Hello everyone! We hope you enjoy reading our rankings, and we’ve tried a few new things in this week’s article. As always, if you have any comments or concerns, drop them in the comments.

Also @Riot, we were 10 out of 10 on our predictions—when can we be on the analyst desk?

10: Echo Fox (4-10)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: -1 (From 9th)

Last week, Echo fox had their last chance to convince us they were a real team in the LCS—apparently, they are not. They played against two mid tier teams and were defeated handily in both games. Since their substitution of Rush in favor of Panda, this team has simultaneously lost any reason to support them and any hope to make playoffs. This team was strong last year with Huni and Friends, but don’t let their one year of relative success distract you from that fact that this team has a 36% win rate (44 wins, 78 losses) in the 8 splits they’ve played in.

In their first game last week, Echo Fox were outpaced by Optic the entire game. By 20 minutes, they had a measly one turret kill while Optic had 5 turrets, 3 dragons (including 2 infernals), and a 3k gold lead. At this point, Echo Fox had no real win condition, and were finished off just under seven minutes later.

Their second game against Flyquest somehow went even worse.. By 15 minutes, they were 6 thousand gold down; by 20 minutes, they were down 11 thousand gold. If you took nameplates off, I could be easily be convinced this was a Gold vs Challenger Clash matchup.

Next week, I want to see Echo Fox try something new, whether that be subbing out Solo and Fenix for Lourlo and Yusui, or the team going for a niche draft or some level 1 cheese. Their split is over at this point, and I’d just like to see a single glimmer of hope that can convince me this team still deserves to be in the league.

9: 100 Thieves (4-10)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: +1 (From 10th)

Surely you’ve heard of hit singles like: “Support is SO easy!” and “Second place at MSI” while under Counter Logic Grooves. Well now, Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black and his new label 100 Tunes Productions are happy to bring you a full album of hits! Expect to see titles like “Sit in a warded brush and die” and “Walk around the base while you lose” on the charts soon!

In all seriousness, 100 Thieves is a complete mess as usual. Their early game is still better than some teams in the league, but past the 20-minute mark they’re incapable of closing and the only reason they moved up in the rankings is because Echo Fox just looked worse than they did.

100 Thieves are 1-4 in the back half of the split, and this week’s desperate attempts to fix things was an apparent failure. Huhi was substituted for Academy League mid laner Soligo, who looked passable, to be honest. In matches against Bjergsen and Nisqy, he managed to stay alive and only found himself at minor deficits when some other players would be suffering.

That being said, Huhi wasn’t the problem. 100 Thieves’ macro play is nonexistent, and the two roles typically responsible for controlling the teams map movements, the Support and Jungler, are massively underperforming.

AnDa looked foolish in two Jarvan games this weekend, forcing engages that resulted in his or his teams immediate deaths. Whether these were individual or team decisions, they were the wrong ones.

Aphromoo’s performance as of late has been equally abysmal. He dies for absolutely no reason, and has caused Bang’s death on more than one occasion. He was singled out specifically for standing still in a brush for nearly a minute versus TSM, despite his location having been revealed, and his ultimate being available. The next day, he walked around the bottom side of his base while a teamfight raged on near the top half, refusing to engage or assist his team. Unfortunately there are far more examples of poor performance than just these two.

We’re nearing the end of the split, and 100 Thieves has shown absolutely no sign of improving. Supposedly they’ve had success in scrims, though we’ve seen no indicator of that on the stage. Ssumday acquires a lead nearly every game and they squander it. They have no idea how to move around the map and secure objectives, and their teamwork and team fighting is equally embarrassing. This team won’t make playoffs. Hopefully something changes for next year.

8: Counter Logic Gaming (5-9)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: -1 (From 7th)

Last week, we dug into CLG’s management and discussed the mistakes we think they made over the last couple of years. In this piece, I’d like to do the reverse, and focus on the next level decision making made by this org in this last week. The team moved Wiggily and Stixxay into academy this week so they could at least make playoffs there which was an absolutely genius move by CLG. “Well done,” if you will.

Last week, CLG had a soul crushing game against Golden Guardians. For the majority of the game, they were behind, losing all three lanes and falling behind 4k gold by 15 minutes. For the next 15 minutes, CLG traded waves with Golden Guardians, and continued to scale until they let their opponents grab an uncontested Baron buff. Throughout the duration of the siege that came after, CLG sent one of Powerofevil or Darshan to splitpush, netting them all bot lane turrets, and by 35 minutes, the bot lane inhibitor. The real climax of this game came just a few minutes later as GGS went for the second Baron buff, and PoE continued his splitpush, and was on track to win the game. Rather than stopping the recalls from Golden Guardians and letting the Ryze win the game, CLG made a tragic mistake in trying to teleport into the base and win, which lost them their lives and the game.

Against Clutch, they came into the game with a questionable draft. Not only did they fail to ban Piglet’s only pick, Irelia, but they also blind picked Ashe-Tahm Kench in the first rotation after only seeing Alistar. I understand they wanted to draft a safe lane where Auto had little pressure, but the result was abysmal. CLG lost the 2v2 matchup which was essentially their only winning lane. From there, Counter Logic Gaming lost every fight until the end of the game.

With their losses to Golden Guardians and Clutch Gaming, and an expected loss to at least one of TSM or Optic, Week 8 marks the end of the playoff race for CLG. This may upset some (of the remaining) fans of CLG, but true fans with faith will be pleased as this gives the organization two extra weeks to think about what changes they want to make for summer.

7: OpTic Gaming (6-8)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: -1 (From 6th)

Optic is in a weird place right now. The roster is struggling to find their footing, and doesn’t seem to be improving as much as the teams ahead of them. By now, it’s tough to make playoffs without having to fight through a tiebreaker. That being said, things could be a lot worse for Optic. In their first split, they struggled. In their second split, they missed playoffs by just a half of a game. This split, they’re on the cusp again and looking to improve their results for the second split in a row.

Their matches this week are very standard for a “middle of the pack” team. They lost to TSM, but they showed real signs of life during the match. The game remained close for a long period of time, with the two teams exchanging blows evenly and TSM holding just a slight lead. Crown’s Leblanc even earned them a small lead of their own for a few minutes. In the end, they couldn’t pull out a victory, but they put up far more of a fight than others did against a Top 3 team.

Their game against Echo Fox was wonderful for fans of Optic. Arrow and Big earned early kills onto Fox’s botlane, and all of Optic’s lanes maintained leads. Neither side found any further kills for 15 minutes, when Optic started to up the pressure. Crown got himself 3 kills in just a couple minutes, and picked up all but one of Optic’s kills from then onward. Ending the game 9/0/0, Crown was grinning ear to ear. It’s somewhat heartwarming to see a player like Crown take a clear downgrade in competition and look so happy on the stage. His team might not be the greatest, but he’s loving every minute and still giving it his all.

Sure it’s not the success story Optic fans have dreamed of, but it’s so easy to be proud of this organization for what they’ve done in their short time in the LCS. They constantly make roster moves that are ambitious and respectable. They’ve also established an impressive behind-the-scenes series like many other established organizations have. They’ve also done nothing to upset or disrespect their fans like some other orgs have. Optic’s decisions show true drive and investment in the league.

And let’s not forget that for a lot of the roster, making playoffs is a huge accomplishment. Between Dhokla and Big, as well as substitutes Allorim, Astam and Gate, there’s very few playoff appearances to note. These players are taking huge steps forward in their career just like the organization is.

Optic might make playoffs. They might miss it by just a hair once more. Whatever the case, this roster has a lot to be proud of. The fans have a lot to be proud of. Even fans of other teams can root for Optic with ease. Optic, keep doing what you’re doing. Good luck.

6: Clutch Gaming (5-9)

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

Yes. Clutch is 6th, and it’s not a mistake. Clutch has had some bad showings this split, but there is a stark contrast between them and the teams ranked lower than them. Clutch has looked good, but wildly inconsistent, whereas many teams look almost always bad. Clutch on a good day looks like they could be place top four, whereas Clutch on a bad day looks bottom four.

Last week we mentioned that Clutch always seemed to have somebody dropping the ball, but things have looked better as of late. No player could be pointed to as a specific weakness, though they’re far from perfect. In Week 7, Clutch has done a good job of settling into their style, even after dropping a game to a surging FlyQuest.

Against FlyQuest, Clutch pulled out to an early lead through a nice gank on midlane, but they were unable to keep the advantage. Fly managed to take multiple fights and objectives, and seemed to be snowballing out of control. Despite a serious pressure disadvantage, a lack of turrets, and 4k gold deficit, Clutch managed to find an incredible 4 for 2 trade around the Baron pit at 23 minutes. Damonte in particular looked spectacular in this fight, with his Ryze putting out thousands of damage while surviving through every bit of burst until the end of the fight. The game would swing back into FlyQuest’s favor, but Clutch neutralized this lead with yet another fantastic 3 for 0 fight.. Clutch did eventually fall, but they showed a clear capability to find and important fights while at large disadvantages.

Clutch Gaming’s match against CLG gave us further evidence for an interesting trend. Piglet has picked Irelia 3 times, and won all 3 games. This shouldn’t be too surprising as Piglet used to have a reputation as a talented player in any role in SoloQ. He also briefly played midlane for Team Liquid, and looked entirely passable for being new to the role. When Piglet is on a traditional ADC this split, however, he is 2-9. Perhaps there is some merit to putting Piglet on non-standard picks, or even just Irelia, if Clutch wants to secure one of the last playoff spots.

The game itself was relatively plain. Clutch found an early first blood, and ballooned their lead without obtaining a single other kill until 16 minutes. They took objectives with relatively little pushback from CLG, and when prompted, turned on the aggression. From minute 22 to 30, Clutch obtained 11 kills, 7 towers, 2 inhibitors, Baron, Dragon, and the Nexus. Clutch simply took what they pleased and looked good doing it.

Unfortunately for Clutch fans, their split might be over. Their remaining games see them playing the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th place teams (On both our list and the current standings). They need to win at least the match against GGS to have a slim chance of a tiebreaker, and every win after that increases their chances. The math on this is incredibly complicated so you’re just going to need to trust us a little.

5: Golden Guardians (6-8)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: -1 (From 4th)

Golden Guardians looked the same as ever this week, which could be both good and bad. They’re still one of the few teams in NA playing a unique style, and they still decide the outcome of their games themselves. Unfortunately it leads to losses about as often as it leads to wins.

Against CLG, Deftly locked in a rare Draven pick, partnered with Olleh’s Thresh in the bot lane. The GGS duo secured an easy first blood just 2 minutes into the match, and the snowball started rolling. Froggen traded a kill as they secured the Dragon, but CLG did manage to secure some objectives, but GGS always got more than they gave away, and the gold lead grew. The game did look scary for a moment at 28 minutes, when PoE made the decision to backdoor. He had made his way to the Nexus and taken one of the towers when Hauntzer stopped him in his tracks. GGS returned to the Baron and cashed in on Deftly’s stacks, earning 2302 gold off of a single kill, though the game would sadly end before he could spend it.

A similar pattern of aggression and fast pace macro is exactly what lost GGS their game against Team Liquid. Contractz got two early kills on Xmithie and turned them into not one, but two Ocean Dragons. Both teams got two turrets, even with TL using the Rift Herald. A dragon fight went very slightly in favor of Liquid, but the match was still even, as Froggen’s Karthus had gotten fed. GGS rebounded with a mid lane push—but everything went wrong. The team wanted to remain proactive and push Liquid back to secure the mid turret, but they oversyaed their welcome, and a messy dive turned disastrous. Team Liquid capitalized on this mistake, taking three quick kills, and immediately pressing their newfound advantage. The rest of GGS fell as TL took Baron, Infernal, and four towers. By the time the next Baron spawned, GGS had fallen 7000 gold behind, and only grabbed one additional turret. Staying true to themselves, they remained aggressive even when TL moved for the new Baron, getting themselves wiped, losing the objective and the following fight at their nexus.

Golden Guardians style is still one of my favorite things about the LCS. Their team clearly does not contain as much raw talent as some other rosters, but they still manage to take wins through their own merit—not the mistakes of their opponents. That being said, stronger teams have no trouble capitalizing on overagression, so GGS needs to learn to temper themselves.

I expect this team to secure a playoff spot, but it’s by no means guaranteed. Hopefully GGS can learn to reign in their momentum when necessary because it could lead them into a strong playoffs and even a strong Summer Split.

4: FlyQuest (7-7)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: +1 (From 5th)

Last week we saw FlyQuest seemingly at an impasse. Would they continue to drop games and fall through the rankings, or pick themselves back up? After week 7, I can solidly say they’ve successfully returned to form.

FlyQuest took a clean 2-0 this week, and looked pretty damn good doing it. It’s true that they played two struggling teams, Clutch and Echo Fox, but compared to the past few weeks, it was a refreshing sight.

All of FlyQuest looked solid this week, but Santorin and WildTurtle in particular looked to be playing on an entirely different level. WildTurtle’s patented aggression at any and all moments earned him kill after kill on Jinx, causing his team’s leads to sky(supermegadeath)rocket out of control. I’m not sorry for that one. He ended the week 12/2/24, giving him an impressive KDA of 12 on a scaling ADC.

Santorin played just as well, picking an aggressive Nocturne and Kindred. Against Clutch, he picked up early kills and an Ocean Drake for his team, followed by the first turret. Hoping to outdo himself, Santorin managed 4 kills, a Dragon, and the Rift Herald by just 11 minutes in.

FlyQuest looked good this week, and that’s all we asked of them. The last two weeks of Spring Split won’t be so easy for them, facing the top two teams and Golden Guardians, who trail right behind them. If FlyQuest keeps up the pace and secures just two wins by the end of the split, they should be a lock for playoffs.

3: TSM (9-5)

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

Coming into this week’s games, my eyes were on TSM to possibly show they were the region’s second strongest team. Unfortunately, they’re not quite there yet. After last week’s close defeat to C9, it was going to take an impressive showing to push them over the edge—that isn’t what we got.

TSM’s week 7 was marred by an ill BrokenBlade and lack of practice. Both games this week were against lower ranking teams, and TSM barely managed to pull together a 2-0.

The game against 100 Thieves was a bit of a nightmare. TSM fell behind 2k gold in the early game off of a disastrous flash from Akaadian and a rough fight around the dragon. By 24 minutes, that had ballooned into a 6k gold lead and things looked dire.

But wait—up in the sky—TSM saw a flash of light. Smoothie thought it might be his bangin’ highlights; Akaadian and Brokenblade guessed it might be Kayle, reaching them a patch earlier than expected. Zven, however, realized that it was their savior! It was none other than TSM Bjergsen, the embodiment of his team’s namesake. His beard exuded pure testosterone and his steely gaze struck fear into his foes. I hear he even removed his glasses, because nobody is scared of a nerd. Zven wondered how he had not noticed this prowess sitting beside him this whole time, but he would not find his answer, as Bjergsen began to drag him and the rest of TSM to their feet to fight onward.

Bjerg’s Leblanc looked stellar, using a small lead from early game to create picks and pressure and keep TSM in the game. 100 Thieves failed to use the 4k gold lead collected entirely on Ssumday, and TSM started to take more and more. They secured Baron buff, along with 4 towers and an inhibitor. The next Baron went over to 100T, but TSM weathered the storm. TWO BARONS LATER, they managed to finish off the Nexus.

The game against Optic wasn’t quite as exciting, with both teams going blow for blow for about 20 minutes. Optic secured an early Baron and things looked bleak for a moment, but TSM managed to hold on for the next one, and steamroll their way into the base from there.

TSM have a lot to prove next week against Team Liquid. If they can manage the win, and Cloud 9 falters even slightly, it’s hard to keep them in third. Regardless, TSM is nearly locked for playoffs, and is a solid contender for the title.

2: Cloud 9 (11-3)

Change from Previous Week’s Standing: 0 (From 2nd)

Cloud 9 has shown to be a team with a clean plan of action as they enter each game. They have an idea of how each lane should go and predetermined gank paths for Svenskeren that should net some sort of advantage if executed to a proper level. This high level of preparation stems from Reapered and his understanding of the current state of the game.

In their game against Liquid, their draft was legitimately very strong. They had 3 lanes with priority and an early game jungler that could snowball the game. From the early minutes of the game, Svenskeren brilliantly pathed around a ward that would have normally caught him, and ganked an unsuspecting Jensen while he was still level 1. This play went very well, taking away Jensen’s flash while also pushing him out of lane, but Svenskeren misstepped, and gave the first blood over. This didn’t stop Sven as he ganked top in a similar fashion, this time snagging a kill onto Impact. However, Licorice’s blatant disrespect and failure to recall resulted in an easy pick up kill for Liquid. The biggest fault in this game though falls onto Zeyzal, who made a tragic decision to take Spellthief’s into a lane that he wouldn’t be able to trade much in. This resulted in CoreJJ finishing his quest and having access to wards 4 minutes before Zeyzal, and during this time, Cloud 9 lost all control on the botside due to vision. Cloud 9 were unable to create plays in the bottom lane, and couldn’t find a window into opening up the game. By this point, Cloud 9 were no longer in control of the lanes, and lost nearly every objective until the game was over in just over forty minutes. In an alternate universe, Cloud 9 won this game. If only Sylas was available and Zeyzal had any idea how to play Rakan. Sigh

Into 100T, the game was essentially an extended laning phase until 25 minutes where Cloud 9 find a pick on Anda, which strung into a 5 for nothing teamfight and Baron. With their 2 mountain dragons and surge of gold, they easily sieged 100 Thieves base and won the game without trouble.

What we’ve seen from Cloud 9 is that their preparation and drafts may be the best in the League, but their players fail to execute their compositions well. This is something we hope to see Cloud 9 fix as they look toward playoffs.

1: Liquid (13-1)

(Source: Riot Games) TL Jensen and Xmithie react to Steve telling them he paid off C9 Svenskeren

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

By week 7, it’s clear that $teve has designed a team with a goal greater than NA. Over the past several weeks, Team Liquid has been winning their games by having a better understanding of the game than other teams, while also being able to showcase the pure talent that lies in their roster. The team came into this week with a tough opponent waiting to take them on—and also C9.

After bribing Riot to put Sylas on the global ban list, Team Liquid came into their C9 game expecting to win. They had stolen away their opponent’s exclusive pocket pick that Jack himself had patented and they themselves had no ability to use. After taking away their opponent’s key pick, Liquid had essentially won the draft phase before the game started.

On paper, the game should have been fairly even, or in C9’s favor, but Liquid’s execution outmatched the strategy of Cloud 9. TL drafted 3 losing lanes with a top lane matchup that could swing based on jungle attention. Despite their expected shortcomings, TL never fell too far behind. They snuck an early lead by taking advantage of an INTeresting play from Svenskeren (Check your bank account bro), and were able to trade a kill top by capitalizing on Licorice’s blatant disrespect.

Meanwhile, Liquid’s bot lane completely outclassed Cloud 9’s. In a losing matchup, Doublelift found himself a cs lead while CoreJJ was able to finish his support quest an entire 4 minutes before Zeyzal, resulting in a complete domination in vision on the bot side. With this advantage, the notorious Xayah and Rakan lane was completely neutralized.

Once lane phase was over, Liquid’s true strength was on full display. They secured nearly every single neutral objective through proper wave management and vision control (minus a stolen baron), and won nearly every teamfight by navigating fights better than C9. Even after losing the Baron, Liquid confidently took the Elder Dragon and the fight after, and won the game.

Their game against Golden Guardians was rough, but manageable. Liquid fell behind early and found themselves without a considerable gold lead until 27 minutes into the game, where they catch Golden Guardians being too aggressive and take advantage of their misstep. This results in a series of plays that net Liquid five kills and a Baron buff, which is enough for a team of their caliber to close out the game.

We know that Liquid is far from a perfect team, but as of now, they remain in a league of their own in the LCS. As of now they’re locked into playoffs, and on track to tie the best ever regular season record, at 17-1.

Week 7 MVP: Doublelift

This past weekend, Doublelift, the greatest ad NA has ever produced, put on yet another crazy performance in the LCS. This weekend reminded us that Doublelift is not only a player who shines in the lane phase, but is also very skilled in teamfighting, being the star of many highlight clips. In the two games, Doublelift totalled a 28 KDA while also dishing out the highest damage numbers of any adc in week 7. Unlike many other players, Liftlift was often seen in the front of team fights, contrary to the expected front to back setup.

Peter Penguin is a player any team should want on their team. He’s an experienced leader and super strong player who has consistently been at the top of his role since the beginning of League’s competitive scene. The last hurdle for PP (see what I did there?) to reach is on the international stage, and we hope to see him at the top of the world.

Predictions for Week

Saturday, March 16th

Match 1: Optic vs. CLG

Predicted Winner: Optic

This game could definitely swing towards CLG’s favor, but they’ve shown a trend of rolling over and giving up every objective. Optic has shown they’re capable of playing fast and aggressive, especially with Dardoch in the game. Stylistically, Optic is favored here, and they’re a slightly better team regardless.

Match 2: Clutch Gaming vs. Team Liquid

Predicted Winner: Team Liquid

Team Liquid should have a relatively easy win here. They’ve proven they’re the strongest team in the league, and though Clutch has improved, they’re still fighting an uphill battle. The best chance they have is taking an early lead and never letting it go.

Match 3: Echo Fox vs. C9

Predicted Winner: C9

Echo Fox hasn’t shown themselves to be capable of beating a top tier team (or a challenger flex team), and I doubt Cloud 9 will let up after a mediocre last week. I expect Cloud 9 to take this game fast and with little to no trouble. Even if Fox takes an early lead, I don’t expect them to keep it for long.

Match 4: TSM vs. GGS

Predicted Winner: TSM

This should be the most exciting match of day 1. TSM looked shaky last week, and Golden Guardians have proven they can at least stand up against the top teams as of late. If Golden Guardians put Froggen on a power pick and play aggressive, TSM might not be able to weather the storm as they have in their last couple games.

Match 5: FlyQuest vs. 100 Thieves

Predicted Winner: FlyQuest

Honestly, I don’t think 100 Thieves could reliably beat Echo Fox right now, let alone FlyQuest. The Thieves haven’t managed to win any lane other than top lately, and Viper held his own against Ssumday easily in their last bout. FlyQuest have strong momentum coming into this game and I don’t see 100T being the team to stop them.

Sunday, March 17th

Match 1: GGS vs. Clutch

Predicted Winner: Clutch

I’ll be the first to admit that we aren’t fully convinced Clutch will take this game. Golden Guardians has shown a tendency to overstep and lose their footing, while Clutch is actually quite good at capitalizing on these kinds of mistakes. That being said, Clutch winning this match sets up the possibility of an exciting playoff race and possible three-way tiebreaker, so we’re gonna throw our hat in with them for now.

Match 2: C9 vs. Optic

Predicted Winner: C9

Optic still hasn’t managed to settle into their roster, and Cloud 9 should have momentum coming into this matchup. Optic has a definite opening to take this game through Crown, as usual. Crown’s laning stats are phenomenal, while Nisqy’s are subpar. Expect the mid lane draft to have a high impact on this matchup.

Match 3: 100 Thieves vs. Echo Fox

Predicted Winner: 100 Thieves

This is match of the week if you ask me. Both of these teams have looked even less coordinated than a chicken with its head cut off, if that’s even possible. 100 Thieves’ biggest advantage is in their individual player strength. Ssumday should have no trouble with a weak Solo, and even AnDa can out-jungle Panda (or Rush?). Echo Fox’s bot and mid lane have a chance to impress, but certainly don’t count on it.

Match 4: Team Liquid vs. FlyQuest

Predicted Winner: Team Liquid

Team Liquid didn’t have the most convincing win into FlyQuest in Week 3, but they didn’t struggle either. Their lanes are individually stronger across the board, and their macro is far superior from what we’ve seen. FlyQuest’s strongest asset is typically WildTurtle, but Team Liquid’s botlane are a force to be reckoned with. If FlyQuest wants an opening, it will be Santorin punishing Xmithie’s early mistakes.

Match 5: CLG vs. TSM

Predicted Winner: TSM

TSM should have the win here, plain and simple. They’ve struggled lately with falling behind early, but CLG has struggled with every stage of the game. Even if somehow CLG were to pull ahead, TSM has shown extreme proficiency in staying alive far past their expiration date, only to find the win soon after. I for one cannot imagine this INTeration of CLG being the team to end TSM’s four year winning streak against them.

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