A third of the way through and we start to see where the teams stand. Check out our power rankings after Week 3 of the EU LCS!
With regards to the top of the mountain, this season of the European League of Legends Championship Series has been almost entirely cloudy for the first couple of weeks. The bottom has almost been entirely solidified in a block of ice made from the shed tears of teams making costly mistake after mistake. However, on the other side, it's still not entirely clear to make out, but we can start to see the top teams pulling away from their competition as the season moves forward.
S Tier
H2K Gaming (5-1)
So much for losing Ryu.
Despite having to play the week without their star Mid Laner Ryu "Ryu" Sang-uk, H2K didn't even skip a beat. Granted, their performances were not nearly as dominating as they have played in the past and their sub Marcin "Selfie" Wolski was a bit shaky at times. But, the fact that they were able to topple Team Vitality with these handicaps just continues the thought trend that H2K stand alone on top of the proverbial mountain, even if it ends up being a few more weeks until Ryu can step back on the Rift.
A Tier
G2 Esports (5-1)
This might be a shock to many (maybe even including the team themselves), but G2 Esports defintitely are the second best team in Europe right now.
With their highly aggressive but mostly tightly coordinated play, the new EU LCS squad was able to simply bully out the weaker teams. However, it remained to be seen whether the team could bring something different to the table or compete against mid-to-top tier teams. Defying all expectations, G2 Esports showed up this week, running poke comps that carved out the map and ran over top squads Fnatic and Unicorns of Love. While Mateusz "Kikis" Szkudlarek still might need to prove that he can play a carry-style Top Lane champion, rookie Mid Laner Luka "Perkz" Perkovic has shown that he can absolutely dominate and take over games.
Team Vitality (4-2)
Scary on paper is still pretty scary.
Team Vitality may have been humbled this week against H2K, but the team's sheer player talent and objective control have been able to provide them wins over teams that are unable to exploit their mistakes. In order to rise above the rest of the teams moving forward, Vitality will definitely need to work on minimizing those gaffs or teams with the macro skills will exploit them. If they manage to patch those cracks by the end of the split, they could transform into that fabled superteam that needs to be feared.
B Tier
Unicorns of Love (4-2)
Not bad, Unicorns. Not bad.
Despite losing their dependable early game battery in the form of Jungler Daniel "Diamondprox" Reshetnikov to visa issues, Unicorns of Love still ran strong with their sub Charly "Djoko" Guillard. The team's superior macro play and strategies still carried them to a victory over Elements. We shall have to see whether this will be able to continue as the team faces off against Vitality this coming week with a new sub Jungler, Rudy "Rudy" Beltran.
Origen (3-3)
Origen is back...maybe?
Going 2-0 this week in a strong fashion, the team looks to have fixed most of their hiccups that plagued them earlier in the season. Keep in mind that this was against Elements and ROCCAT, and they are not quite be all the way back to their top 4 Worlds form yet. Origen will face one of their tougher tests in the form of G2 Esports this week, so we shall have to watch that match closely to see if they can finally return to the standard we expected of them coming in.
Fnatic (3-3)
One step forward, two steps back.
Fnatic came out with a win this week, but they definitely do not look nearly as strong as they did before. Faltering in their match against G2, there were even moments in their match against Splyce that the team looked not quite in sync. Despite this setback, the team definitely has the infrastructure and time to recover, whether it be due to language barriers or players still adjusting to new roles.
C Tier
Elements (3-3)
Is this the real Elements?
Losing both of their games against Unicorns of Love and Origen, it will continue to be questioned whether this team can beat any other team that isn't ROCCAT, Splyce, or GIANTS. Despite that, Elements has firmly grasped the middle-tier over the other teams scrambled out of the bottom of the pack to the surprise of all.
D Tier
Splyce (2-4)
Nerves are a difficult thing to overcome.
And it seems that Splyce is still suffering from them as a rookie LCS squad. Finding their second LCS win over the winless GIANTS is one thing, but beating a struggling Fnatic has shown to be a completely other with the all-Danish team. There were glimpses of hope in their Fnatic game however and we shall have to see if Splyce can finally shake their nerves to rise further in the standings.
Team ROCCAT (1-5)
Unfortunately, it looks like the LCS dream of Mohammad "Safir" Tokhi has come to an end for now.
Despite coming in with what many saw to be bottom-tier players, Team ROCCAT has looked to overcome expectations but only fell further into them with an abysmal start. It hasn't been all bad for ROCCAT as the team has pushed advantages on the map and looked strong at times. But, then, at the pivotal teamfights, it all falls apart with Safir nowhere in sight. ROCCAT looks to right this floundering ship this week with a new veteran AD Carry in the form of Erik "Tabzz" van Helvert of Elements/Alliance fame.
F Tier
GIANTS Gaming (0-6)
And it looks like GIANTS Gaming is still on track for an LCS first that they never wanted. 0-18.
Despite putting in a new Jungler Rasmussen "betongJocke" Joachim, GIANTS still looked as lost as ever as they still search for their first win of the season. We shall have to see if there are more drastic measures in mind for the GIANTS squad moving forward to try and actually improve or if they will remain shackled by their repeated mistakes.
