Power Rankings 1/27/2016

For an in-depth look at every team, and context on our panel and process for ranking, take a look at our novella about every team in professional League -- the Preseason Power Rankings. Also check out last week's rankings if you missed them.

Feel free to skip ahead to your region of choice.

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

Color us surprised. 

Throughout global play we've seen a lot of surprise rosters making waves, and we thought it'd be good to take a closer look at some of them in this edition of Power Rankings. That's not to say that everything is unexpected. There are still many traditional powers that have maintained their spot near the top, but there are also a ton of newcomers who are breaking out among them.

NA LCS

Written by Carlos "h0tsawce" Bravo

• S Tier: (+) IMT (4-0)
• A Tier: (+) NRG (3-1), TSM (2-2)
• B Tier: (-) C9 (2-2), CLG (2-2), DIG (2-2)
• C Tier: (+) TL (1-3)
• D Tier: (+) TIP (2-2), (-) EF (1-3), (-) REN (1-3)

Week 2 is in the books, and some rosters are beginning to take form, while others are still trying to find the right mix.  We have a clear No. 1 team in NA, whereas the rest of the league has fierce competition around them. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the rankings for this week.

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S Tier: (+) Immortals (4-0)

Immortals were finally challenged this week, but thanks to a strange Baron call/throw by TSM, they emerge from Week 2 unscathed. Huni came down to earth a bit with good but not amazing performances. Additionally, the Week 2 MVP Adrian is yet to have his champion pool challenged beyond Janna. We still aren’t convinced how for real Immortals actually are in the ‘big picture’. Can this team continue to improve, or is this a team performing near its peak?

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A Tier: (+) NRG (3-1), TSM (2-2)

NRG had a strange weekend, but it’s hard to justify dropping them out of A Tier this week. They lost a one-sided game to Immortals on Sunday mostly due to a poor team composition. I mean, really? You run a poke/siege comp and don’t put GBM on Xerath? TSM looked much better this weekend, and save for a silly baron throw vs. Immortals, might have come out this weekend with two wins. Nevertheless, it was a close match, and TSM looked very decisive and aggressive in their Sunday victory. Maybe TSM are starting to gel and synergize. 

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B Tier: (-) Cloud9 (2-2), Counter Logic Gaming (2-2), Team Dignitas (2-2)

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Sigh. After getting squashed against glass like dead spiders on Saturday, C9 managed to bounce back and crush some fools on Sunday. While C9 continues to look hapless, aimless, and decidedly C Tier without Hai, when Hai is starting and spoon feeding information for a Cloud9 victory, C9 looks at like an A tier team at minimum. We decided to split the difference, but this panelist thinks C9 are destined for great things this year.

CLG comes up in the middle of the pack, and that’s probably where they are going to hover all split. Impressive win on Saturday, crushing defeat on Sunday -- CLG are decidedly middle of the pack. Team Dignitas are slowly moving up the rankings, and although the loss of SmittyJ might seem like a blow to Team Dignitas fans, is there really that much of a difference between SmittyJ and BillyBoss?  Meme-worthy teLEPort aside, BillyBoss will probably be a serviceable top laner.

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C Tier: (+) Liquid (1-3)

Liquid is in an odd place this early into the season. While Piglet looks to be in Season 3 SKT form, Fenix has struggled mightily this split. The insertion of Dardoch and Matt was a great decision, and the two have played excellently. This is especially impressive considering the talent upgrade across the board in NA, and that these two are in their rookie season. While Lourlo has shown signs of improvement, his play is still uninspired. Liquid is gathering a few of the pieces to become a great team, but half of the puzzle is still missing.

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D Tier: (+) Team Impulse (2-2), (-) Renegades (1-3), (-) Echo Fox (1-3)

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What a difference a week makes. After looking like a surefire contender for the coveted 0-18 dream, Team Impulse had an amazing week, winning both of their games with two different lineups. Props to Gate for showing versatility and playing three different positions in the LCS, including a pretty cool feat of winning at mid and top on consecutive days. I told you it would get better!

Meanwhile, Renegades and Echo Fox had a week to forget. Renegades were without their star player, Freeze, and it was apparent, with the lack of playmaking we saw from Renegades this weekend. Things are already starting to look dire for the new LCS team, as wins are probably going to come at a premium for the bottom tier teams. This week is definitely a wash for Echo Fox, as they didn't play with Froggen, Hard, or Kfo. Nevertheless, as I'm sure Rick Fox told the team, you are only as strong as your weakest link, and the loss Sunday was not a good look. I'm sure Echo Fox fans are hoping the full roster returns this weekend and has a strong bounce back week.

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EU LCS

Written by Frank "Mirhi" Fields

• S Tier: H2K (3-1), (+) VIT (3-1)
• A Tier: OG (1-3), FNC (2-2), (+) UOL (3-1), (+) G2 (3-1)
• B Tier: (+) EL (3-1)
• C Tier: SPY (1-3), (-) ROC (1-3)
• D Tier: (-) GIA (0-4)

Strength of schedule has led to Power Rankings that are somewhat diverged from the current standings -- but that's not necessarily a bad thing. After two weeks we are getting a better picture of who the top teams are, but there are still some questions that need to be answered.

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S Tier: H2K (3-1), (+) Team Vitality (3-1)

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Last week, H2K looked like the strongest team in Europe, and while they still look strong, they are not infallible. A long macro-oriented game against Fnatic led to their only loss so far. Both teams made crucial mistakes that let their opponents back into the game, but it was H2K that made the late-game throw that ended the match. Overall they are still playing extremely well at every position and even according to some members of Fnatic, H2K is the best team in Europe.

Vitality has rebounded as well from their early loss to Roccat with wins over Splyce and Origen. What's most impressive about Vitality's victory over Origen is that the team was behind for much of the game, but they were able to hold together and eventually come back thanks to a miraculous team fight. Vitality is scary because they seem to have room for significant improvement despite being already one of the best two teams in Europe.

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A Tier: Fnatic (2-2), (+) G2 Esports (3-1), (+) Unicorns of Love (3-1), Origen (1-3)

It's getting a bit crowded at the top. Fnatic had the most impressive win of the week when they defeated H2K, but then fell to Unicorns of Love on Day 2. Meanwhile UOL had the aforementioned impressive win over Fnatic on Day 2, but earlier lost to Origen. Similarly Origen won vs. UOL but lost to Vitality. Lastly, G2 defeated Giants and then lost to H2K in the last game of the day.

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Most of these teams are able to get a big win, but haven't been as consistent as S Tier teams. Origen has the opposite problem. They've been good, in fact very good. Their problem is that their schedule so far has been murderous, playing Vitality, H2K, Fnatic, and Unicorns of Love. Despite their 1-3 record, there isn't a reason to panic as an Origen fan, especially considering their easy schedule over the next several weeks.

For the other teams, it will be about their ability to consistently win big games, and not give away games to the lesser teams in the League. Unicorns of Love specifically will also have to play without Diamondprox, who has been a staple in the team in the early part of the season.

For an in depth write up on G2 Esports, head to the International section.

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B Tier: (+) Elements (3-1)

Elements has impressed us, but that's not saying much considering expectations coming into the split were just to avoid Relegation. They have however played well, but only against the literal worst teams in the League. In PreSeason Rankings, we pointed to their veteran players Steve and MrRalleZ needing to play well for them to have a chance, and they have, but new mid laner Eika has been a large part of their success as well. Again though, we need to see Elements play against consistently better competition before we raise them higher.

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C Tier: Splyce (1-3), (-) Roccat (1-3)

There might be more hope for Splyce since their players still have a lot of room to grow. Roccat on the other hand are full of veteran players -- if they can't muster a win against some of the lower teams in the EU LCS, it will be much harder against powerhouses like H2K. Yes, it's true Roccat knocked off Vitality in Week 1, there hasn't been much to look forward to since. In desperate times, it's usually the experienced players to pull a team out of a rut, and it falls to fredy122 and Edward to right the sinking ship.

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D Tier: (-) Giants (0-4)

It's too early to write this lineup off as a failure, but we're getting close. Last Split, Giants was able to rally behind the mechanical skill of xPePii an Adryh, but this season their two stars haven't taken them nearly as far. Atom seems to be out matched, k0u isn't controlling the game nearly as well as he did in Challenger, and G0DFRED doesn't seem to have the tools necessary to call the game optimally. Giants will need copious amount of self-improvement to get back to the Playoff race.

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LMS

Written by Clement Chu

• S Tier: AHQ (3-0-0)
• A Tier: (-) TPA (2-1-0), (+) FW (1-2-0)
• B Tier: (-) HKE (2-1-0), (+) M17 (1-2-0), (+) XG (2-0-1)
• C Tier: MSE (0-2-1)
• D Tier: (-) CGE (0-3-0)

Record format: (Win-Loss-Draw)

Week 2 was the week of plays. M17 Dreamer and XG SuwaKo were the Men of the Hour. The first had the crowd chanting with every Pulverise, the latter won a 1v3 against CGE in style. ahq somehow managed to beat HKE in a 3v5 tower dive, and XGamers miraculously toppled Flash Wolves. Aside from ahq and CGE who seem nailed to their current positions, no other team seems safe from being overtaken. This is the closest split of the LMS we’ve seen so far.

For a closer look at this region, check out LMS Spotlight Week 2.

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S Tier: ahq e-Sports Club (3-0-0)

ahq continues to show growth with their revolving mid laners of Chawy and Westdoor. The two swapped roles this week as Westdoor showcased an amazingly calculated macro game on Twisted Fate, while Chawy picked up the pace on Kassadin in the second game. ahq ended the series with some insane 4 vs. 5 and 3 vs. 5 team fights against HKE. In short, ahq has kept their strengths while developing strategic and tactical depth; by far the best team in the LMS right now.

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A Tier: (-) Taipei Assassins (2-1-0), Flash Wolves (1-2-0)

Flash Wolves unleashed long awaited top laner Rins this week to a 9/2/5 game on Fiora, sweeping TPA and consolidating their rank as a top team. However, losses to XG means this spot may be temporary. The common theme in Flash Wolves losses has been the team starting with two newcomers. Despite Breeze's superior individual play to NL, with Breeze starting Flash Wolves seem less coordinated and more impatient. It's possible that NL is bringing intangibles that FW needs to succeed. XGamers didn’t outfight Flash Wolves, they just played calmer and smarter. Maple and Karsa’s mediocre performances and SwordArT’s invisibility are more alarming than the losses themselves.

For the Taipei Assassins, Week 2 was a sobering event. They nearly rewrote the LMS history books by defeating CGE in 21:25, reaffirming the raw talent level of the roster. But earlier in the week they were swept by Flash Wolves. Team fighting was a huge issue, as FoFo found himself out of place, BeBe turned to a corpse before dealing much damage, and Morning offering the enemy team buy-one-get-one frees with his Abyssal Voyage. The question is, can time improve this squad beyond the sum of its parts to challenge top two?

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B Tier: (-) Hong Kong eSports (2-1-0), (+) Machi (1-2-0), (+) XGamers (2-0-1) 

XGamers shocked the world with a sweep against Flash Wolves. After coming into the league as a promotion team with few expectations, they now place 2nd in the league standings. A star to look out for is mid laner Suwako. His AD mid lane champions have won him three game MVPs this week, while leading the league in Damage per Minute at 908. I’m not going to place XGamers above TPA just yet, but if they continue their hot streak and plow through Machi in the next week, we may have to put them in the same playing field. For more on this team, check the International section as we dissect the biggest surprises in League of Legends pro sphere.

Machi made short work of MSE this week. Dreamer was on the frontlines of MSE's demise, earning 100% Kill Participation on his Alistar. The Machi narrative will be written in their next match HKE on the 28th. Can brute force in the laning phase overcome veteran shot callers? Or will Machi remain a team limited to clobbering less talented rosters?

It was busy at the front office for HKE this week, as they fielded new Korean mid laner Rokenia, signed CGE jeffeRy, and announced the eventual return of Rookie of the Year Raison. The team nearly drew the same commotion on the Rift, thanks to some disastrous teleporting from Chawy, but HKE were unusually timid. As a result, ahq remain undefeated, and M17 inch past them in our Power Rankings.

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C Tier: Midnight Sun (0-2-1)

MSE tried out new top laner Ninuo and support Kaiwing, but either made a difference as MSE maintained their formula of M1ssion holding his own and every other lane losing by itself. Things get a bit lonely for this squad as XGamers pull away in the standings and CGE implodes. Hopefully, CorGi will return soon enough in the season for them to contest 6th place.

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D Tier: (-) Cougar eSport s(0-3-0)

CGE jeffeRy will never come -- the young prodigy now wears HKE’s red and white. While jeffeRy will be looking to fill Toyz’ shoes, the rest of CGE will be looking for some composure. They’ve shown only remote semblances of teamplay while offering little to no resistance. With an 0-4 week and ahq/Flash Wolves next on the menu, expect COUGAR to be in a continuous free fall.

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LPL

Written by Nelson Sng

• S Tier: QG (4-0)
• A Tier: (+) EDG (1-1), RNG (4-0)
• B Tier: (+) OMG (2-2), WE (2-1), (-) VG (1-2)
• C Tier: (+) M3 (1-2), iG (1-1), EPA (1-3), SS (2-1)
• D Tier: (-) LGD (0-3), HYG (0-3)

Yet another week of crazy results in the LPL, with any semblance of consistency only belonging to two group leaders grinding out routine wins, but with some difficulties against lesser teams.

The two kings of 2015 looked down in the dumps after Week 1, totally out of sorts. Fortunately for EDG, Clearlove returning to the lineup turned out to be a catalyst for revival while LGD’s Marin was unable to convert his World Championship winning form into any form of good performance for LGD.

It’s still too early in the season to believe that the tides have shifted long term and that the newer rosters have what it takes to challenge the old guards. But for now, we need to see whether both sides will be able to keep up with the ever improving competition.

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S Tier: QG Reapers (4-0)

Showing off their strategic flexibility in Week 2, QG attempted to give Swift a higher percentage of the gold share and put him on Graves, a carry style jungler which allowed him to take over the game after accumulating enough gold. This resulted in Swift farming the whole game attempting to gain a lead over his opposing jungler in terms of CS, but it backfired as enemy junglers wrecked havoc all over the rest of QG.

Fortunately for them, the hallmark of a great team is the ability to pick up the slack from one or two members and grind out the much needed wins.

And QG is definitely looking to become one.

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A Tier: (+) Edward Gaming (1-1), (+) Royal Never Gives Up (4-0)

Clearlove, the heart and soul of EDG is back, and what a time to be an EDG fan right now. EDG completely demolished Vici Gaming, destroying the much fabled Dandy and Easyhoon combination with relative ease. Clearlove came out of the gates blazing with games on Rengar and Nocturne, making former World champion Dandy look like an infant in the jungle. Things can only look better for EDG as they looked to regain their MSI winning form and take over the LPL by storm -- as long as they play Clearlove.

While RNG managed to beat OMG & HYG, they looked unconvincing in both sets of games with some of them going down to the wire. With mlxg looking out of sorts in the jungle if he does not get his hands on Graves, it is only a matter of time until other teams figure them out. RNG needs to shape up or ship out if they want to compete with the very best.

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B Tier: (+) OMG (2-2), (-) Vici Gaming (1-2), Team WE (2-1)

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OMG have been a breath of fresh air in the LPL. With arguably the worst roster on paper barring HYG, they have managed to grab a crucial win over an untested iG and pushed RNG to their limits in the second map. If this all Chinese roster can keep their form up, they will definitely be contenders for a playoff spot in the future.

Vici Gaming dropped a tier this week as they got exposed by a Clearlove inspired EDG, which showed that they still have several issues to fix before they are able to compete for the top spot. Don’t get us wrong, they are still a very good team and have the potential to win the LPL, but they would require more work to reach that level.

Last but not least, World Elite remains in the B tier due to their performances in Week 1, and managing to beat LGD in the second week. But everyone beats LGD right?

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C Tier: (+) Masters3 (1-2), Energy Pacemaker.All (1-3), Invictus Gaming (1-1), (-) Snake eSports (2-1)

The teams in this tier either have rookie rosters which have yet to impress, or have made questionable roster decisions which lead to their decline in performance.

With Snake deciding not to utilize U, they lack the team-fight prowess that they were known for in 2015. IG on the other hand have been stubborn with their roster moves, opting to keep veteran players and do mind boggling roleswaps. They will struggle to even get out of the relegation battle and will definitely need an overall revamp of their roster identity.

M3 and EPA both have new rosters which are fresh and exciting with their innovative early and mid game plays. However, both teams suffer from failure to secure and extend their early leads, which lead to them falling against better opponents. As the players mature over the season, we can only expect them to improve and learn how to close out games, and probably have a small chance to grab upset wins over the top teams.

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D Tier: (-) LGD Gaming (0-3), Hyper Youth Gaming (0-3)

Buying the best players in the world does not instantly make your team better, as LGD found out in the opening weeks of the LPL. In hindsight, moving Acorn to a more behind the scenes role seems to be a bad move as he was a player who did not require much attention or farm to make an impact on the game. On the other hand, MaRin required a huge amount of resources to succeed on SKT and LGD are unable to replicate such an environment largely due to Eimy’s jungling incompetencies. If LGD are unable to step it up, they might very well find themselves out of the LPL next split.

HYG showed some signs of life this week against RNG, but were still unable to grab their first win in the LPL. This young roster requires more time to nurture their players and their only way is up.

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LCK

Written by Alex Manisier

• S Tier: ROX (4-0), (+) SKT (2-2)
• A Tier: (-) KTR (2-1), (+) SSG (3-1)
• B Tier: (-) LZ (1-2), JAG (3-1)
• C Tier: SBENU (0-4), CJ (1-2), Afrecca (1-3), (+) EMF (1-2)

S Tier: ROX Tigers (4-0), (+) SKTelecom T1 (2-2)

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The ROX Tigers have continued their tear through the Spring season with two convincing wins over strong teams in KT Rolster and Longzhu Gaming. Peanut is looking more and more like a top-tier jungler with every game -- to the point where he dismantled Chaser in what looked like a Solo Queue smurf game. The Tigers only have room to grow from here, which is quite scary considering they're looking like Korea's strongest team.

Meanwhile, in the SKT T1 camp, things are mostly back to normal as they took a 2-0 win over a burgeoning Samsung roster. It's pretty likely that their loss to Jin Air last week was just a hiccup, but we do have some concerns about Bengi's form -- hopefully this is the year the Worlds curse comes to an end.

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A Tier: (-) KT Rolster (2-1), 
(+) Samsung Galaxy (3-1)

The main lesson we've learnt from the LCK over the last year (apart from the fact that SKT T1 wins every time) is that in the land of the inexperienced, the veteran is king. ROX Tigers proved it under the leadership of PraY and GorillA, and now Samsung are showing us the value of an experienced leader in Ambition. Samsung have always had good fundamentals, but now, they're converting that skill into wins. KT Rolster are similarly performing decently with the addition of Fly, but we can't help but feel they're missing a je ne sais quoi (like a certain teamless star support player…).

For more on Samsung check out our in-depth write up in the International section.

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B Tier: (-) Longzhu Gaming (1-2), Jin Air Green Wings (3-1)

Jin Air had a quiet week, listlessly rolling over e-mFire and Afreeca to maintain 2nd place in the league. Strangely, the players to watch on this team are the veterans TrAce and Winged, who are both experiencing a resurgence of sorts. This team still has some work to do, particularly when it comes to the glacial rate at which they finish games, but they're looking promising. Longzhu, on the other hand, need to buckle down and focus on their communication. Chaser looked off for much of Week 2, and it's clear that someone needs to step up and lead this team.

C Tier: (-) SBENU Sonicboom (0-4),
(-) CJ Entus (1-2), (-) Afreeca Freecs (1-3),
(+) e-mFire (1-2)

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The bottom four teams in the LCK look like they'll remain in the bottom four for quite some time, but we are beginning to see a bit more parity in the trenches. CJ Entus and e-mFire picked up their first wins over a lively SBENU squad, while Afreeca managed to take a game off Jin Air. Still, each of the teams have some kind of crippling weakness. CJ can be excused -- they're still waiting for the arrival of their future ace player Bdd, but something needs to change if we're to see a shift in the Power Rankings.

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International

We're not far into the season, but far enough that there have been some very surprising rosters across global play. It's clear that the olde guard is not infallible, and that new organizations and rosters can win right out of the gate. For International this week, we talk about some of the surprise rosters that look to make waves in both regional and international play.

XGamers

• Top: Nexus, exciting
• Jungle: Yo
• Mid: SuwaKo
• AD: LBB
• Support: SuKi

Initial Assessment: 6th | Current Placing: 2nd

Written by Clement Chu

For most of us in the stadium that day, YoLMS versus GashBears was a forgone conclusion.

Yo was not a good jungler, statistically speaking, he was infact one of the worst to play in the LMS. So when GashBears purchased the Logitech Snipers roster, it was not surprising that they cut Yo from the team. Somehow, someway, the grizzled jungler managed to scrape together a team at the last second, and now faced his former team in a battle for an LMS spot.

He wasn’t taken very seriously.

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“Yo”又 which means "again" in Mandarin, was often the victim of savage Taiwanese memes. “Yo carried the enemy team”(Yoooo carry了一場) was the most common, referring to his repeatedly bad performances. “YoLMS” (Literally, Again LMS), I thought at the time, was a feeble, albeit humorous, attempt at reminding people of his existence before he transitioned into a streamer.

I should have taken him more seriously.

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YoLMS brought the forums to a frenzy, defeating GB 3-2. The games were ugly and Baron played a bigger role than it should have with multiple executes, but Yo got his revenge. The secret to his success? Finding unlikely heroes where other pro teams wouldn’t look: Normal Games. Mid laner SuwaKo and support SuKi were casual players who rarely played ranked, but their trials were so convincing that Yo decided to enlist both. SuwaKo now leads LMS in kills (34) and Damage Per Minute (908), while ADC LBB is second in both categories.

YoLMS was then acquired by XGamers, previously a celebrated Counter-Strike 1.6 team, which granted them a supporting staff with decades of gaming experience. The last piece of the puzzle was top laner Nexus, a Hong Kong resident chosen by team analyst Skywalk. With his massive champion pool and calm demeanor, XGamers managed to do the unthinkable: sweep the Flash Wolves to take 2nd place.

It’s still early in the season to place XGamers into the A list, but there is good reason to believe that this is a team that will be competitive for the remainder of the season. Good talent and strong infrastructure have never failed in the Taiwanese scene, and XG currently has both. The importance of the Yo story will continue to garner them fans as well, as these new players bring hope that more native talent exists to compete against larger player pools in Korea and China.

When asked what the future holds for his team, Yo answered, “Prepare to be amazed.”

Samsung Galaxy

• Top: CuVee, Helper
• Jungle: Ambition
• Mid: Crown
• AD: CoreJJ, Stitch
• Support: Wraith

Initial Assessment: 9th | Current Placing: 3rd

Written by Alex Manisier

There's something that needs to happen before a roster with theoretically strong players like CuVee and Crown becomes a strong roster with real results. And it would be dishonest of me to say that I was expecting Ambition to be the answer to that question.

Based off CJ Entus' performance in 2015, there was no reason to believe that Ambition was the player Samsung needed to finally gel as a team. He seemed to be over the hill as a player, and it looked like switching to jungle was a last-ditch attempt to remain relevant in the scene.

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Now, he looks like a new player, much like KT Rolster's Score did upon switching to the jungle position in 2015. Maybe it's because he's on a team where he no longer needs to compete to be heard, or maybe jungle is just a natural position for grizzled veterans to switch to. Either way, Ambition's bold jungling and leadership seems to be the catalyst that Samsung needed to become a strong team.

Prior to the start of the season, I wanted to throw Samsung in the same tier as the hopeless e-mFire roster. My fellow panelists (especially PapaSmithy) convinced me otherwise, and I'm glad I trusted them. We all watched Samsung with cautious optimism, and they rewarded our attention with a 6-3 record at the end of Week 2. Sure, their schedule has been fairly easy, but after their 2-1 win over Longzhu, it's clear that the 2016 iteration of Samsung is a team to follow closely.

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G2 Esports

• Top: Kikis
• Jungle: Trick
• Mid: PerkZ
• AD: Emperor
• Support: Hybrid

Initial Assessment: 7th | Current Placing: T-1st

Written by Frank Fields

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On paper this lineup looked like a desperate attempt to level up a Challenger roster so that it could avoid Relegation in the big leagues. What's happened is a series of new comers have stormed onto the scene, and a number of veterans have received the second wind that their careers sorely needed.

In 2015, Trick began his career as a bench player for an inconsistent CJ Entus, Emperor was the seldom seen ADC for the struggling Team Dragon Knights, and Kikis was the jungler for one of the most exciting teams in League of Legends (Unicorns of Love). PerkZ and Hybrid had never seen professional play.

Kikis has transformed into a staple top laner and Emperor has played like his CJ Entus Blaze peak on mechanically challenging marksmen. At the end of 2015 when Kikis decided to leave what looked like a Worlds-bound UOL to join ocelot's Challenger team, it raised a lot of eyebrows. It wasn't a huge surprise given his incredibly long team transfer history, but it was more surprising because Worlds is usually the ultimate goal. Similarly Emperor looked like he was content cashing in checks for whichever non-LCK region would have him after stints in Brazil and NA. But these two players have proven resiliant, and that they still have a lot of spark left.

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And then we get to the newcomers, who have massacred expectations. Trick has been a mechanical monster, making plays all around the map throughout early and mid game, PerkZ has at times hard carried the team on mechanically-intense assassins, and Hybrid has been an adept playmaker.

Together, this team has shown synergy better than many seasoned teams around the world, and its important to note that they haven't had that much time with the lineup. Given that three players are relatively new to the competitive scene, and they have veteran leadership, it's possible this team could continue to gel and improve.

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Which new rosters have impressed you so far? Who will be the best teams come Playoff time?

Let us know in the comments or on Twitter who you think are favorites to win the Spring Split.

Frank Fields is a Senior Editor for Lolesports.com. He has worked in esports as a player, manager, owner, and content creator in multiple game titles and various organizations since 2003. Feel free to talk to him about Power Rankings, Smash, Magic: The Gathering, League or anything else on Twitter.