Power Rankings 3/15/2016

Teams shift their rosters in the aftermath of IEM Katowice and in preparation for Playoffs and Relegation.

Feel free to skip ahead to your region of choice.

NA LCS | EU LCS | LMS | LPL | LCK | International

NA LCS

Written by Carlos "h0tsawce" Bravo

• S Tier: IMT (15-1) | (+) C9 (11-5)
• A Tier: (-) CLG (11-5)
• B Tier: (-) TSM (9-7) | TL (8-8) | NRG (8-8)
• C Tier: (+) REN (3-13) | EF (6-10)
• D Tier: DIG (4-12) | TIP (5-11)

Well, this was certainly an interesting week for NA LCS. Yes, there was the new global CS record (set by Echo Fox's Froggen), but we also saw some unconventional team comps, unnecessarily close games, and yeah, perhaps a throw or two. But at the end of it, we also have our first three Playoff teams secured (IMT, C9 & CLG), with the battle for the final spots heating up. Next week is going to be pivotal for nearly every team in the NA LCS, as even teams who have no shot at Playoffs are jockeying for Relegation battle position. With all of this in mind, let’s check out this week’s rankings!

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S Tier: Immortals (15-1) | Cloud9 (11-5)

Whelp... I tried to warn you this was coming! Immortals have been looking increasingly beatable of late. "Why?" of course, is the question of the day, and one possible reason is Adrian's lack of diversification beyond Janna and Soraka. Immortals still have plenty of things going for them, though. WildTurtle is still performing at the highest level of his career, Huni can hard carry any game, and Reignover is a front runner for NA LCS MVP. With the #1 seed for Playoffs locked in, Immortals now has a choice -- experiment with new strategies in advance of the post-season, or save those strats in a bid to take home the Spring title.

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Just another 2-0 week for Cloud9 and another MVP week for Jensen. Must be looking rosy in the C9 camp, right? Not so fast. Although Cloud9 managed to beat the admittedly improved Renegades on Saturday, it was a laborious affair with a lot of mistakes. In particular, Rush struggled on Gragas in both games, which only raises more concerns about his champion pool. Jensen was deserving of his MVP this week, but still struggled early on vs. Ninja. On the bright side, Sneaky was able to show off his much-touted Jhin, and justified why the champ is so frequently banned against him. Cloud9 has two winnable games next week vs. Echo Fox and Liquid, and I'm sure fans are hoping for cleaner victories heading into the Playoffs.

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A Tier: Counter Logic Gaming (11-5)

What a difference a couple of weeks make. Without a doubt CLG had a poor showing at IEM Katowice, and there was concern that performance would affect them in LCS. On Saturday, that certainly appeared to be the case. With a terrible team comp, CLG were routed in convincing fashion. Let’s be real here, CLG is not a team that can afford bad Champion Select, since they rely so heavily on macro strategy and rotations to win games. CLG looked slightly better on Sunday, but as talented teams continue to improve, the question becomes how NA's reigning champs will regain their form in time for Playoffs.

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B Tier: TSM (9-7) | NRG (8-8) | Liquid (8-8)

TSM has had an interesting two weeks as well. After a solid Semifinal performance at IEM, we thought that maybe TSM were finally on the right track. It’s always difficult to tell with these mercurial talents, and it has to be said that TSM’s IEM group was much easier than CLG’s. TSM’s volatility was on full display over the weekend, with an easy victory over Team Impulse and a surprising defeat to the new-look Renegades. Shot-callling seems to be the area where TSM needs to be the most improvement, and that's where the team's EU LCS champion Yellowstar must step up if the team hopes to salvage the split.

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NRG were a team free-falling, but a quality victory vs. Liquid has allayed some fears about missing Playoffs. Impact was given an opportunity to shine with Nautilus, and while still a tank, Nautilus is a champion that can carry games. In no small part thanks to Moon's mid-lane ganks, GBM was able to exert map pressure that converted to plenty of kills. Still, NRG are far from where they want to be -- many of the same issues we usually attribute to NRG were on full display on Saturday against Immortals. With Playoffs squarely in their sights, NRG need to work on some of those issues starting next week vs. CLG and TSM.

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Liquid’s meteoric rise came to a screeching halt this last Sunday, when they were systematically beaten by NRG. Still, Liquid crushed CLG on Saturday, and although an unsuccessful team comp from CLG played a part, it wasn’t the only reason for the TL victory. Dardoch seems at ease with Lee Sin, and Lourlo has become a steady presence in the top lane. With one of their final two games being vs. a struggling Team Dignitas, it seems likely Liquid are Playoff bound.

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C Tier: Echo Fox (6-10) | Renegades (3-13)

Echo Fox have come crashing back down to the Rift over the last few weeks, losing three of their last four. They could very well have been on a four-game losing streak if not for the marathon game victory over Team Dignitas, which featured Froggen's aforementioned CS record (764, for those counting at home). Poor positioning by Big, Keith, and kfo were primary contributors in their defeat to CLG on Sunday. For now, Echo Fox are a team with an outside chance of making the Playoffs, and that isn’t half-bad considering the roster issues they've had this split.

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Renegades decided to play with fire by upending their roster with two weeks left in Spring. It paid immediate dividends, as the team was competitive vs. Cloud9 and beat TSM this weekend. Some issues still remain, specifically with shot calling and macro gameplay, but things are looking more promising than two weeks ago. The addition of Ninja and Seraph was definitely a calculated risk, but one that's thus far working.

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D Tier: Team Impulse (5-11) | Team Dignitas (4-12)

After losing five of their last six games, Team Impulse are flailing with no help in sight. While we have seen occasional signs of quality, they are too few and far in between. The fact of the matter is most teams in the league are improving, while Impulse seems to have plateaued. With Relegation battles around the corner, Impulse would be wise to switch their focus on preparing for that.

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This weekend was brutal for Team Dignitas, after two very long games (48 and 67 minutes) and blowing 9k+ gold leads on both Saturday and Sunday. Still, let’s try to take away some positives. Shiphtur has been playing very well all split, and was a shining star in Week 8 in particular. Also, Team Dignitas pushed Immortals to their very limits, and that’s nothing to scoff at. Heading into their final week this split with some tough matchups vs. Liquid and CLG, we will see how much mental fortitude Team Dignitas really has.

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EU LCS

Written by James "Obscurica" Chen

• S Tier: G2 (13-3) | H2K (13-3) | VIT (12-4)
• B Tier: UOL (9-7) | OG (9-7) | FNC (9-7)
• C Tier: EL (5-11) | SPY (5-11)
• D Tier: GIA (2-14) | ROC (3-13)

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S Tier: G2 Esports (13-3) | H2K (13-3) | Vitality (12-4)

At the moment, the only teams that can take games off of Europe's top three teams are... well, a fellow top three team. H2K had a comparatively easy schedule last week, facing off against Splyce and ROCCAT -- not exactly on comparative tiers of strategic development or gameplay at this time.

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The story's a little different from Vitality and G2, featuring tense mid lane duels between Nukeduck and Perkz, and interesting compositional choices like with Vitality's Nasus top. But while Nasus did what Nasuses are prone to do (stacks stacks stacks!), it turns out that a bunch of innate tankiness and Wither are still not enough to keep AD carry Emperor from going off like an angry rocket. However, with Hjarnan picking up quadrakills off G2's erroneous late-game engagements, G2 had to work hard for the win over their fellow front runner -- and this raises an ominous specter for how well any of these teams can do against each other come Playoffs.

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B Tier: Unicorns of Love (9-7) | Fnatic (9-7) | Origen (9-7)

The good news for Fnatic and Origen fans: their slump is over! Just in time for Playoffs. Fnatic's still riding that Katowice high, bowling over the GIANTS and keeping things respectably competitive against top-ranking VIT -- in other news, don't ever let Rekkles play Jhin if you value your KDA.

The bad news for Unicorns fans is that, while they're probably not going to get knocked out of Playoffs, there's a definite lack of something -- mostly shot-calling. Thirty-three minutes into the game against Origen, missed skill shots from both Loulex and Vizicsacsi handed off initiative to the enemy team. They're still in B-tier for now, but their grasp on it seems increasingly precarious.

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C Tier: Elements (5-11) | Splyce (5-11) | Roccat (2-14)

The good news for Elements, ROCCAT, and Splyce alike is that they're all showing definite signs of life as the end of the split approaches. ROCCAT in particular gave Origen a serious bruising in a 50-minute long game -- though a lethal lapse in judgment before the dreaded altar of Baron Nashor sacrificed their efforts up to that point... like so many teams before them.

Though Elements lost a grudging match against Splyce, they finally tore victory out of the grasps of a struggling Unicorns of Love. Worth highlighting, in particular, is the synergy between Steve and Gilius, as their efforts to suppress the increasingly popular Rammus top lane left the Unicorns with a major vulnerability.

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D Tier: Giants Gaming (3-13)

Suffice to say, wallowing alone at the bottom of the standings suggests nothing positive about a team. Even with -- or maybe because of -- the substantial late-term roster changes, the GIANTS look and play like they're working off fumes alone. Wisdom isn't offering much as a jungler, to be frank, and the team almost got perfected by Fnatic. Against the even-better G2? They were lucky to pick up a single kill in the very last team fight, though getting aced in the process didn't exactly help.

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LMS

Written by Clement Chu

• S Tier: AHQ (9-0-1) | (+) FW (7-2-1)
• A Tier: TPA (5-2-2) | (+) HKE (2-1-7)
• B Tier: MSE (1-4-2) | M17 (4-3-3)
• C Tier: (-) XG (2-6-2)
• D Tier: CGE (0-10-0)

Record format: (Win-Loss-Draw)

Welcome back to the LMS! After a long hiatus due to IEM, we now have two weeks to go over in this edition of Power Rankings. The biggest storylines: ahq finally stumbles, with HKE’s "law of the draw" trumping over ahq’s 14 game win streak. Second, MMD returns to the Flash Wolves lineup! While there was nothing wrong with Rin’s play, FW has decided on developing the depth of their roster since they already secured a spot in the Playoffs.

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S Tier: ahq e-Sports Club (9-0-1) | (+) Flash Wolves (7-2-1)

ahq are showing some signs of lapses in concentration in recent matches: they finished a game being behind in kills against XG and slipped up against HKE to suffer their first loss of the season. AN admitted after the game that he had simply forgotten what they were suppose to be doing after a pause. The result was AN's Kog’Maw becoming road kill, and the end ahq's perfect season dream. However, ahq are just too experienced and talented, that even when it seems as Westdoor and Ziv are the only ones awake at the wheel they will probably continue to win games.

This is the first time since the season started that I’m moving Flash Wolves to the S Tier. They have been playing like a well honed blade, slicing through the opposition to eight straight victories. The Wolves have finally hit their stride by making plays early in the game and picking high impact champions. Maple won last week’s MVP with Zed and LeBlanc, and this week’s MVP has been SwordArT after seven straight wins on Thresh. Just how dominant have the Flash Wolves been? For every Flash Wolf killed, they take five enemies with them -- they hold a kill death ratio of 98:17 in the past two weeks.

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A Tier: Taipei Assassins (5-2-2) | (+) Hong Kong eSports (2-1-7)

Morning got the wake up call when Yue subbed in for him at the top lane; he now boasts a much improved 70% kill participation. When TPA are winning, they’re crushing: the team leads opponents by 5.5k at 20 minutes in the games they win, a league best. It’s the games that they’re losing that are worrying, because it seems like they never had a chance. Game 2 against HKE was decided in Champion Select as the team lacked damage to stop Rokenia’s Nautilus from bulldozing through team fights. It’s clear that TPA is a team that plays with high finesse with certain compositions. Maybe it's time to diversify.

You’re never entirely sure which HKE shows up to game night. They’ll defeat ahq and then lose two games without managing a single kill to Machi and TPA. The biggest difference seems to be what type of game MapleSnow is playing. Against TPA in the first game, he was heavily targeted on Nautilus and denied farm. When he was let loose against Machi, his Fiora was chasing BoBo past multiple towers for solo kills. This is a team of very high highs and low lows. I’m leaning towards the former appearing more often hence the A rating. They’ll need to work on Champion Select and early game to secure a Playoff spot over Machi.

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B Tier: Midnight Sun (1-4-2) | Machi (4-3-3)

Midnight Sun won 90% of the series vs. Machi, but a Baron throw coupled with lengthy death timers meant they were given a loss 50 seconds later. The second game however showed just how frightening these Lynx cubs have become. They beat Machi both times in the early game, a feat that is rarely accomplished. Compared to last split when M1ssion and CorGi were both relegated to the bench, this season they’re simply playing out of their minds. Tips: do not let M1ssion get his hands on Viktor!

Machi has really gone off the experimental end of spectrum this week, bringing out long forgotten champions in Kayle and Jinx. The results are not encouraging. While Taizan has been spectacular, everyone else has seemed a bit lacking at times and Machi are losing their grip on the early game. That’s bad news since they’ve never been good late. Schedule wise Machi still holds the slimmest of leads over HKE. The problem is that while HKE has the potential to upset teams like AHQ and FW, I don’t really see Machi accomplishing the same feat.

C Tier: (-) XGamers (2-6-2) 

XGamers seems to have taken a hit to their confidence. After a five game win streak at the start of the season, they’ve only managed 1 win in the past 14 games. Many have been close games with hard fought battles, but when teams learned to camp SuwaKo, they have been unable to respond. Yo also has to take some blame for being caught out as often as he has. Instead of contending for a Playoff spot, they will now be looking to fend off a surging MSE for Relegations.

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D Tier: Cougar eSports (0-10-0)

CGE has once again, gone through roster changes. CandyBB is out, while Never now plays the AD position and Rabi2 now plays support. They do look better than previous weeks, however a tough schedule vs. ahq and FW has cut their efforts short. On the bright side, SpeaR is finding fans after a genuinely touching interview about his struggles to get into esports. A wounded basketball athlete who then spent years as a laborer, SpeaR says "I cherish every moment on this stage." Hopefully they will find the elusive first win before the season ends.

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LPL

Written by Indiana "Froskurinn" Black

• S Tier: QG (9-1)
• A Tier: (+) RNG (7-2) | (-) EDG (5-4) | (+) WE (6-4)
• B Tier: (+) OMG (6-4) | SS (6-3) | iG (6-4)
• C Tier: (+) LGD (2-8) | VG (4-5) | (+) M3 (3-6)
• D Tier: EPA (2-7) | HYG (1-9)

After a mid-tier performance at IEM Katowice, Royal Never Gives Up and the QG Reapers return to the LPL to resume play for Week 6. Halfway through the Split, and with the cross-conference matches almost finished, the LPL has simmered to reveal a healthy mid-tier but stagnating elite. Edward Gaming have truly fallen from the throne, while RNG show up with a completely new roster following their international appearance.

The only constant performance are the QG Reapers, but not without the adjustment of their roster from Peco to Uzi. Outside of them, Team WE and OMG are punching above their roster's expectations and starting to eat into the leads of the top bracket. As the second rotation of the Group Stage commences, the mid pack has organized and matured to give the expected elite a real run into Playoffs.

We’ve got a race on our hands.

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S Tier: QG Reapers (9-1)

Despite a less than ideal performance on the international stage, QG returned to the LPL with a punch, taking down Edward Gaming 2-0. Upon a closer look, the series was EDG’s to lose, however; two critical errors in late game positioning cost the LPL Champions as QG managed to firmly unseat EDG despite 5th dragon, a gold deficit, and Deft’s Kog’Maw.

More important to take away from this series was QG’s decision to start Uzi; and the audience got a reminder why in game two when Uzi somehow got his hands on Kalista. His KDA was off the charts, and he demonstrated exactly what he’s famous for: mechanics. But outside the flash and brutality of QG, some leftover lessons of IEM were reflected: Rift Herald.

QG suddenly have a disposition around the Rift Herald, utilizing it in much that same way that Fnatic did to defeat them internationally. The monster objective was used throughout the weekend by Swift, and not only to assist in a faster clear speed with the empowered recall and bonus movement speed. He frequently moved bottom to help reset waves and prioritize sieging.

QG still rest on their ability to team fight, but they’ve started to diversify their playstyle in the early game. Late split adjustments to roster and style may make or break QG come Playoffs, but in the short-run, they continue to sit on top.

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A Tier: (+) Royal Never Gives Up (7-2) | (-) Edward Gaming (5-4)  | (+) Team WE (6-4)

It was tempting to drop RNG despite their victory over Energy Pacemaker.All. Not only did RNG balloon a 10K deficit in one game, but -- more importantly -- they started a completely different roster. For the first time in six weeks, LetMe, InSec, Sask, NaMei, and Ley took the stage in dramatic fashion.

True to InSec’s style, Master Yi Jungle would come out of left field to save the day for RNG, but the question looms: for how long? Are RNG simply resting their former starting roster following the International event? Or, like so many LPL teams of old, is international competition a precursor to roster adjustments?

There is no dispute that the IEM iteration of the roster is far superior.

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Dropping behind RNG are EDG who were bested by QG 2-0 this week in their only match. Again, drafting problems seem to plague EDG as they managed to acquire Deft’s Kog’Maw in both games, but gave up Uzi’s Kalista in response. The larger issues however are individual decision making and a stagnant strategy.

Where QG would beat EDG around the map, it was EDG’s established preference for Dragon and team fighting in that corridor that kept them afloat. Yes, EDG only lost game one due to PawN and Clearlove’s misposition, but their style remains stale and immature in the current meta-game.

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New to the tier are Team WE, whose roster is finally paying dividends as Zero and Condi step up into form. Like RNG Mlxg, Condi should now be regarded in the same respect. Once a scrappy, skirmish, jungler who could seemingly hard-carry random plays with artistic mechanics -- Condi has refined his aggression to a more consistent threat making WE a consistent team.  

Or as consistent as LPL teams go.

Xiye is another standout for Team WE -- he took RoOKie on head-to-head in WE’s 2-0 over Invictus Gaming and then flexed his Nautilus Mid through the weekend, earning MVP and a new standard of expectations for the team.

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B Tier: OMG (6-4) | Snake eSports (6-3) | Invictus Gaming (6-4)

Outside WE moving up into A Tier, B Tier retains the same clubs, but subtle shifting has begun as more teams prep to make the leap. OMG who started the split in D Tier, have now climbed the ranks to the top of B through their surprising synergy in team fighting.

The rag-tag roster lead by Cool or Icon, managed to best Snake this weekend. It was a clash of styles as SS still rely on their lane swap ability to forge early leads in a fighting region, but SMLZ in particular was the catalyst to OMG’s success and seems to have found his groove on this hyper-carry patch. Concerns still loom between the discrepancy of Cool vs. Icon; both are talented mechanically, but OMG look like a fierce force helmed by Icon and it’s a shame to throw that away due to Cool’s seniority.

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This does mean that SS have to drop below OMG. Where the Dark Forces find strength in unity, SS are more of a hydra these days, each head slithering off in a different direction or fighting over the same resources. Flandre, zzR, and Ella continue to perform in team fights, but TANK and Martin/Kryst4l just aren’t on the same page and this is exposed by the likes of OMG and other proficient fighting teams.

Which is, pretty much, everyone in the LPL.

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Speaking of one-dimensional strategies, iG -- true to iG -- have beaten the top two teams in their group, but then immediately fallen to bottom teams. They faced WE and Masters3 this weekend, losing both matches in convincing fashion. iG have completely abandoned their bottom lane. Between zero ganks and a rotating ADC of Time or Rain, teams have picked up on the obvious weak point of iG and continue to punish it.

Why fight RoOKie head-on when you could just neutralize the lane with a safe wave-clear mid while your jungler exploits the fact that no one is coming to save Kitties and Friend? Exactly.

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C Tier: LGD Gaming (2-8) | Vici Gaming (4-5) | Masters 3 (3-6)

LGD have had one of the most front-loaded schedules of any team in the last three weeks. Before their 2-0 victory over VG, LGD faced iG, EDG, and RNG. Recently, the team had looked better in those defeats than they had in their one victory. One can only speculate that it was time finally bringing the team together.

Eimy returned to the jungle and MaRin peaked in the top lane, but it was the cohesion of these two units that really sparked LGD. For the first time this split, LGD looked like a team -- not the team that was expected -- but certainly coordinated. Imp’s overextensions were covered by multiple Teleport responses, and MaRin’s carry Quinn was shadowed by Eimy’s presence, waiting for the chance to countergank.

LGD have a jungler, a clue, and hope to yet scrape into playoffs.

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On the other side, VG are still crippled by their lack of consistent carry. Easyhoon will always be a strong point in lane, but his reluctance to impact the map around him means it’s more on VG’s side lanes to carry Easyhoon into late-game relevance than Easyhoon to bridge his team together. It has been speculated that VG are unfortunately just second best to a lot of surprising performers in their group, but with each match, it’s becoming unclear how high VG would rise in the other group -- if at all.

And speaking of the other group, M3 seem to have found exactly what VG are missing: win conditions. The tandem picks of Savoki’s Tham Kench and PentaQ’s Jinx are a match made for results. PentaQ’s inability to lane is finally curbed by Savoki’s hunger, easily gobbling up the mispositioned ADC and getting M3 through the rough patches.

If M3 can demonstrate they’re not champion reliant, they will continue to move in the rankings. Right now, M3 owns the last seed into Playoffs for Group A, but a ramping LGD are starting to become a threat and may overtake them if M3 can’t diversify their draft.

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D Tier: Energy Pacemaker.All (2-7) |  Hyper Youth Gaming (1-9)

Bringing up the bottom are the two LSPL teams that can’t. EPA has certainly had more success than their partners in crime HYG -- but not by much. These two teams have demonstrated the ability to play standard lanes well enough, but are riddled by poor individual decision making. The teams and players are young, and their lack of experience in a league stacked with some of the best talent individual talent in the world will continue to keep them down.

At this point, EPA could still spring for a Playoff run, but it’s far more likely that they’ll be the determining factor between M3 and LGD for the last seed. Either way, HYG and EPA have both shown bright spots in their roster and surely some of their players will develop to great things under different club banners.

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LCK

Written by Alex Manisier

• S Tier: ROX (11-1)
• A Tier: JAG (9-3)
• B Tier: CJ (7-5) | KTR (8-4) | LZ (6-6) | SKT (6-4) | SSG (7-5)
• C Tier: Afrecca (3-7)
• D Tier: KDM (1-11) | SBENU (0-12)

Welcome to Round 2 of Champions Spring! The break was a little quiet in Korea, as only two teams made roster changes during the break. SKTelecom T1 dropped substitute mid laner Scout, while CJ Entus added former Keyd Stars (and Blaze) jungler Daydream to their bench.

More importantly, CJ’s new mid laner Bdd has finally made his Champions debut, having turned 17 two weeks ago. CJ have been undefeated in matches since he started, while ROX Tigers finally had their win streak broken. Round 2 is set to be even more exciting than Round 1 -- who will make it into Playoffs?

(And where’s Piccaboo?)

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S Tier: ROX Tigers (11-1)

The ROX Tigers finally had their claws clipped last week as Samsung Galaxy took them out in two masterful performances. We can’t even say that they tilted from IEM, since they didn’t even go this year. Still, as CloudTemplar said on Radio LoL, it was better that ROX lost now rather than later. After all, learning to play from behind is an important skill for any team.

ROX are still the best team in Korea. Samsung did extraordinarily well to exploit their greed for large creep waves, but it would be disrespectful to a team as successful as ROX to assume that they won’t fix that very fixable issue. Coach NoFe has promised to rebound -- we’ll just have to see if his team will deliver.

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A Tier: Jin Air Green Wings (9-3)

While commentating Match 5 of the AlphaGo vs. Sedol Lee match, professional Go player Michael Redmond mentioned that the last 30 moves in a Go match are "really easy." The idea is that at a certain point in any game, the outcome is decided -- the rest is just a matter of playing it out properly. In League, maybe it’s a 10k gold lead, or perhaps it’s a Baron.

It’s this philosophy that has skyrocketed Jin Air to second place on the ladder. We criticise Jin Air for being slow to win against weaker teams, but by being deliberate in their endgame, Jin Air have developed the ability to recognise game-winning opportunities and avoid throwing games that they should win. While it may not be the most flashy skill, it’s a deceptively dangerous one. I mean, did you notice how far they crept up the standings?

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B Tier: CJ Entus (7-5) | KT Rolster (8-4) | Longzhu Gaming (6-6) | SKTelecom T1 (6-4) | Samsung Galaxy (7-5)

If the B Tier seems a little inflated this week, that’s because it is. Korea’s middle pack has shifted up and down over the course of the season, but right now, it’s the biggest it’s ever been. There isn’t a clear #3 in the LCK right now, and that’s because all the teams after ROX and Jin Air are lacking something. Some teams lack ROX’s finely tuned teamwork and sheer roster strength. Others are monstrous on paper, but lack the deliberation and methodical play of Jin Air.

The good news is that all the B Tier teams know what they need to work on. With ace mid laner Bdd now in the mix, CJ have to stabilise the top side of the map in the early game. KT need to avoid losing their head when one lane goes poorly. Longzhu need to figure out a consistent starting roster. SKT T1 need to have a firmer grasp on their win conditions. Samsung need to put more trust into Ambition and Crown and tone down the side lane heroics.

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C Tier: Afreeca Freecs (3-7)

Afreeca came very close to taking out SKTelecom T1 2-0 last week, but a superhero performance by Faker allowed the IEM champions to find their heads and come back with a 2-1 victory. If anything, Afreeca proved that they aren’t a team to be taken lightly -- not a TSM or Fnatic to be decisively executed at the 25-minute mark.

They’re still clearly the 8th place team, but they’re playing poke comps just as well as any other Champions team. Like with Longzhu, poke comps seem to be a reliable way for Afreeca to simplify the game and play it one step at a time. They just need to extend it to other strategies.

D Tier: Kongdoo Monster (1-11) | SBENU Sonicboom (0-12)

The two worst teams in Champions will face off this week, and with Flawless’ rising form, this will be the best chance SBENU have had to get themselves on the board. Both teams have distinct strengths, but critical flaws: Kongdoo have a strong pick/ban phase, but lack a single player with a killer instinct who can transition a natural lead into a win. SBENU have those star players, but tend to pick strange comps without clear direction (and end up playing as such).

It’s too late to make a run at Playoffs, but both teams have a lot of footage to review which should serve them well heading into Relegations. Don’t be surprised if you see both Kongdoo and SBENU back for Champions Summer!

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International

There have been a number of dominant teams across regions this season, but few teams have subjugated opposition as much as these two squads have. This week we look at the teams who consistently end the game faster than their peers seem capable of.

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Flash Wolves

Written by Clement Chu

A team fight erupts in the Dragon pit, swords clash and spells fly while the audience gasps and cheers as the tides turn. In the backstage however, the demeanour is rather indifferent. "Most of these fights are unnecessary", Fluidwind lamented. "These teams are playing for kills, but this is a game of towers."

Fluidwind has been a main character in the Taiwanese League of Legends story for years. A beta player whose team contended with the early forms of TPA, he later became a popular caster and then transitioned to coaching, finally taking over the reigns as analyst on the Flash Wolves last year. There were some doubts at first, but those notions were quickly dispelled as the Flash Wolves catapulted from a team that missed the GPL into a Quarterfinals team at Worlds. Fortunately for the LMS, Fluidwind still finds the time to sit at the caster desk as a color caster, giving us a glimpse into his mind. He’s known for his deadpan humor and piercing analysis, which has garnered him the moniker "The Prophet".

Under Fluidwind, the Flash Wolves have become the fastest and cleanest team to win games in the LMS. For two consecutive splits they have held the shortest average game time in their victories. This season is no exception. The Wolves are tearing through opponents in record speed at 28:32, with 60% of their wins coming under 30 minutes. Similarly amazing is how dominating the wins have been looking. Unlike ahq who are often willing to bash skulls for a chance at running away with a lopsided team fight, the Wolves act like a scalpel with surgical precision. This is reflected in the kill to death ratio. While ahq trades two kills for every death in wins, the Wolves nearly double that number, trading 3.89 kills for every death in their victories.

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The philosophy behind this level of finesse is sound. According to Fluidwind: "The way the game works is defensive items are cheaper than offensive, trading kills tends to hurt the aggressors over time." For him, It is often preferable to keep the tempo of the game under control and go for plays that will decapitate the enemy in a single stroke. As Fluidwind often describes on the caster desk, the success of a battle should be measured by how far it "progresses" the game more than the mere outcome.

But what exactly is the correct fight to take? Which one will "progress" the game? The answer: The turret dive. The typical game for the Flash Wolves involves creating picks off SwordArT’s roams or a Maple outplay, then quickly turning this number advantage into tower diving scenarios on the side lanes. The potential gains from picking up kill and assist gold, turret gold, and denying the enemy experience from built up minion waves, is massive -- a single successful dive can often lead to an early victory. The Wolves know this, and their kills heat map reads exactly like enemy turret coordinates. In two of their games against MSE and CGE last week, aside from solo catches in the jungle, every kill was secured underneath an enemy turret. Oftentimes, the threat of a turret dive was enough to force the enemy to simply give up their defensive positions, not only giving the FW gold, but a massive tempo lead as they then swap into the another lane to initiate a second dive. It only takes 2:53 on average for Flash Wolves to take a second turret after the first (by comparison it takes TPA 4:59 despite having a better GD@20) When the Flash Wolves snowball, they snowball hard.

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Diving is the most high-risk high-reward play in the League, but if initiated well, the risks can be mitigated. "We build compositions that can make things happen. Maple especially, always picks high impact champions," says Fluidwind. Maple’s assassins are well suited for the job, because they can create picks that lead to dives in the first place, and they have the burst damage to end dives quickly. The rest of the composition is rounded out with picks that can tank or evade tower damage. Poppy and Malphite, Elise and Kindred, throw in Ezreal’s burst for good measure and SwordArT’s Thresh/Alistar. Once the Flash Wolves pick someone off on the map, it easily translates into action, which in turn is giving them fast wins. So if you’re a little tired of drawn out LCK games, or if your heart is still aching from being a Dignitas fan, the fast, clean, and deadly Flash Wolves might be a good change of pace.

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Immortals

Written by Carlos Bravo

It’s 11:40 into Immortals’ second ever game together, last game of Week 1. Their opponent, Team Impulse, are about to make a pretty basic dive on Huni’s Fiora with Nidalee, Dr. Mundo, and Twisted Fate. All of a sudden, Huni ripostes TF’s gold card and puts the Grand Challenge on Dr. Mundo killing him, while Nidalee is behind the tower as well and diving. This play is the most memorable part of an incredible game, where we saw Immortals not only have the fastest victory ever in NA LCS play (18:20), but our first true perfect game as well (0 deaths, while keeping every tower, objective, and inhibitor). Moments like this inspired our international section of the Power Rankings this week, where we wanted to bring you a remedy for the ResidentSleeper LCK -- teams that finish games incredibly fast!

I think we all know that Immortals like to go ham and play a very disrespectful/reckless style, but let’s dig a little deeper. Out of Immortal’s 14 victories this split, 12 have finished in less than 33 minutes (our arbitrary cutoff point for a ‘fast’ game) for an average game time of 27:03. The next closest team with most sub 33 minute wins is Cloud9 with 8. This weekend during Cloud9’s game vs. Renegades, Jatt mentioned that Cloud9’s average gold lead at 15 minutes is 1.5k. Pretty impressive, right? Check this out -- Immortals’ average gold lead at 10 minutes is 1.5k. That sounds pretty imposing, to be sure, but the numbers get even more daunting. Immortals’ average gold lead at 20 minutes is 6.5k! We usually think a game has snowballed if a lead at 20 minutes is around 4-5k, but Immortals are surpassing this number on a regular basis. How’s this even happening?

Since 2014, pro play has been notable for the usage of lane swaps. It’s generally understood that good pro teams utilize the lane swap strategy. Well, Immortals have actively bucked that trend. Out of the 12 games that went under 33 minutes, 8 have featured standard lane matchups. This allows Immortals to capitalize on their greatest strength as a team -- individual skill and mechanics.

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While some people think that lane swaps promote champion diversity, Immortals would say otherwise. Huni has played 8 unique champions this split, showing that not all teams need to rely on the crutch of a lane swap to play different champions in top lane. Additionally, playing standard lanes has allowed Reignover to play an oppressive jungle style, as it isn’t always obvious what part of the map he's in. As a result, opposing teams are forced to play on the defensive, and Immortals can choke out resources, vision, and objectives from their enemies.

There’s another byproduct of Immortals’ high octane approach -- kills, kills, and more kills! It’s common knowledge that any game involving Immortals will be a bloody affair, but is there a method to the madness? Usually after Immortals have won a skirmish or team fight, the team transitions the fight to taking objectives like Dragon, Rift Herald, Baron, or a tower. Considering the team boasts a KDA of 13.7, Immortals are usually the victors of those battles. What I have found most impressive about Immortals’ play style is how they never waver, regardless of the opposition or situation. Who can forget their second game vs. Cloud9, where there were 44 kills in 29 minutes?

In short, Immortals buck the trend of sleep-inducing lane swaps, and play a frenetic style that has an elegance embedded within it. I for one hope more teams adopt a style like Immortals, as we continue to look for remedies to the lane swap meta.

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Will Immortals and Flash Wolves win their leagues and prove their international strength? Which teams might have Playoff surprises in store? 

Let us know in the comments or on Twitter who will be regional champions.