After a Hazy Week 2, Week 3 Clarifies Things a Bit
So, due in large part to erratic play, I realized the inaccuracy of gauging each teams' progress following a single weekend of games. For this reason, I decided to make a these power rankings a bi-weekly occurrence, versus weekly. Of course, this may be subject to change depending on what transpires from here on out. But, without further ado, here is my estimation of how each NA LCS team stacks up after three weeks of play.
1. Counter Logic Gaming --- (5-1, 13-9) T-1st
Despite taking their first loss of the split to rival TSM, whom they have yet to defeat in a set this year, Counter Logic Gaming retains the number-one spot. It is with far less confidence, however, that I can claim them to be the best team in the region to this point. Since a 2-0 Week 1, all four of CLG's matches have went to a third game, exposing some of the team's weaknesses. At the same time, however, CLG was able to to close out three of the four deciding matches in convincing fashion, the sole exception being the loss to TSM. Interestingly enough, that loss may have included their most impressive game of the season, a 20-7, 38-minute dismantling of TSM in the opening game. Despite Stixxay going a perfect 5/0/10 on Varus and continuing to make his claim as the top ADC, the story of this game was Huhi and his mid-lane Fiora. We've seen Fiora adopted worldwide as a top-lane counter-pick to the new Galio, but Fiora mid? Well, based on the draft, CLG seemed determined to pick Fiora the moment they saw Galio, and have her follow The Colossus wherever he may go. It also seemed like a premeditated and polished strategy, as Huhi's Fiora mechanics were precise and timely. He finished 5/3/1, including this double kill that broke the game open for CLG.While Huhi continues to surprise with his champion pool, Dardoch seems to be finding his place as a supportive, team-oriented jungler for CLG. In the team's two decisive games last week, he combined to go 4/6/28 on Gragas and Lee Sin, making crucial plays at critical junctures. Those 28 assists give him 138 on the split, putting him a comfortable 20 ahead of Xmithie for the league lead among junglers. In fact, CLG players hold four of the top eight spots when it comes to exist, including league-leader Aphromoo with 159.
Week 4 Opponents: IMT, NV
2. Team Dignitas ↑2 (5-1, 11-6) T-1st
It's official, the new and improved Team Dignitas is the real deal, and is prepared to make serious noise this split. Most will point to star top-laner Ssumday as the catalyst for the team's early success, and for good reason. Ssumday leads all top-laners in KDA (4.8) and kill participation (70%), and is second in assists (102). He has also demonstrated the ability to play whatever the team needs with his notoriously vast champion pool. In the decisive third game against Phoenix1, he went 3/1/14 as Shen with some well-timed ultimates, and even picked up a Knight's Vow to help keep his carries alive. He has not been hesitant to go carry-mode himself, combining for a perfect 3-0 record and a 13.5 KDA on Fiora.
 |
| Shrimp has made an immediate impact for DIG |
Week 4 Opponents: IMT, C9
3. Immortals ↓1 (5-1, 9-6) T-1st
After being one of only three teams to open the season 2-0, Immortals opened Week 2 with a somewhat pitiful performance against Team Envy, in which they went down in consecutive games, neither of which eclipsed 35 minutes. What did both of these games have in common? Top-laner Flame on Galio, which appears to be a strong pick for some, and not so much for others. After going a combined 1/5/5 in his only two games of the season on the champion, the team decided on a return to comfort and dominance, which meant a heavy dose of Renekton for the star top-laner, a champion he is 4-1 on this split. He also broke out his Jarvan IV, going 6/0/8 and forcing a game 3 against Cloud 9, a series which Immortals went on to win.In the same game, ADC Cody Sun debuted his Tristana to the tune of 5/1/9 (14 KDA). In the deciding game, he registered his first win on Xayah, finishing 6/2/4, including a triple kill in the game-winning fight. As teams continue to ban out his favorite champion, Caitlyn, Cody will have to find comfort on different picks in order for this team to succeed. So far, he has been able to do that, as the team holds a share of first place at 5-1. They face a massive test this weekend, however, as they prepare to play the other top teams in the league, CLG and Team Dignitas.
Week 2 Opponents: CLG, DIG
4. Team SoloMid ↓1 (4-2, 9-5) 4th
Despite sitting in fourth place, TeamSoloMid currently has as much momentum as any team in the league. They entered a Week Two showdown with rival CLG at 1-3, with their season hanging in the balance. After being routed in game one, the defending champions found themselves with their backs against the wall, a loss from falling to to a 1-4 record. They responded adequately, putting together perhaps their most impressive performance of the season in game two, orchestrated by Svenskeren's 13/0/12 Lee Sin. One would have to expect teams to begin banning out Sven's trademark champion, or at the very least taking it away. The TSM jungler is 6-1 on the champion this season, with a 4.8 KDA. On all other junglers? He is 3-4 with a KDA less than 3. Including the comeback win against CLG, TSM has reeled of six consecutive game victories. In none of those games has Hauntzer played his underwhelming split-push Kennen, but he has instead returned to comfort in the form of Gragas and Renekton. He is finally starting to look like the player we saw in the spring split, and TSM is finally looking like the dominant team we saw last summer. Expect them to rise in both the power rankings and standings in the weeks to come. 5. Cloud 9 ↑1 (3-3, 8-5) T-5th
Judging by their perfect Week 2, one might assume Cloud 9 is back on track to being the perennial top team they have been. Upon further review, however, Cloud 9 has been far from clean or precise, even in the games they have won. Take their Week 2 victories, one being over the hapless Phoenix1, and the other being virtually gift-wrapped to them time and time again by Echo Fox. In Week 3, they opened with a strong win against Immortals, before dropping the next two against them to lose the series. In these two losses, Impact, who has had an utterly miserable start to the split, combined to 10 times without picking up a single kill. Surprisingly, they stuck with him next series for a fairly convincing victory over FlyQuest. C9 needs to figure out which top-laner the team operates best with, and fast.  |
| The Summer Split has been the Jensen show thus far |
Regardless of who C9 plays in top-lane, they can find comfort in the fact that they may just have the league's current best player patrolling the mid-lane for them. Even in the loss to Immortals, Jensen combined to go 24/3/11, include a 7/0/7 performance on LeBlanc. He followed that up by going a combined 16/1/12 in the team's sweep of FlyQuest. Jensen is making a claim for the best player in the league, as he is the leader in both KDA (6.8) and kills (82) thus far. If C9 wants to progress as a team, however, it cannot just be the Jensen and Sneaky show. Their early games will also have to improve.
Week 4 Opponents: TL, DIG
6. Team Envy ↑2 (3-3, 6-9) T-5th
If judged strictly on their Week 2 performance, Team Envy might be a top three or four team. They made quick work of Immortals in two 33-minute victories, which were some of the cleanest and well-thought out games we have seen from any team this split. To follow that up, they clutched out a game 3 victory over Team Liquid, finishing off a perfect week and putting them at 3-1 and in a share for first. Week 3 was a different story entirely. Team Envy did not win a single game, swept by Echo Fox and TSM respectively. Most inconsistent team in the league thus far? I think so.Week 4 Opponents: CLG, FLY
7. Echo Fox ↓2 (3-3, 8-5) T-5th
After a 2-0 start, Echo Fox has come down to earth and then some, losing three of their past four sets. Their most demoralizing loss came in Week 2 against Cloud 9, a team most expected them to lose to. Fox came out looking to trump that assumption, and dominated Cloud 9 for much of the game. Froggen was incredibly sharp on LeBlanc, able to snowball his early advantage and pick off C9 members with relative ease. The result? Three inhibitors down and a 7.5 K gold lead at 49 minutes. In competitive play, this means near certain victory. From there, however, Fox panicked, failing to take the proper steps and put down the correct vision to effectively end the game. Instead, they repeatedly hurdled themselves headlong into the nexus, hoping and praying it would fall. It never did, and Jensen's Cassiopeia out-scaled everyone for a 61-minute C9 win. By game's end, Fox had taken down 10 turrets to C9's eight, and six inhibitors to just one on the side of C9. Perhaps harping on their mistakes from that first match, Fox managed to throw a 4.4 K gold lead in the second game, with an ill-advised Baron attempt. So in a series they easily could have swept, Fox was instead swept by C9, putting the finishing touches on an 0-2 weekend. While it left me wondering where the leadership was on this team, one must also consider that Grig was playing in place of Akaadian in the jungle. With Akaadian back in the lineup in Week 3, Fox was able to sweep Team Envy, as well as push a top team, Dignitas, to a third game. I am still very much in a wait-and-see mode with this team.
Week 4 Opponents: TSM, NV
Both at 1-5, FlyQuest and Team Liquid are rather difficult to differentiate between. In the end, I gave the edge to FlyQuest because of their ability to repeatedly push teams to decisive game threes. That being said, FLY has yet to win a game three this split, and their only victory came in a sweep of winless Phoenix1. We did see a glimpse of vintage WildTurtle on Caitlyn, as he was able to carry his team to a game 2 win over CLG. The success was short-lived, however, as Stixxay snagged away the Caitlyn in game 3, and CLG put the hammer down in a convincing victory. I don't see FLY being anything more than a middle of the pack team, at best, this split.
Week 4 Opponents: TSM, NV
8. FlyQuest ↑1 (1-5, 5-12) T-8th
Week 4 Opponents: TSM, NV
9. Team Liquid ↑1 (0-2, 0-4) T-8th
Team Liquid was finally able to pick up a win by using their old standby: put Piglet on Caitlyn. The former world-champion chose the Sheriff of Piltover in all three games against
Team Dignitas, combining to go 14/5/13 in the team's two victories. His performance in game three was vintage, accounting for nearly a third of his team's total damage to champions. Don't be fooled, despite playing on a bad team, Piglet is still a top AD carry. He is the only Team Liquid player not in the bottom 20 of the league in terms of KDA. He also matches Sneaky with the least deaths (27) among AD carries, which is shocking considering he plays on a team that is nearly always trailing. Piglet's kill participation (73.2%) is also tops at his position, demonstrating that when TL makes plays, he is part of them. This team simply does not have enough talent around him to compete.
Week 4 Opponents: C9, P1
10. Phoenix1 ↓3 (0-6, 4-12) 10th
It is truly an anomaly how far Phoenix1 has fallen this split, as they shockingly sit winless at 0-6 so far. In Week 2, they were swept by both C9 and FlyQuest to fall to 0-4. In Week 3, they pushed their opponents to game threes, only to fall despite holding significant early gold leads. The most crushing defeat was the most recent one, a 43-minute game 3 loss to CLG. The defending MVP, Arrow, showed up in this game, going 8/2/6 as Twitch, and dealing by far the game's highest damage. Even newcomer MikeYeung played tremendously well, going 6/1/8 on Lee Sin, including some crucial kicks and flashy plays. In the end, it wasn't enough, and it is clear there is something inherently wrong with this team. Perhaps it is the inconsistency at jungle, as this is the only squad to have played three separate players at jungle this season. Whatever it may be, I, strangely enough, still believe in the ability on this team, and expect them to make a push. Unfortunately, they've dug themselves too deep a hole to even sniff playoffs.
Week 4 Opponents: Fox, TL
It is truly an anomaly how far Phoenix1 has fallen this split, as they shockingly sit winless at 0-6 so far. In Week 2, they were swept by both C9 and FlyQuest to fall to 0-4. In Week 3, they pushed their opponents to game threes, only to fall despite holding significant early gold leads. The most crushing defeat was the most recent one, a 43-minute game 3 loss to CLG. The defending MVP, Arrow, showed up in this game, going 8/2/6 as Twitch, and dealing by far the game's highest damage. Even newcomer MikeYeung played tremendously well, going 6/1/8 on Lee Sin, including some crucial kicks and flashy plays. In the end, it wasn't enough, and it is clear there is something inherently wrong with this team. Perhaps it is the inconsistency at jungle, as this is the only squad to have played three separate players at jungle this season. Whatever it may be, I, strangely enough, still believe in the ability on this team, and expect them to make a push. Unfortunately, they've dug themselves too deep a hole to even sniff playoffs.
Week 4 Opponents: Fox, TL
No comments:
Post a Comment