MSI Power Rankings Discussion thread

(Originally posted on EU forums but there are more people here and I want you guy's opinion too! let's all share and discuss MSI!) So, the mid-season-invitational is coming, and unlike previous years, it will actually affect worlds, so get ready for a rowdy ride, with many people complaining and flaming each other about Region X > Region y (but EU>NA amiright? [slayer-jinx-wink] ) (In case you want to flame me and everything Im just joking and making a reference to the eternal rivalry between EU and NA, but I still luv you too NA.)

But anyways, yesterday on lolesports a post was made where Jatt, Deficio and Spawn each give their rankings for MSI. Now, I wanted to talk a little about what I think on those, and I want to hear everyone's thoughts.

Now something important that I think was not analysed well is that they consider this to be like all the previous MSI's. That is wrong. This year, MSI affects worlds and thus I think unlike past years everyone will take MSI EXTREMELY seriously. (especially as #1 team of their regions, if they get 5th place it's likely they penalise themselves).

SKT: Now no one can argue that today Korea is above everyone. However, in the split, SKT showed that it can be beat and has weaknesses. Many consider those issues fixed, and SKT is definitely the favorite, but unlike what most people think, I see an upset as a definite possibility. G2 has the potential (they need to develop it though) to beat SKT for sure, but FW and RNG definitely could pull one or two games from SKT in the best of one format, and maybe even get an upset win in playoffs. But I still would say that they will be the winners so long as they play seriously, and do not underestimate the competition.

RNG: This is the team that is most controverted in the 2nd to 4th spot so I wanted to analyse them first. China as a region won the last MSI, and did not show up at all at worlds 2015. But worlds was a long time ago, and the past MSI even more. What I see from China overall is that they have a tendency to teamfight far more than any region, and go less for objectives. Many people see that as a bad thing meaning they are weaker. Forgive me for using a game in Europe as comparison, but as a player from EUW this is the best comparison I have: H2K vs. FNC for third place in Europe. H2K was a godlike team in Europe since the start of the split, definitely top 3 and praised even to be the best team in Europe. Yet they lost to Fnatic because their teamfighting abilities lacked. They tried to fix that by picking teamfighting comps, which paid off and they took two games back before falling again in a teamfight on the last game. This season, objectives are extremely weak. One good teamfight can mean victory, and therefore I would see RNG and China as having started a new meta of teamfighting > objectives which could very well dominate (or not ;-P ). RNG and their team-fighting meta is not to be underestimated, and they will be a good team.

FW: Now LMS. There is not that much to say about them. They were good but not amazing last year, they are probably not as good as AHQ but AHQ gave them a throw and they knew how to grab it, which is already good. I see FW as a contender for 4th place but honestly I do not expect much from them yet, as they can only win from MSI (in worlds placement I mean) as Taiwan has always had two seeds, the first one being sent as a 2nd seed from the main regions. SO in the end, no matter what they do they will be happy, and I think that is a good mindset to have to win big. FW shouldn't be challenged lightly, because they have the skills to perform, but I see them as one of the weaker teams in MSI right now.

G2: Now this one is funny to look at. OG at the end of the playoffs looked as good, if not better than last year's OG in semifinals, the first team to enter SKT's base in the world championship. G2 showed that if they get ahead they will crush OG, and if they are behind they can come back and crush them anyways. G2 has looked strong, Perkz is definitely someone to look out for (hey, maybe Europe finally has a new god-killer after febi! I can't wait to see.) and Trick is arguably one of the best junglers going into MSI. Now I don't want to sound biased, but this rookie team was considered below average at the start of the EU split, and no one thought a rookie team could win. Guess what? it happened. Deal with it. A rookie team CAN perform, and Europe has apparently become good at making such teams. I expect a lot from G2, and many people will see them as the probable 2nd spot team at MSI. I want to wait and see how much they can improve, but if the tank meta stays and G2 performs like they did in the EU split they will be a dangerous team that no one should underestimate (not even SKT).

CLG: Now here's the funny part in my analysis: NA is better than people think. They have sucked last year, and their (arguably) best player is the top laner who is stuck in a tank meta where he can't carry (well). However, they have shown that they have AMAZING communication, which is more than some teams at MSI can say, and their ability to play the map is great. If there is one team I expect to play far better than predicted it is CLG, and even if they don't play well, no one expected them to so they have no pressure. CLG is the team I see many teams brush off as clowns, but then have an unpleasant surprise at the start of the split. I see them as 4th-5th place but if they are underestimated they definitely could pull something off to do well at MSI. CLG has always been full of surprises, I am expecting another one at MSI, whether they win or lose.

SUP: Now here I agree for the most part with all analysis: (and I dare anyone to disagree, really) IWC is not good compared to other regions. That's the case, nothing they can do about it as most countries don't have an infrastructure as good as the main regions, and their talents are less developed. Plus they don't have enough money to import great players when they can't win so nothing can be done. They might win one or two games here and there but I do not expect SUP to get out of group stage.

Final Rankings:

1. SKT
2. RNG & G2
3. FW & CLG
4. SUP

Please share your thoughts, I am really interested in everyone's take on this! And let's all have fun together watching MSI starting tomorrow!