* Courtesy of Riot Games

When someone creates a tier list, it should go without saying that whatever is inside the list is highly subjective and isn’t absolute. The hazy area begins when both the reader and creator misunderstand whether the list is about average performance or peak performance. Herein lies the dilemma of tier lists. The convolution of peak performance and average performance is what most people have difficulty understanding, so I’d like to break this down a bit to get a better understanding of how one should judge the validity of a tier list.

Peak performance is generally what many tier lists’ main criteria are attempting to adhere to. This is not to be convoluted by all-time peak performance. Peak performance is how recently they have been excelling at their position and contrasting this to other members of this field. Benchmarks like these are of a shorter time frame and are a fair standard for measurement, given that rookies can largely muddle the other statistic, average performance, with longer tenured players. Averages are over a longer period of time and since an average of a rookie would be over such a short time, it isn’t worth making a tier list out of this data. To give an example, during Week 5 of NA LCS, Apollo “Apollo” Price had one of the highest DPM among ADCs. That doesn’t make his average performance high, it simply makes his peak high. He has recently had higher DPM than other ADCs, but in the past, compiling his average across multiple meta and teams, his DPM isn’t near Peng “Doublelift” Yiliang’s average.

Average performance, is the ability to maintain a performance over an extended period of time. Keep in mind, this talent is both a measurement for the greatness of someone or the ineptitude of them. Regardless of whether you score them high or low upon your list, what must be taken into account is the longevity of their capabilities. Generally, this average performance should be over multiple splits if possible, or towards the endpoint of a split, all of which gives a decent amount of time to compare the player to other players and decide if they are above or below the median talent of their peers.

* Courtesy of Riot Games

Multiple meta can be a major factor in how someone performs over their career; this is where the measurement of average performance reigns supreme. Over a large time-span, one can measure the consistency of the individual across different meta. This has been seen time and again with a variety of players. There are some who can hold a high average performance, such as Faker, who had gone through a slight slump with the control mage meta and Easyhoon having to step-in, but for the most part has had almost an impeccable record, especially when compared to other players. Faker also holds a very high all-time peak performance, showing the world why he is considered the best player in the world with his inhuman outplays and seemingly impossible positive outcomes during plays, he is considered the best player in the world only because of both the combination of past and present (albeit the miniscule blemish on his record for the current SKT losses). His current peak performance is in question, while still being highly above average, the likes of BDD could see him higher on personal tier lists.

Doublelift is another player who has been in the scene for a long time and can adapt to several different meta. He has had a fantastic average performance, above the league standard for largely the entirety of his career. Focusing on his all-time peak performance, he has the ability to go off in games, showing multiple times that allocating resources to him proves fruitful for his team in gaining the victory. Recently though, his peak performance has been low (not the lowest) when compared to the statistics of other ADCs. He hasn’t been the carry which the team relies on heavily and TSM have been mostly contingent upon Svenskaren and Bjergsen to come away with the win. This can be indicative to the meta of jungle and mid synergy, when previously, he excelled greatly during the Varus and Jhin meta, where lethality ADCs were the most prevalent and a more focal aspect of the team.

* Courtesy of Riot Games

When it comes to judging a rookie, the only useful statistic is peak performance since the epoch of judgement is so brief and they don’t have the multiple meta to calculate a median for average performance. For instance, take a look at Mike “Mike Yeung” Yeung. It’s difficult to pinpoint his average performance over a large span of time, simply because he hasn’t played for long enough. Now, what can be commented upon is his peak performance. He has had a stellar showing with this current meta and one can surely say that he belongs in the higher reaches of anyone’s jungler tier list.

Now one can determine that there is a golden standard when piecing together a tier list; the tier list should be based upon peak performance and not average performance if one makes a list in the midst of a split. If one were to speak of a player’s entire career, then average performance would be a wiser parameter to use. When taking into account Phreak or Jatt’s tier lists, put them under this microscope and then make your overall judgement. If they have diverted from these criteria, one should question the validity of their rankings and wonder if they grasp the concept of separating peak and average performance.