Four weeks have come and gone in the LCK and yet the standings still remain incredibly close at each end of the table. This week brought us a few upsets, major roster swaps and the introduction of an exciting new phenom in the jungle.
The disparity between the top and the bottom of the league continues to widen. It is clear that the bottom three teams are going to be in a battle to avoid relegations. Yet while the Rox Tigers remain undefeated, spot s 2-5 are completely up for grabs. Let’s take a look at who is looking most likely to separate themselves from the middle of the pack in this week’s power rankings.
S Tier
Rox Tigers (6-0)
(courtesy of OGN)
Seen by many as the top team in the world, the Rox Tigers continue to sit atop the LCK table with a 2-1 win this past week. They did suffer a bit of a surprise as they dropped one game against the struggling Afreeca Freecs. Yet in game three they fell back to some power picks and dispensed the Freecs with ease. The Tigers seemed a bit disinterested in the game they lost but credit should be given to their opposition, as Afreeca certainly had a decent showing.
The one question the Tigers will have to answer is if they are a meta dependent team. In Season 5 the Tigers had a run of games in which they displayed a similar level of domination. However once the meta shifted and their Juggermaw composition was rendered impotent, the Tigers had a drastic drop in quality. Many of their fans still wake up in a cold sweat as they relive the nightmare that was Cinderhulk Hojin. It will be interesting to see if the current Rox lineup suffers a similar fate when the meta inevitably changes.
A Tier
KT Rolster (4-1)
(courtesy of esportsheaven.com)
KT Rolster looked good this week albeit against a lesser opponent. They looked fairly comfortable beating e-mFire in a quick 2-0 series. They struggled a bit in Game 2 until Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho just decided the game was over. Despite being 4-0 on Fiora, it is his Poppy that is terrifying . Over the course of three games he is undefeated with a lofty 15.5 KDA and is looking more ban worthy with each passing game. Ssumday is not their only player performing well, as Go “Score” Dong-bin and No “Arrow” Dong-Hyeon look fantastic and are undoubtedly among Korea’s best at their respective positions. KT possesses a roster that could pose a real threat come the postseason.
While their only loss was against Rox, they haven’t exactly beaten any top teams. They have a hugely important run of games upcoming as they prepare to face SKTelecom T1 and the Jin Air Greenwings in their next two games. We will have a good idea of just how good this team can be.
SKTelecom T1 (4-2)
(courtesy of lolesports.com)
There was not much to learn from SKTelecom T1’s 2-0 stomp over last place Sbenu Sonicboom. The most interesting part of the series was learning it is indeed possible to hard carry on Lulu. Lulu is typically a champion who does a lot of the little things which don’t necessarily show up in the box score. Yet in the hands of Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok this past week, Lulu completely ran the game.
SKT still have a lot of issues to resolve. Surprisingly their bot lane has been by far the most consistent, as Bae “Bengi” Seong-ung and Faker have both struggled from time to time to stay relevant throughout the game. Reigning MVP Lee “Duke” Ho-Seong has been solid, but has not ruled his lane as imperiously as past splits. It is hard to imagine this roster will not turn things around and reach the level of quality everyone had anticipated.
Jin Air Green Wings (5-2)
(courtesy of OGN)
The biggest knock on the Jin Air Greenwings this season has been their easy schedule. Before this week their only decent opponent was Longzhu Gaming, which was also their only lost. This past week they faced another team in the middle of the pack and once again fell in defeat. Samsung played a quality series and Jin Air was defeated in three games.
You have to question Jin Air’s pick ban in this series. The team with Lissandra went on to win all three games. Lee “Cuvee” Seong-jin in particular looked really strong on the Ice Witch but looked completely lost in his game on Ryze. If Jin Air had kept Liss out of Cuvee’s hands, perhaps this series would have gone differently.
Yeo “Trace” Chang-dong is continuing his surprising campaign for league MVP. The man in the top lane possesses the cold hard stare of a killer. His stalwart presence has been the catalyst for Jin Air’s success this season. Despite being camped in this series, he made himself relevant through all stages of the game. Even though Jin Air’s roster has a number of young players, Trace’s play continues to stabilize the team.
B Tier
Longzhu Gaming (3-3)
(courtesy of OGN)
Longzhu Gaming had quite the tumultuous week. In the offseason Longzhu brought in Coco and Chaser to be the focal point for the team. Yet the team has struggled to gel and Shin “Coco” Shin, Jin-yeong “Chaser” Sang-hyun and Gu “Expession” Bon-taek only played one of their five games this past week. Their replacements were Lee “Flame” Ho-Jong, Kim “Frozen” Tae-il and Lee “Crash” Dong-woo and while they played well still dropped a series against CJ Entus.
Even though Flame, Frozen and Crash sound like rejected American Gladiators names, the new trio seem to have breathed new life into the Longzhu lineup. Crash in particular has been so much fun to watch. For all those out there complaining that Nidalee is a terrible pick, watch their second game against CJ and get back to me.
It is hard to know what their best roster is at this point. In 2015 Chaser and Coco were undoubtedly among the best at their position but neither are exhibiting the same level of skill. While Frozen does look solid the team’s biggest decision is going to be in the jungle. If Chaser can’t elevate his game to his previous level expect wunderkind Crash to assume the starting role. The uncertainty of the team’s roster could lead to even more losses in their immediate future.
Samsung (4-3)
(courtesy of OGN)
Samsung picked up a big win this week knocking off Jin Air in three games. The series itself was not exactly pretty, but a win is a win. In Game 1 it seemed like neither team was all that interested in winning. Each team seemed intent on outthrowing the other but a nice flank from Cuvee and Lee “Crown” Min-ho sealed the victory. After getting beat rather easily in game two, they bounced back to close out the series. This win cements Samsung’s place in the middle of the table and closes the gap between them and Jin Air to only one game.
Even though the series was ugly it is becoming increasingly evident that Samsung could very well finish the split at the top half of the table. There really isn’t a huge difference in skill between them and Jin Air, and it is certainly possible Samsung could overtake them in the standings in the coming weeks.
C Tier
CJ (2-3)
(courtesy of OGN)
“Kramer goes to a fantasy camp? His whole life is a fantasy camp.” – Madlife, probably.
The mantra of ‘As Hong “Madlife” Min-gi goes, so goes CJ Entus’is becoming ever more relevant with each passing week. In this series in particular he was outstanding on Bard, getting Jong “Kramer” Hoon Ha ahead and allowing the CJ Bot Lane to carry the team to victory. This was a really solid win for CJ and it will be interesting to see if they can build off of this momentum.
However it was not just their individual play that led CJ to victory. CJ is starting to exhibit foresight in their play that they haven’t shown in previous weeks. They attacked Longzhu with cerebral macro play that was lacking in their first three weeks. This was particularly evident in Game 3 of the series. At one point Kramer built up the bottom lane and rotated top as UI “Untara” Jin-Park teleported in and the team gained a free inner turret. Their itemization was also stellar, as they essentially removed Leblanc from the game with smart and well thought-out buys. It is this type of forward thinking and attention to detail that is separating CJ from the bottom teams in the table.
D Tier
Afreeca Freecs (1-5)
(courtesy of OGN)
Despite having the worst name in the LCK, the Afreeca Freecs are showing signs of improvement. The team seemed so incredibly happy as they celebrated taking a single game off of the Rox Tigers. It was nice to see a team that has been struggling show a bit of joy. The Tigers did not play particularly well in that game, but some of this needs to be attributed to the Freecs play. They got an early lead and credit to them for finding a way to close it out relatively quickly. Many teams that get ahead of a superior opponent flounder around the map unable to find a way to crack open their base. Yet Freecs were able to keep up the pressure, which is a great sign for their future. Of the bottom three teams they seem most likely to pick up a few more wins before the season’s end.
E-mFire (1-5)
(courtesy of OGN)
E-mFire had another rough week as they dropped four straight games. On a brighter note they did not get completely run over, and had one game in each series in which they could have easily won. In their first game against Longzhu they exhibited some improvements to their team strategy. Their wave management was vastly superior to their opponents, and this allowed them to effectively govern the actions on the map. However in a brief moment of madness, they give up a 30 minute free baron and it cost them the game. This game was a great example of a young team making strides towards employing solid macro strategy.
The team still has some huge weaknesses. In Africa, hippos cause more deaths per year than any other animal. E-mFire seem to suffer a similar fate, as Seok “Hipo" Hyeok-jun is often their leading cause of death. He has struggled mightily this split and is looking like a real liability for the team. In a league with an abundance of Top Lane talent, having a weak Top Laner is a real detriment. His 1.4 kda is nowhere near good enough, and he is going to have to improve if e-mFire expect to win another series.
F Tier
Sbenu Sonicboom
(courtesy of OGN)
Another week and another loss for Sbenu Sonicboom. This team has struggled all season and a series against a focused SKT did not make things any easier. The future looks grim for Sbenu as their team struggles from top to bottom. Shin “Nuclear” Jung-hyun has the team’s highest kda at a lowly 3.5. If the team is going to somehow find a win it will be through their Bottom Lane.
The silver lining in all of this is that they are still only one loss behind Afreeca and e-mFire. Due to the huge disparity between the top and the bottom of the league, Sbenu has a real chance of not finishing in last. However in order for that to happen they have to really improve over the next few weeks.
