal due to increased communication capabilities, but there are still clear faults with this team that prevents them from breaking into higher rankings.

Motivation could become a problem with this team, as we’ve heard from Meteos’ previous statements that his attitude towards the game has changed to not having the incredible drive that he had in the past. Along with this, it’s also evident that Ryu has been having recent trouble focusing on the game. Adding to the troubles, Ryu has shown problems with his champion pool, looking good on Corki, but not much else.

As the team’s saving grace, they have coach Neil “pr0lly” Hammad to push the entire team and create an environment for these players to thrive and continue pursuing excellence.

6. Clutch Gaming

Last season, eyes were on Nam “LirA” Tae-yoo as he looked impressive, even on the losing end of Team EnVyUs. Now he’s got a proper roster and a mid laner who isn’t there to just int for his team. LirA has the opportunity to keep the same playstyle he had on NV, with his laners being seen as reserved in tendencies.

Superstar Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten steers the ship, coming from across the pond in order to compete in the NA LCS. He’s a known quantity in that we can expect spectacular play and consistency. His pedigree will clearly show in NA as he’s known as one of EU’s best mid laners, so this will be a definitive win condition for Clutch Gaming to play through.

The flaws begin to appear when encompassing the entire roster, even down to the coaching from David “DLim” Lim, as I don’t believe this team has a strong voice in regards to leadership after coming from a directionless Team Liquid. I hope to be proven wrong about DLim and Febiven this season, as these are the particular figures that I expect to step-up with commanding the roster.

The CG roster feels lackluster in the bot lane with Apollo “Apollo” Price and Nickolas “Hakuho” Surgent, as they had a good synergy on NV, but without the Xayah pick, Apollo looked unimpressive. I don’t foresee a recurrence of dominance from this bot lane and that is one of the factors on which I rate this team below the medium of teams.

7. Echo Fox

This team either blows up or breaches fourth. Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett has a robust history being unable to acclimate himself into a team’s culture. After failing to properly adjust to the CLG environment, he’s moved from Team Liquid as a short stint to save them from relegation and now to Echo Fox. As an inherent misfit, we could see him clash with authorities once again and create a bad atmosphere for him and his teammates, but that is a risk EF is willing to undertake and we can only hope that Dardoch has matured and learned from his past mistakes. At least he will have the privilege to play with mechanically gifted Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon.

Huni is the biggest pickup for EF and we’ll likely see him destroying top laners and accruing wins for his team off of his efforts alone, but the best qualities of the team stop here.

Kim “FeniX” Jae-hun hasn’t shown the world much other than an ability to play Azir at a world-class level. His champion pool is still in question and if he hasn’t solved this dilemma, then I don’t see this team going far with such a large limitation in their draft phase. Along with this, the bot laners aren’t highly regarded, as Johnny “Altec” Ru has been a subpar ADC that meets the requirements for an LCS-level player, but begins to show flaws against better players.

This team hinges on Dardoch and whether he can work with the limitations and one-track playstyle of his teammates. The risk versus reward for the team is too much and I don’t see them going far above this ranking.

8. Golden Guardians

Hai “Hai” Du Lam is in charge of raising a young team to try and fight towards the middle of the rankings. Hai is in a prime position to excel on Golden Guardians, as his style will be able to function extremely well, due to allowing his teammates to autopilot and focus on themselves while he shoulders the duty of team macro decisions.

Contrary to the consensus, I am expecting Matthew “Deftly” Chen to be a rising talent within GGS, with the help of Matthew “Matt” Elento as the one to teach and mold Deftly into a wrecking ball. With the expertise of Choi “Locodoco” Yoon-seop, the young squad should have an authority figure to rely upon and with Locodoco being a former ADC, he should have an accurate vision for managing Deftly.

The hive mind works well when in the hands of Hai, as we saw FlyQuest do well at the beginning of the Spring Split last year, but quickly fell flat on their faces. I expect the same from GGS but to a lesser degree, as they don’t have as many veterans as FlyQuest previously had.

9. FlyQuest

Song “Fly” Yong-jun comes in strong from the Challenger team Gold Coin United, looking to show off his laning skills and roaming capabilities to propel FlyQuest to a victory and with Lee “Flame” Ho-jong, we could see Flame’s signature carry style work well in tandem with Fly helping him in the top lane. The unknown quantity of Fly going against higher competition, along with his jungler Andy “AnDa” Hoang are the questions that should be asked about this lineup. This team will take time to ramp up and get accustomed to the LCS environment.

10. OpTic Gaming

The weakest of the teams, OpTic Gaming have come into the NA LCS franchise scene with plenty of buying power, but not all problems can be solved with money. The roster doesn’t have any direction and it’s difficult to see through their thought process when they selected their players.

Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Scharge comes to the land of honey, looking for fat stacks. PowerOfEvil is looking to compete against some of the best mid laners in the world and this time he’s got a team that isn’t full of rookies. The difficulty with this roster is that none of them are the best in their class or even close to it. The only avenue in which this team has as a win condition is through PowerofEvil and with such a clear plan, they can easily be destroyed in both draft and in-game.

The bot lane is of particular concern, made up of ADC Noh “Arrow” Dong-hyeon and support Daerek “LemonNation” Hart, which are both known to be weak laners and Arrow showing an atrocious Summer Split due to not adjusting to the meta. LemonNation and Arrow will have to perform a miracle and adapt to another meta as well as work on lane mechanics. OPT may be an appropriate tag, given that many of their members look like OTP, only good on a very select number of champions.

The NA LCS starts January 20th, the moment when all will be revealed and I either end up having pie on my face or appear to be from the future. Just remember to call me Marty McFly later.