Just two weeks remain until the North American League of Legends Championship Series settles its season-long postseason races. Many contenders stumbled, one contender triumphed spectacularly. Join us as we break it down.
Eloquence is unnecessary. This week was damn fun.
Multiple titans of the NA LCS clashed in Week 7, and goodness, they did not disappoint.
As some teams rise, however, others are beginning to fall quite substantially. Playoff scenarios are becoming clear both for fringe teams just looking to make their way in, and for contenders vying for the best possible playoff matchup.
In my time writing these power rankings, I don't think I've ever had such a hard time deciding who deserved to be where. I suppose we should just give it a shot then, eh?
All photos courtesy of Riot eSports on Flickr.
Follow me on Twitter (@GG_Jankeroo) for more live LCS updates and eSports insight.
S Tier
Immortals (13-1)
There is no shame whatsoever in losing such a wild game.
In fact, Immortals weren’t the only team to meet such a fate this week.
In their first loss of the split, Immortals still played a spectacular game. Their fallibility was finally exploited with a questionable commitment to a late game baron that allowed Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaha into the base for the backdoor victory. Jason “Wildturtle” Tran did all he could to keep his team in it, but Counter Logic Gaming was just too hot this week.
Oh, by the way, Immortals destroyed Echo Fox.
Counter Logic Gaming (10-4)
What. A. Week.
I was winded just watching their weekend victories over Immortals and Cloud 9, two teams that until this weekend CLG took a backseat to.
CLG’s two weekend marathons proved to be two of the best games of the year. Immortals, Cloud 9, and CLG are all giving each other fits, and providing LCS fans with some damn good wholesome weekend entertainment.
If the top four MVP candidates weren’t all on Immortals, perhaps Darshan would be the favorite choice for spring MVP. Without posting gaudy stats, he is still split pushing his team to victory after victory. Or perhaps it would be massively underrated jungler Jake “Xmithie” Puchero, who is absolutely dominating the scene right now.
Watch. Out. For. The. Champs.
A Tier
Cloud 9 (9-4)
Yoon-jae “Rush” Lee is a god.
Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen is a god.
Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi is a troll god.
Cloud 9 played better in a raucous defeat on Sunday that most teams have played in any of their games all split. There is absolutely no shame in losing what will go down as a legendary NA LCS contest. Rush pulled off some of the wildest Lee Sin plays the region has ever seen on Sunday. Jensen was ruthless on Leblanc. And of course, Sneaky does as Sneaky does.
Cloud 9 didn’t lose on Sunday. Counter Logic Gaming won. There were very nearly three teams in the S tier this week.
B Tier
Team Liquid (7-7)
When it comes to playoff contenders outside of the top four, Team Liquid seems to be sailing smooth into the fifth or sixth seed.
The NRG eSports train is beginning to derail, and Echo Fox has to make somewhat of a miraculous run to even contend for a tiebreaker. Meanwhile, this squad was busy committing atrocities upon Team SoloMid. Twenty four kills. To four.
Ow.
Gwang-jin “Piglet” Chae was absolutely thirsty for blood on Sunday, amassing a 10/1/5 stat line. Matt “Matt” Elento was a bonafide playmaker, showing off some depth and shying away from Alistar, which he has found little success with (1-5 record and a 1.74 KDA on the champion.)
Look out for Team Liquid come playoff time. They may not have a chance against the likes of Cloud 9, CLG, and Immortals, but they will most likely earn the 5th seed, pitting them against none other than the likely 4th seed, Team SoloMid. This is a matchup they can win.
Team SoloMid (8-6)
It took all of my power, life force, mana, energy, resources, LV, whatever your flavor is, to not put Team SoloMid in the C tier this week.
Perhaps it was the dominating win over Echo Fox. In every facet of the game, Team SoloMid effortlessly starved out Echo Fox and let them blow away like dust in wind. Sunday’s tilt, however, was a vastly different story.
The 24-4 beatdown at the hands of Team Liquid left Team SoloMid hobbling backstage. The fourth place squad surrendered 10 kills and four towers before earning their first kill and tower eighteen minutes into the contest.
Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim continues to check in with night-and-day performances, being ever-present on a 100% kill participation Alistar one day (0/0/11), then having nearly zero impact on the same champion the next (0/5/2).
This team needs to gel, and they need to do it fast, or they will be embarrassed on the international stage at IEM Katowice, and will find themselves exiting the North American playoffs early.
C Tier
Echo Fox (5-9)
Echo Fox was riding high after a four game win streak that boosted them from a 1-7 record to a serviceable 5-7. Few of those victories were quality, however, and Echo Fox still has contests with CLG and Cloud 9 still on the docket. This week, they find themselves back in their losing ways, dropping contests against two top four teams in Immortals and Team SoloMid.
All told, barring upset victories, Echo Fox is likely to finish the split 7-11, taking two victories away from Team Dignitas and LA Renegades. If the matchups go chalk for Rick Fox’s squad, either Team Liquid or NRG would have to lose out for them to even earn a tiebreaker.
It’s likely too little too late for Echo Fox, which is a damn shame. This is a team that should have been contending from day one. They would likely beat both NRG and TL in a best-of-3 or best-of-5. Instead, they will be watching from home.
NRG eSports (7-7)
The leash keeps getting shorter and shorter.
I was very close to putting NRG eSports in the D tier this week. They continue to beat absolutely nobody of value, and now are rolling into the bye week with an ugly win against the worst team in LCS followed by a futile loss against another inferior team.
Galen “Moon” Holgate exits week 7 with the lowest kill participation on his entire team, though the blame is far from his to bear. Though Chang-suk “GBM” Lee continues to play well on a swath of champions, each other role continues to lag behind. After the departure of Johnny “Altec” Ru, NRG may be scrambling to pick up the pieces on a lost season. To add insult to injury, their last four games of the season come against immortals, Team Liquid, Counter Logic Gaming, and Team SoloMid. The way they look now, they could quite easily lose out. If Echo Fox wins just two of their remaining four games, they could force a decisive tiebreaker sending NRG home for playoffs.
Time to get moving.
D Tier
Team Impulse (5-9)
Another split week for Team Impulse, who actually find themselves in the same situation as Echo Fox as far as playoff contention goes. Two victories coupled with either NRG or TL losing out, and Team Impulse will find themselves in a position for a tiebreaker.
One of those wins would be at the expense of basement-dwelling Renegades, which might be a reliable victory for TIP. That elusive second victory would have to be achieved against either Team Solomid, Cloud 9, or Immortals.
Good luck.
Team Impulse snuck a surprisingly methodical victory over crumbling NRG eSports on Sunday, keeping their slim (and ever-so-unexpected) playoff hopes alive. It is a massive credit to this team to even be in this position considering the level of play expected of them in the preseason. This team has strong potential next split. Signing more serviceable solo lanes would bring this team new life. I’m actually quite excited to see what this team has in store for us.
F Tier
Team Dignitas (4-10)
You’re playing LA Renegades. Your mid laner finishes the game 11/0/3. You have a four kill advantage, earned first blood, secured baron once, led in dragons, all with a composition that synergizes beautifully. This is a recipe for a resounding LCS victory in any reasonable sphere of existence.
This is a free victory. I suppose then that Team Dignitas is clearly on another planet.
A day after getting corporally punished by Cloud 9, Dignitas floundered, completely squandering yet another breakout performance by Danny “Shiphtur” Le, who has a top 5 KDA among mid laners who have played all split.
Dignitas’ performances are an absolute shame. On paper, this team should not be this bad. On the rift, they’re hard to watch. I fully expect them to be challenged in the relegation tournament.
Renegades (2-12)
Sure, Renegades secured their first victory in over a month. Sure, they strengthened their bid for a higher relegation tournament seeding. Problem is they won against perennial disappointment Team Dignitas with a temporary Seraph buff in a game that saw Rift Herald securing a double kill against Alberto “Crumbz” Rengifo and Nickolas “Hakuho” Surgent. I must admit, I’m not impressed.
Encouraging though is the continued confidence that Renegades seems to be showing. Their early game performance against fringe playoff team NRG eSports was fantastic, but they simply could not translate opportunities into any tangible advantages.
The past two weeks have been a vast improvement over the Renegades of old, who seemingly were playing with locked cameras fully zoomed in. Still, I would be surprised if they were not relegated by Apex.
Thank you for reading! Feel free to comment.
