OGN Power Rankings – Week 2

1. KT Rolster B (Last wk 1) – Most impressive thing about KT B this week wasn’t that they played well as a unit or that they showed the ability to dominate when given the chance it was their ability to adapt to situations and make adjustments on the fly. In the first game against Shield, the game looked to be a repeat of their first match against ahq but KT B was able to make the tactical decision of sacrificing ssumday so that inSec could grow as a carry threat and this worked to perfection as inSec was able to garner MVP honours. The team however will need ssumday to step up his game for their future matches for KT B to succeed against the stronger teams. (Next wk vs LG-IM)

2. CJ Entus Frost (Last wk 4) – Frost played like their usual selves against the weak ahq Korea team even without their normal line-up. In typical Frost fashion, both matches were even or disadvantageous for Frost in the early going but after the 20 minute mark Frost was able to showcase their superior team fighting and game management abilities en route to two relatively easy victories. Even though Space and Muse had their chance to shine this week, look for Hermes and MadLife to make a triumphant comeback next week when Frost faces off against their biggest rivals Shield in the highly anticipated “LoL Classico” match (Next wk vs NJ SHD)

3. SKT T1 (2) (Last wk 3) – Even though T2 seemed outmatched by a hungry Sword team, they were able to eke out a draw with a good comeback victory. T2 displayed superb game management abilities which aren’t often seen from a new team like T2. They also displayed their ability to recuperate from a devastating loss mentally and play a well-executed game when the second game seemed to be a repeat of the first game. Unfortunately for T2, the brutal schedule continues when they meet the other hot team of group A in MVP Blue next week. (Next wk vs. MVP Blue)

4. MVP Blue (Last wk 2) – MVP Blue ended up with a draw in two closely contested matches to their sister team MVP Ozone. Even though MVP Blue had the advantage in the first game, they were unable to cope with the Blitzcrank pick but they recovered by having a vastly superior team fighting compared to Ozone in the second match. This week definitely showed some weaknesses in MVP Blue’s playing especially ChuNyang who played very inconsistently in both matches and the bot lane who was being out played by the imp/mata lane. MVP Blue will face a true test next week when they face the talented T2 team (Next wk vs SKT T1 (2))

5. Najin Sword (Last wk 10) – The defending champions were able to take the kids to school this week when Najin Sword was able to stomp T2 in their first game. Even though they lost the second game, this along with their SWL match, was the Sword team that we were used to seeing. PraY and Cain played like their usual dominant selves being able to bully their opposition but much of Sword’s resurgence goes to the revitalized play of SSONG, Watch and MakNooN. Watch especially was impressive in the last week because he realized that when he was performing bad, he was becoming nothing more than a walking pink ward thus Watch tried much hard to make an impression early and often which definitely worked out for the better. With SSONG and Watch showing vast improvements on their form, Sword becomes one of the most dangerous teams again. (Next wk vs. KT A)

6. MVP Ozone (Last wk 6) – MVP Ozone played well in the two matches against their sister team Blue considering all the volatility involved with an in-house affair. However, Ozone was out managed in both games by their sister team and if it weren’t for Mata’s great grabs this week’s outcome could have easily been a 2:0 for MVP Blue. MVP Ozone will need to find ways to create an environment that dade and imp can carry in going forward. Much of this burden will fall under Homme and DanDy who will need to provide their carries this room for their team’s success. With their matchup against Blaze next week, MVP Ozone will look to go on full offensive during the entire match and exploit Blaze’s weaknesses. (Next wk vs. CJ Entus Blaze)

7. SKT T1 (1) (Last wk 5) – After a disappointing showing against LG-IM this week, T1 will need to think long and hard about their ADC problems as the tournament progresses. In both of the games Raven was caught out many times and he failed to make much impact in the game after often being outplayed by Paragon and Lasha. With an ineffective ADC, it will be difficult for SKT1 to compete against teams with strong bot lanes. It will be interesting to see how Reapered and company decide to deal with this pressing matter in order for T1 to become a more consistent team moving forward. (Next wk vs. ahq Korea)

8. CJ Entus Blaze (Last wk 9) – Blaze showed the same weaknesses that failed them last week and the same weaknesses that have been pestering them ever since the Winter season in their match against KT A. Even though Flame played very well in both matches as Kennen, Helios remained a non-factor and the bot lane struggled when they had to go 2 vs 2 against Hiro and Me5 in the first match. Added to the fact that Ambition was subdued by constant ganks from KakaO, it was no surprise that Blaze lost the match again in a rout. However, unlike last week, Blaze did recover in the second game with a great game from Flame and a Pentakill from Ambition on Khazix. However, their bot lane and jungle still remains a huge liability for the team going forward especially Helios who really needs to break out of his slump or Blaze may end up being relegated to the NLB for the first time in the team’s history. (Next wk vs. MVP Blue)

9. KT A (Last wk 11) – KT A played very well against Blaze in both sets with KakO and Zero quietly becoming top players in their respective roles. KTA’s problem however still lies in their top laner Vitamin who was badly outplayed by the opposing top laner Flame in both games. Even though Vitamin had some nice ultimates with Rumble in the second game, he was a liability in both 1 v 1 and 2 v 2 situations which was tough for KT A to deal with. With an ineffective top laner and an ordinary bot lane, KT A will have to rely on Zero and KakaO to carry every single game. (Next wk vs NJ Sword)

10. Najin Shield (Last wk 8) – After impressing during the first week of competition with their crisp play, Najin Shield started off their match against the mighty KT B in a similar fashion to last week when they managed to grab an early lead. However they squandered their early game lead ultimately resulting in a 0:2 defeat for the team. Shield will need to brush up on their poor calls and poor team fighting after reviewing their play from this week. Some of the blame for Shield’s poor playing has to be placed on vinylcat who was hardly noticeable in both of the games as Janna. Shield (especially Loco) will prepare extra hard for their next match as Loco will square off against his old teammates in the highly anticipated rivalry match. (Next wk vs. Frost)

11. LG-IM (Last wk 12) – IM definitely showed they were no pushovers when they managed to draw against SKT1 this week behind some great plays from Lilac and Lasha on their signature champions. Even the new member Smeb had a decent outing in the first match when IM was able to dominate T1 from start to finish. However, IM still showed their weak game management in the second game when T1 was able to stay close to IM despite falling behind early and eventually winning out with a great series of team fights. For LG-IM to be successful, Lilac will need to spread his Jarvan skills onto other jungle champions as he’s shown that when that Jarvan pick is not available to him, his effectiveness decreases significantly. Life doesn’t get any easier for Lilac and co as they face InSec and co next week. (Next wk vs KT B)

12. ahq Korea (Last wk 7) – after having an impressive introduction to the scene, ahq was quick to show every why they were considered to be the weakest team in the tournament. The highlight of ahq’s ineptitude came from the support play Loray who uncharacteristically whiffed on two Crescendos which made Elementz’s Crescendos look good in comparison. Even though the games were definitely close between the two teams, the superior team fighting from Frost made it clear that ahq was not going to come out as victors as the game progressed. The plays from ActScene and Trace still remained top notch and they tried their best to will their team to victory but the bot lane and mid were out classed and ahq just didn’t have enough fire power to deal with Frost. Ahq will need a repeat performance of first week from their bot lane duo if they want to have a chance of winning some matches in the future (Next wk vs. SKT T1 (1))