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Power Rankings - 7/21/2015

Riot··2 votes·54,183 views

For many teams, this week marks the last chance to make a mark in 2015.

Korea and China (and GPL!) still have a few weeks remaining, but for all other leagues, this week marks the last week of regular season play. In fact, many IWC regions are already deep into their Playoffs. Even Taiwan is set to begin their Summer Playoff gauntlet this week.

It's this time of year that teams enter the halls of the world's elite, or crumble under their own weaknesses.

Find out who will break and who will thrive in Power Rankings...

KOREA[[{"fid":"17851","view_mode":"full","fields":{"format":"full","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//riot-web-cdn.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/lolesports/s3fs-public/styles/full_width_scale/public/Bengi_Vert.jpg%3Fitok%3DsbevLrAL","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-full","height":"482","style":"width: 325px; height: 411px; float: right; border-width: 10px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px;","width":"410"}}]]

  1. ( - ) SKTelecom T1 (13-0) [26-2]
  2. ( - ) KOO Tigers (9-4) [20-10]
  3. ( - ) KT Rolster (9-4) [19-12]
  4. ( - ) CJ Entus (9-5) [20-15]
  5. ( - ) Jin Air Green Wings (7-6) [15-14]
  6. ( - ) Najin e-mFire (8-5) [19-16]
  7. ( - ) Samsung (5-8) [13-18]
  8. ( - ) Incredible Miracle (3-10) [8-22]
  9. ( - ) Rebels Anarchy (3-10) [12-22]
  10. ( - ) SBENU Sonicboom (0-13) [5-26]

(Match Score) [Game Score]

The regional consistency of Korea is astonishing and frustrating. What can I say? SKT is really freaking good!

Everyone expected to get an epic showdown last week when KOO Tigers went up against SKTelecom T1. I guess someone forgot to tell SKT it was supposed to be interesting as they won in two fairly lop-sided games. SKT's strength at this point is indisputable. 

What becomes hard to figure out is how the rest of the region compares. The deadlock between 2nd and 6th place has still not broken, and each team remains within two games of each other. The only real measuring stick apart from their record and the very subjective interpretations of their play is "how badly did they lose to SKT?"

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KOO Tigers seem to remain the front runners for 2nd in Korea, but KT Rolster have begun to impress lately. Across the board we can't shake the feeling that CJ and Jin Air won't be around when push comes to shove, but we have nothing to go on but feel.

I hope they prove us wrong.

Panel: Alex Manisier, Erik "DoA" Lonnquist, Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles, Chris "PapaSmithy" Smith and Mike "Noctt" Huh

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  1. ( - ) Edward Gaming (8-2-6)
  2. ( - ) Qiao Gu (6-0-10)
  3. (+1) Snake (5-3-8)
  4. (-1) LGD Gaming (4-3-9)
  5. ( - ) OMG (5-3-8)
  6. (+1) Invictus Gaming (5-5-5)
  7. (+1) Vici Gaming (2-3-11)
  8. (-2) Masters 3 (4-3-8)
  9. ( - ) Unlimited Potential (2-5-10)
  10. ( - ) Royal Never Give Up (2-5-9)
  11. (+1) Team King (1-5-10)
  12. (-1) Team WE (1-5-8)

Record format is (W-L-T)

Even China has managed to settle into a groove -- at least as much as China can.

Snake came out looking the most improved of any of the teams this week, but LGD dropping has less to do with them looking worse and Snake looking like a legitimate team. Similarly, we can say the same regarding M3's drop and IG and Vici's climb. And we feel like we sort of always saw this coming.

Froskurrin's "Great Sandbagging Theory of 2015" looks like it's being proven at least not completely off-base, since Invictus Gaming looks like they are finally now ramping up after being in a semi-comatose state for over 2 months. But low and behold, IG may be able to threaten EDG's championship run just as they did in Spring.

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Speaking of EDG, they are back to their dominant selves. They were able to 2-0 both LGD and IG. So while the aforementioned teams are ramping up, they still have a bit to go. Though with so many games already played in the season, innovations and surprises will be few and far between.

Panel: Barento "Raz" Mohammed, Michale "Drexxin" Lalor, Ryanne "Froskurrin" Mohr and Carlos "H0tsawce" Bravo.

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  1. ( - ) Gravity (12-4)
  2. (+1) Team Impulse (11-5)
  3. (+2) Counter Logic Gaming (11-5)
  4. (-2) Team Liquid (11-5)
  5. (-1) Team SoloMid (10-6)
  6. ( - ) Team Dignitas (9-7)
  7. (+1) Cloud9 (5-11)
  8. (-1) Team8 (6-10)
  9. ( - )  Enemy Esports (4-12)
  10. ( - ) Team Dragon Knights (1-15)

North America, come on! Why do you do this to me!?

Just when Gravity proved that they were on another level, when TL proved they could recover using their brains and not just mechanics, when CLG proved they were suffering from another late season collapse, and Team Dignitas couldn't buy a win... it all changed.

Surprise! NA is back!

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Okay, so maybe "choke artists" was a bit harsh. But what can I say, it looked like the cinderblock meta had resulted in a new affinity for CLG finding ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But credit where credit is due -- CLG has un-tilted, and they looked renewed. Despite a close game against C9, CLG look poised to make a legitimate Playoff run.

I really am not sure how to diagnose TSM's problems. Part of it is Jason "WildTurtle" Tran using Valkyrie to suicide for Yoonjae "Rush" Lee's Nidalee. Part of it is Marcus "Dyrus" Hill being out played. Part of it is Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg not being able to be a near-literal Atlas and hold TSM on his shoulders. I never thought I'd say this, but if this keeps up, TSM will not make Worlds -- and they don't deserve to go.

Panel: Cameron Gilbert, Taylor "Riot RoboTayCo" Cocke, Jason "Riot Jayway" Wai, Joshua "Riot Jatt" Leesman, and Frank "Riot Mirhi" Fields.

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  1. ( - ) Fnatic (16-0)
  2. ( - ) Origen (11-5)
  3. ( - ) H2K (10-6)
  4. (+1) Unicorns of Love (8-8)
  5. (+1) Gambit Gaming (7-9)
  6. (-2) Giants Gaming (7-9)
  7. ( - ) ROCCAT (7-9)
  8. ( - ) Elements (6-10)
  9. ( - ) SK Gaming (5-11)
  10. ( - ) Copenhagen Wolves (3-13)

There was a lot more shakeup in Europe than the rankings demonstrate. H2K and Origen both suffered losses that we previously wouldn't have thought them capable of.

I've been aboard the Europe hype train most of the season after seeing great play from both OG and H2K, but after last week, I am not sure what to think. Both teams played well against flawless Fnatic, but if they are able to lose so horribly to honestly pretty average teams, how strong does that make them?

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The last week is important for the two teams that can make the most noise for different reasons: Fnatic and Unicorns of Love. UOL needs to prove that they can win important matches without Mateusz "Kikis" Szkudlarek, and Fnatic can make history with the first undefeated LCS regular season. 

Add to all that an epic showdown between OG and H2K and we have a very explosive Week 9.

Panel: Taylor "Riot RoboTayCo" Cocke, Jason "Riot Jayway" Wai, and Frank "Riot Mirhi" Fields.

TAIWAN

  1. ( - ) ahq e-Sports Club (11-0-3)
  2. ( - ) Flash Wolves (9-2-3)
  3. ( - ) Hong Kong Esports (5-1-8)
  4. ( - ) Taipei Assassins (3-6-5)
  5. ( - ) Midnight Sun (3-4-6)
  6. ( - ) Machi 17 (2-5-7)
  7. ( - ) Assassin Sniper (2-9-3)
  8. ( - ) Logitech Snipers (1-9-4)

Record format is (W-L-T)

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Taiwan is still in the midst of it's Playoff preparation. But as a bonus, here's a photo of Westdoor at the LPL studio!

The gauntlet begins with Hong Kong Esports vs Midnight Sun Esports. The winner will play Flash Wolves, followed by ahq e-Sports Club.

The LMS Playoff gauntlet begins July 24, 2015 at 1:00am Pacific Time, 10:00 CEST and 17:00 Taiwan local time. It will continue at the same time for three days. Make sure to watch the stream on Twitch.

Panel: James "Obscurica" Chen and Chia "Reazony" Yu.

BRAZIL

  1. ( - ) INTZ e-Sports - Finalist
  2. (+1) paIN Gaming - Finalist
  3. (+1) g3nerationX - Semifinalist
  4. (-2) Keyd Stars - Semifinalist

Record format is (W-L-T)

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The CBLoL Winter 2015 Semifinals concluded this weekend, with paiN Gaming and INTZ e-Sports emerging as the two finalists. They will meet in two weeks to determine who will represent Brazil at the International Wildcard Tournament with a 2015 Worlds spot up for grabs. Both teams look decidedly stronger than they did in the beginning of the regular season, which made the decision to choose a 1st place in the power rankings very difficult. For now, it remains INTZ e-Sports, but both panelists agreed that either team could be placed at No. 1 without too much contention.

G3nerationX jumps up a spot to third place over Keyd Stars. They're a team whose map play has significantly improved throughout the season and their team fighting, as always, can't ever be counted out. They will face Keyd this coming weekend to more definitively determine the 3rd and 4th place spots. It's a great accomplishment for the former Keyd Warriors squad, and overcoming their former sister team would mark another achievement for the young team.

Written by Emily Rand

Panel: Emily Rand | Bruno "RiotButcher" Pereira

LATIN AMERICA

  1. ( - ) KLG (11-1)
  2. ( - ) Lyon Gaming (11-1)
  3. ( - ) Gaming Gaming (9-3)
  4. ( - ) Furious Gaming (8-4)
  5. (+1) Havoks Gaming (6-6)
  6. (+1) Rebirth eSports (5-7)
  7. (-2) Last Kings (5-7)
  8. ( - ) Dash9 Gaming (4-8)

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We’ve now had both regional finals from LAN and LAS and only two teams remain -- two teams that have had nealry identical seasons. 

KLG went undefeated until the very last day of the regular season when they dropped a single game to Rebirth, while Lyon Gaming went undefeated until they dropped a game to Gaming Gaming. Both teams won their respective Semifinals 3-1 and then crushed their finals 3-0 to win their division and crown themselves champions.

August 8 is the date: Once again Lyon Gaming will face their toughest competition in a region they have completely dominated since its inception. The "Most dominant team in LATAM" was humiliated in Santiago de Chile earlier this year by KLG in the most one sided 3-0 the region has ever seen in a championship.

In the Latin American Championship, Lyon will look for revenge while KLG seeks to defend their title and represent Latin America internationally once more to face off against the best from Brazil and CIS in the upcoming International Challenge tournament between the three regions.

This week LATAM takes a break from the action but next week we are back with Promotion/Relegation matches to define the competition for 2016.

Written by Erick "Skyshock" Gonzalez

Panel: Erick "Skyshock" Gonzalez

JAPAN

  1. ( - ) Ozone Rampage - Finalist
  2. ( - ) DetonatioN FocusMe - Finalist
  3. ( - ) 7th Heaven

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FocusMe was forced to work for their spot in the LJL Season 2 finals, and work for it they did. It took them the full five games, and they were pushed harder than they've ever been pushed on their own shore, but they emerged victorious. Their win earns them the right to face Rampage this Friday in front of a live crowd at e-sports SQUARE in Tokyo. The winner takes home the championship and will play for a chance at Worlds.

In the matchup between them, it's difficult to argue that Rampage doesn't look like the stronger team. The teams' individual skill is comparable, but Rampage's rotations and ganks have been consistently much cleaner and more cohesive. They're a team that puts a lot of trust in their coach's analysis, and it shows in how much they improved every single week. FM's advantages are in their experience; They've played more Best of series recently than Rampage, and in front of much larger crowds. This will be a whole new kind of test for Japan's new No. 1: one they have no choice but to pass if they style themselves Wild Card material.

Written by Cameron Gilbert

Panel: Cameron Gilbert

TURKEY

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  1. ( - ) Dark Passage (10-4)
  2. ( - ) HWA.Gamesatış (9-5)
  3. ( - ) Beşiktaş (12-2)
  4. ( - ) Oyun Hizmetleri (7-7)
  5. ( - ) Team Turquality (7-7)
  6. ( - ) Atlas (4-10)
  7. ( - ) NumberOne eSports Club (5-9)
  8. ( - ) CREW (2-12)

The Turkish Playoffs will start with Quarterfinal games on 25-26 June 1:00 PM CET/4:00 AM PDT. Don’t forget to tune in to lolespor.com for everything about the TCL.  

Written by Kursad Demirer

Panel: Kursad Demirer, Christopher Willekens

SOUTHEAST ASIA

  1. ( - ) Bangkok Titans (3-0-0)
  2. ( - ) Boba Marines (2-1-0)
  3. (+2) ASUS ImbaFate (2-0-1)
  4. (-1) Saigon Jokers (3-0-0)
  5. (-1) GIGABYTE Full Louis (2-0-1)
  6. (+1) ZOTAC United (1-1-1)
  7. (-1) Saigon Fantastic Five (0-0-3)
  8. (+4) Kuala Lumpur Hunters (1-1-1)
  9. (+1) Thirsty Chinchillas (1-1-1)
  10. (+4) Impunity Legends (1-2-0)
  11. ( - ) Team Proioxis (1-2-0)
  12. (-4) Imperium Pro Team (0-1-2)
  13. (-4) Go to Sleep (0-2-1)
  14. (+1) GAMEX.Wargods (0-1-2)
  15. (-2) Mineski.GLOBE (0-2-1)
  16. ( - ) Jakarta Juggernauts (0-3-0)

Record format is (W-L-T)

The first phase of the Garena Premier League was concluded last week, with all six Vietnamese teams securing their spot into the next round. They are joined by IWCI semi-finalists, Bangkok Titans and the Kuala Lumpur Hunters who are making their first ever appearance in the latter stages of the GPL.

Kuala Lumpur Hunters defied all odds and snatched a win in game one against GIGABYTE Full Louis, securing a point and ensuring qualification. Going 8/0/5 on Ryze, Vice Captain Poon "Ozora Veki" Kok Sing carried his team to victory, simultaneously ending all hopes for any Singaporean representatives in the next stage. "After years of not making out of the GPL group stages and being in the shadows of the more successful Singaporean teams, KLH will do their best and show the world what they are capable of," he said, after two intense matches against GFL.

There were no suprises in the other groups as Vietnam continued to show why they are the strongest country in the Southeast Asian region. With half of their teams finishing top of their groups, they are proving themselves to be a real contender for all three podium finishes.

The second phase of the Garena Premier League will begin on the first week of August. Mark your calenders and do not miss out any of the action! For more information about the GPL and to catch the games live, do check out the official tournament website at gpl.garena.com.

Written by Nelson Sng

Panel: Nelson "Nelson" Sng

CIS

  1. (+1) Dolphins (9-5)
  2. (-1) Hard Random (10-4)
  3. ( - ) Carpe Diem (9-5)
  4. ( - ) Tornado RoX (9-5)
  5. ( - ) Just.MSI (8-6)
  6. ( - ) Solar Wind (6-8)
  7. ( - ) Dragon (3-11)
  8. ( - ) Your Exit (2-12)

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The Semifinals of the SLTV Starseries will begin July 25 starting with Hard Random vs Carpe Diem. Make sure to tune into the stream on Twitch.

Written by Michael "Olsior" Zverev

Panel: Michael "Olsior" Zverev

OCEANIA

  1. ( - ) Chiefs eSports Club (17-0) - Finalist
  2. ( - ) Legacy eSports (10-4) - Semifinalist
  3. ( - ) Dire Wolves (9-5) - Semifinalist
  4. ( - ) Avant Garde (8-9) - Semifinalist

Although Avant Garde came close to stealing a win from the undefeated Chiefs in their Semifinal match, AD carry Derek "Raydere" Trang had something else to say about it. Still, after 17 wins, cracks are beginning to show in the Chiefs lineup. It's still hard not to pick them as the favorite for the season, but their perfect season isn't looking so likely anymore.

The OPL will continue on July 23rd, 6pm AEST with a Split 1 rematch between Legacy eSports and Dire Wolves.

Written by Alex Manisier

Panel: Alex Manisier, Ben "RiotBenji" de Ridder, Jake "Riot Spawn" Tiberi, Max "Riot Atlus" Anderson and Zack "Rusty" Pye

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  1. ( - ) SKTelecom T1 (13-0)
  2. ( - ) Edward Gaming (8-2-6)
  3. ( - ) Qiao Gu (6-0-10)
  4. ( - ) KOO Tigers (9-4)
  5. ( - ) Fnatic (16-0)
  6. (+3) Snake (5-3-8)
  7. (-1) LGD (4-4-9)
  8. (+1) KT Rolster (9-4)
  9. (-2) ahq e-Sports Club (10-0-3)
  10. (+1) OMG (5-3-8)
  11. (+1) CJ Entus (9-5)
  12. (+2) Flash Wolves (9-2-3)
  13. (-3) Origen (11-5)
  14. (+2) Jin Air Green Wings (7-6)
  15. (-2) Gravity (12-4)
  16. (-1) H2K (10-6)
  17. (+2) Invictus Gaming (5-5-5)
  18. (+2) Vici Gaming (2-3-11)
  19. (NEW) Team Impulse (11-5)
  20. (-2) Masters3 (4-5-8)

With the regular seasons for most leagues coming to a close this week, I regret to inform you that next week will be the last weekly Power Rankings of 2015. I know, I know, some of you are jumping for joy, but we all need our muses. We will be sure to continue put numbers in front of teams (and some players too) for your amusement as we get closer to Worlds, but for now, let's talk about some of this movement.

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ahq gets a bit of a short end of the stick as we can't see their current form. But at the same time Snake really has stepped up recently. I know a lot of people are angry that Fnatic hasn't moved up to 4th place. Honestly, this is as high as we can put them based on their regular season accomplishments. Until we see more from them in best of 5 matches, we can do no more.

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Other than that, I'll keep it simple: NA and EU down. China and Korea up. This is what regional consistency and inconsistency hath wrought. What will help us change our mind on relative strengths is cleanliness of wins, mastery on a macro level and some slip ups in Asia.

Until then, I for one welcome our new Eastern overlords.

Let us know your thoughts on the Power Rankings on Twitter or in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Inven, Garena, SANKO, and paiN Gaming

Frank Fields is a Senior Editor for Riot Games' Esports Web Content team. You'll find him firing lazer beams as Viktor in Diamond or on Twitter where he'd love to talk to you about esports.

The purpose of this editorial is to inspire discussion, and does not reflect the official stance of Riot Games. 

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259 Comments

Earl Eulrich30 votes

well, i don´t think Fnatic can do anything at this point to ever get into the top 3...not even a undeafeated season will do. The regional bias is surly too strong here.

Apart from that I think Koo showed severe weaknesses in their loses to SKT and don´t deserve to be near the top 8 internationally. Also, I´m still not totally sold on Snake being a thing...but well, as it is IG, LGD and some of the other runner ups sure have to finally step up to their potential while Snake is consistently showing what they are capable of. LPL playoffs will get freaking exciting and unpredictable (apart from EDG) this year...

This is what regional consistency and inconsistency hath wrought. What will help us change our mind on relative strengths is cleanliness of wins, mastery on a macro level and some slip ups in Asia.

kinda funny, if it would be that way we´d see a ranking based on actual team-performance, not mostly on their standings in the respective region.

A Wise Fool18 votes

An undefeated season against terrible opponents? Not saying much.

Just Go Bananas46 votes

An undefeated season against anyone is most definitely making a statement, because it's never happened before-- against good OR bad competition. This shouldn't be downplayed. This kind of consistency against the gamut of professional teams (no matter their quality of play this season, which hasn't even been bad in H2K's or Origen's case) is unheard of. They still might be 2nd to SKT but 5th place is criminal regional bias.

Freedom116 votes

An undefeated season has never happened before? Right. SKT T1 K went undefeated in the 2014 OGN Champions Spring. Grabbing wins are easy when your opponents are shit or when they throw for you.

Smart Kitty7 votes

Winter*

QuantumSponge15 votes

something salt here...

Though to a point I agree. Fnatic have not been pushed hard, perhaps they need a loss to let them shine properly, 1 step back, 2 steps forward, but your comment sir, is far too salty. If EU teams are so shit what does that make NA's pool?

Kemy8 votes

Fnatic has looked shaky in their wins. Meanwhile, top KR and CN teams have won games from pure outplays and strategies. Fnatic right now seems like they are shaky towards the early mid game. Watch their games against Giants, Origen, and H2k. The best teams will snowball from those leads unlike what happened in those games.

Cheryl Cole9 votes

Common...don't overvalue 3 games out of 16. Yes H2K made a big mistake. OG were just trying to catch them into deathbush with 6k gold lead....i wouldn't call it exactly a mistake. And Giants lost purely to Fnatic power spike. And If fnatic proved something internationaly. They are able to win early with decisive fashion.

Lanthroviel4 votes

Dunno, people overvalue the missplays in the games as shakiness.

For example, for H2K the mistakes was more in preparation. They really thought h2K would do the same thing they always did before. It's overconfidence in their oponents that they'll probably don't have at worlds.

After the 2 kill lead it was normal to gank top and Odo survived only because of the clutch shen level 6 and early hexdrinker. The only real missplay is Huni fatfingering zhonya.

As for Origen, the team was pretty dominant before that one teamfight, and they lost that teamfight+baron because of a single mistake by rekkles going back into the ryze. Otherwise the game would have been much cleaner.

Yxgl222HaX4 votes

Sure they look shaky but clearly they are just fucking with their opponets. Trundle support and win and you still think they are playing seariously?

KSHarrison3 votes

The format for this LCS season is in its second split. Previously teams had 28 games in a split and superweeks. As bad as Bo1's are, having more of them and cramming 4 games into a weekend ups the unreliability factor. It doesn't really say anything if it's never happened before. Furthermore, Eastern leagues have an entirely different format and have for years (SKT went undefeated once btw).

There are just too many differences to make a 1:1 comparison and base FNatic's win streak as meaningful because it's never happened before. It's more significant to look at whom FNC is playing and how they are winning.

Pokira3 votes

Ok, going based solely on what you said, Chiefs eSports Club from Oceania should be placed 3rd internationally for going undefeated in their region. You see how ridiculous that sounds right. Now, don't get me wrong. I think the ranking is slightly off, but that's only my opinion. I would still have Fnatic at 5th right now with a possible improvement to 4th if they truly finish the season undefeated. I would switch Koo and QG because Koo has been more consistent from what I've seen. Now, I don't watch much LPL or LCK anymore, but that's just how I would put the standings.

Earl Eulrich4 votes

could say the same about SKT, yet they are 1st (and dropped games against the last place teams of the LCK)...

CypressLB3 votes

19 wins ago they dropped one game and still won the Bo3. I don't see your point. Why aren't you complaining about EDGs losses?

How well did Fnatic compare to #2 and #3? SKT rekt Koo, even though Koo gave a solid performance. We've all seen the inconsistent performance of EU and NA, how can you place their #1 above regions who have much more consistent top teams and teams who don't have to pull lots of come back wins?

SKT and Koo both had long undefeated runs with SKT currently on a 28-1 run right now only losing to EDG a few months back. Koo hasn't performed poorly in a game since the beginning of the season and I don't even know why they dropped to third after winning their match 3 weeks back, but I guess that must be that Korean bias to drop a Korean team for winning.

Cheryl Cole8 votes

Which consistent top teams? Nobody knows what team is 3rd in both China and Korea. That's most likely becouse every single week, one team make it into top 5, next week falls down like 5-7 ranks. Is that consistency? No i wouldn't say that.

TrollFan017 votes

Fnatic going 18-0 will get them into the top 3 easy. If Fnatic goes through the playoffs without dropping a single game they could even get 1st.

Vodka Elemental9 votes

Fnatic would have absolutely 0 chance to win LCK. I am pretty sure they would not even qualify for the worlds. Going 18-0 against inconsistent teams is nothing compared to playing against the best teams of the worlds weekly in a BO3 format. This is why they will never listed higher in the power ranking. I feel they can be very happy with the 5th place because they are not deserving it.

I SUPA I15 votes

Fnatic can be top 3 in LCK. Are you drunk? They do not deserve 5th rank? Do you watch LCK? Hell even Montecristo said Fnatic can only lost to SKT & EDG. Monte even stated Fnatic can beat Koo and the rest of Korea in a best of 5.

Vodka Elemental3 votes

The problem with Fnatic is the early game. They fall behind often and the tides are turning because the opponent doesnt really know what to do with the advantage so Fnatic comes back and wins the game easily. The problem is that this is not happening against Jin Air or better teams. At the moment the gap between Korea/China and EU/NA is higher than ever, the only team to stand is FNC but -sadly- they will be eliminated (probably quarter final) when they encounter a KR/CH team.

Gaxx D16 votes

Ah, it's quite obvious you're a poor viewer. Regarding Fnatic - no. They don't fall behind often. It happened a few times during this split, but it's quite possible Fnatic set it up that way - to a degree of course - to have play from behind. If they have no experience, while playing from behind, then they'll probably stand no chance against top tier teams, if they do fall behind earlier. That being said Fnatic's early map pressure is insane, and SKT experienced it first hand. Fnatic is a great early game team, simply because of how active Reignover is on the map, and how deadly Huni's teleports are. Moreover with Rekkles replacing Steelback, they don't need to pump their resources into bottom lane, if they want that lane to at least go even. Korea plays very strategical and calculated game. Chinese teams and Fnatic play controlled chaos type of game, which is proven to be something Korea can't deal with, unless they take control of the game early. The only team in Korea that is a threat to Fnatic and top tier Chinese teams is SKT. Koo's early game is horrible. They often fall behind, and I'l use your own argument - the opponent doesn't really know what to do with the advantage, so they are able to come back and win games. Doesn't work against top teams, like SKT tho. Won't work against Fnatic and won't work against Chinese teams. And when you take that from them, they're extremely one dimensional team. Poke comps. That's where they find their success. It works to a degree for them, because cinderhulk meta's down. But they were struggling when it was introduced, and they haven't changed their playstyle. Korea has currently one elite team, and that's SKT. The rest are weak/inconsistent. CJ, Jin Air, Najin, even KT, could be succesful, but they're mighty inconsistent. Korea has never been this weak, and if you actually watched OGN all these years and understood the game, instead of watching "Faker's plays" with flushed face, you'd realize that. Time to get off the Korea hype train.

KSHarrison6 votes

Saying "Monte says" isn't tantamount to spitting truth. It's international competition; we won't know until they match up. Every year we get into this speculation and every year we have a share of upsets. No one thought SHRC would make finals going into worlds last year, certainly not that EDG would lose in quarters. No one thought FNC would take a game off of SSB, or that NJWS would be on the level of Western teams. Speculating is meaningless, and parroting "Monte says" as fact doesn't change that.

Cheryl Cole2 votes

CypressLB he said that in last summoner's insight.

TrollFan0112 votes

What? Dude did you not see Fnatic take SKT to 5 games when Faker played all ? EDG might not have won had Faker played all 5, but Fantic came closer than EDG did and they won. Faker makes all the differences and Fnatic almost beat SKT when the God himself was playing the entire time.

stgh10 votes

SKT clearly did not prep much for FNC at MSI because they were supposed to be a bottom team. Also by game 5 it was clear that SKT had figured Fnatic out when they stomped them. If they meet at worlds with full prep I don't think SKT would make the same mistakes.

ThePeeBottle5 votes

What? Dude did you not see Fnatic take SKT to 5 games when Faker played all ? EDG might not have won had Faker played all 5, but Fantic came closer than EDG did and they won. Faker makes all the differences and Fnatic almost beat SKT when the God himself was playing the entire time.

If you think FNC was better than EDG at MSI, maybe you should take a look at the matches when both of them were actually playing against each other, and not how they relatively look when they fought against SKT. In case you have selective memory loss, EDG destroyed FNC easily. Even AHQ destroyed FNC as well.

asianshenanigans9 votes

Fnatic are undeniably a good team. The competition in Europe is obviously lower than in Korea but going undefeated should not be undermined. However, putting them top 3 is pushing it. Most people would rank SKT/EDG as rank #1/#2. The question is does Fnatic belong as #3?

Fnatic can easily give KOO Tigers or Qiao Gu a run for their money. It wouldn't be a complete slaughter from one side but it'll definitely be competitive.

Also, I'm not entirely sure why everyone is hyping up iG when they've looked incredibly inconsistent. They've been dropping in standings for a few weeks now . Recently, they've split games to UP and VG and lost 0-2 to EDG. If they want to prove they're a contender, they have to improve their macroplay to be able to 2-0 teams not named King/WE/RNG.

Diva Qiyana 2 votes

I agree with you, Fnatic can get third and honestly they might even be third on this list. But since we can't really see how they do in best of series yet or how they would do VS Korean or Chinese teams we can't really put them there. Because Korea and China has shown they are really strong regions in most world championships (korea even having 2 championship wins maybe even a third now) we assume nothing has changed and that they are the strongest regions (rightfully so) because of what they've shown us. I mean if this was season one and we couldn't really see how teams stacked up internationally we would probably put SKT and Fnatic on 1 and 2 because of their records. Fnatic just have to prove themselves in best of 5 and then the worlds stage.

Cheryl Cole2 votes

Despite i agree, there is no indicator showing, if Fnatic deserves 3rd spot, i wouldn't say thay deserve it less, than KOO for instance. Problematic part is, there is not a single argument why this ranking should be exactly like that, or why Fnatic should be higher then KOO, or QG. I would say first 2 teams are pretty obvious, but if you shuffle 3-5th rank, it wouldn't be some kind of upset, becouse as i said there is no indicator. Basicly the reason why teams are in that way is mostly due to personal preferences. And who would blame them for putting korea and china above eu. Let's wait to playoffs. If fnatic make it without loss, than it would be reasonable to put them above KOO.

Kemy7 votes

There's flaws to your opinion. Fnatic will not be ranked top 3 internationally because they have looked shaky against teams in their own region early game. For example: Giants, H2k, and Origen I believe. Meanwhile, SKT has been destroying all the teams by a large margin. I can not say much about LPL because I do not watch it however, I am sure people who watch LPL will say the same thing about EDG.

Diva Qiyana 16 votes

Your opinion is flawed to. Or at least what you stated. Fnatic got behind in about 4 games or so out of 16. That's not even half. Also SKT lost games to Samsung and Anarchy and they have gotten behind at least as much as Fnatic. I honestly think that it's good that Fnatic get behind. If they can't play from behind they are not a top tier team and we see that in Origen for example. Other than both Fnatic and SKT has shown they can comeback. Both teams are also going undefeated in their regions, yes the teams in their region are inconsistent but it's still a statement not dropping a game. The biggest difference I see right now is that when SKT get a lead they usually crush their opponents with superior teamplay, mapplay and so forth and they don't make mistakes, at least not as many as Fnatic. Fnatic and SKT doesn't lose when they get ahead. SKT just wins cleaner. I don't see a reason to not give Fnatic a chance against top Korean and Chinese teams. When even analysts like Monte say they can win against Koo for example and probably the KT Bullets too. He even said that Fnatic would win in a best of series against them most likely and that Fnatic probably would stomp NA right now too.

CypressLB2 votes

Koo didn't show a severe weakness. Did you really watch that game? Watch it again and then watch H2K vs Fnatic or OG vs Fnatic and tell me who is showing severe weaknesses. I can buy Fnatic trying to hide strategies from playoffs but they have looked rough in a few games lately, like Giants and the two mentioned above. I can't think of a recent game where I can say Koo looked rough or I was worried about them losing because of misplays. That's me talking about the Korean team that is most likely trying to style on the enemy team and they still stay more consistent.

Losing to SKT doesn't make you bad and I disagree with your other post that they tunneled too much on Eve. They played well in game and didn't give up anything from misplays, they just got beat, it happens.

If we were to look at current team performance and disregard standings Fnatic wouldn't look very strong since they have had some very shaky performances. Their place in the standings helps keep them high. Also disregarding regions is fucking stupid. Are you going to tell football analysis that they should place an undefeated highschool team on par with the Patriots because the Patriots dropped a game? If you're not looking at the strength of the players a team is beating then you're not trying hard. Since you constantly push for them to do this I can't help but feel you seeth bias.

Cheryl Cole6 votes

again... there is not "like" giants/h2k/origen game. And yes i did watch KOO. They didn't show a severe weakness? They did show exactly the same weakness, what Fnatic did. The difference is, KOO is the one showing it A LOT. Their early is basicly the worst in whole top 10 internationaly.

And sorry, your football example is not telling us much, since NA football is a different sport from Football in the rest of the world...

CypressLB1 votes

My football example was that you have to compare the competition. You don't rate highschool sports on the same page as professional. There's a reason nobody cares about wildcare perfect seasons and nobody ever asks for them to be top 5.

I also disagree that Koo showed a lot of weakness. They've been very strong in their string of wins and put up a good fight vs SKT. They have weak laning phases and sometimes can get behind and it doesn't help that they often pick for late and will develop a gold deficit, the goal of a late scaling team is to minimize that. It's the team that made JuggerMaw famous. They have amazing late game shot calling and have no problem winning from behind or minimizing gold deficits in scaling comps. I'll look for their gold deficits in games and we can compare it to Fnatic's deficits.

Cheryl Cole3 votes

So if Fnatic gets behind with late scaling comp and wins every single TF when it matters it is whole different, than when KOO gets behind and eventually lose. With late scale comp. Actualy i do agree, there is a difference. Compare Fnatic's deficits to KOO deficits in games that they lost.

CypressLB1 votes

Koo's losses have come from SKT and at the very start 7(?) wins ago. Fnatic hasn't had to face a top team, in fact they have had struggles with teams that are way below the top 20.

Fnatic isn't really a team that drafts for late game, that's more common in teams like EL.

I don't really see your point, Fnatic is getting beat early in 2/3 of their most recent games, they've been off point and people point out a top 2 or 3 KR and CH team can take advantage of that. They're not gonna win a game against KT getting behind like that, they're gonna end up with 12 deaths and 1 kill. Koo doesn't often gain a gold advantage early in their games and plays the lanes to go even. It's not the best strategy and can be punished, which SKT did punish and KT might, but they still have great decision making and have won 20 games. Remember, SKT makes up half of their losses.

Earl Eulrich4 votes
  1. they did not get beat, they won every single game
  2. just watch their game today (yea, it´s only SK - but SK is known for their very strong laning phase and lackluster lategames), it´s very obvious they were just experimenting during the last weeks with their early, they have no troubles stepping their early up any time
  3. believe it or not, EU is actually as much competition as SKT gets in Korea...or even more, as for me most of the upper half EU teams still look a lot more versatile than the Korean top 6.
MaximusSchering9 votes

C9 should be first on the international list, CALL IT A COMEBACK!!! #c94lyf #c9willwinworlds

ShadowFiend8123 votes

Umm hate to break it to us but they can't make worlds this year

I AM TEM6 votes

Yea they can. They need 7th and can run the gauntlet.

CypressLB3 votes

Really? I'm hoping they get a chance, they've looked much better recently, even their loss to CLG looked good.

The Law TK9 votes

Okay, honestly all the arguing about fnatics placement is quite tiresome I'm just happy that a team from the west actuality has a chance at world's this year

Logaid6 votes

These ranking need to stop talking about worlds... Worlds is a ways off and an entire meta (or 2) away where teams who may be struggling in the tank meta might thrive in an assassin or ADC meta. Some teams will be good no matter what the meta is, EDG and SKT for example, because they're very solid in every position. In this top centric meta (imo) teams like fanatic will look great because Huni is playing out of his mind where as teams like TSM will not look as good because Dyrus is not a great carry. We can't even guess how worlds will play out until we know what the meta will be like and that's too far off to know.

Tinfin9 votes

I disagree, this article series is practically "what would happen if worlds was today." If you don't want this analysis/speculation just look at the standings in each region.

Lanthroviel2 votes

If you want them to stop talking about Worlds then the teams themselves need to stop hyping it.

Hell, TSM ARE the one who said "our goal is worlds" and they are CHEWED for it.

Reginald tried to damage control by saying the team was "trying new stuff in prep for worlds" even though they still always have the same game plans and diversified far less and less effectively than Fnatic. They still put the emphasis on bjergsen and they still can't decide to bench wildturtle.

So yes, they deserved to be chewed on for their cockiness (like Reginald saying TSM already had the spot while Liquid would probably not have it...)

kaozbender5 votes

These rankings are so biased towards Korea and China...

Marine Biologist14 votes

That's because they're still the best. The only western team that can potentially challenge the top teams of that region is fnatic, and speaking bluntly, if Fnatic does what they did vs Og and H2k, their chances are slim as well.

dat Vayne5 votes

Going into Worlds, Western teams are at a MAJOR disadvantage. While FNATIC IS 16-0 in GAMES. SKT is 13-0 in MATCHES.

And when it's time to have best of 3 or best of 5 games will Western teams have what it takes to compete with teams who are already play these type of matches consistently?

SKT T1 ßaker4 votes

I dont worry about Fnatic only being 5th. As long as we can capitalize that EU>NA

Jgrhymes1 votes

No argument here. They don't deserve the top 3 everyone is crying about but I wish NA had a hope...

Landrein2 votes

Don't worry, EU~NA. It is entirely possible that Fanatic will be upset this year when they go international. Remember TSM outright won IEM just to fail to win a game in MSI just a couple months later despite being hyped over Fanatic. If I remember at MSI people didn't think Fanatic would make it out of groups. Cloud 9 made it out of NA with only 2 losses to get a buy into the quarter finals as the NA powerhouse only to loose to Fanatic. And a powerful Fanatic team failed to get out of groups at last years finals after the third seat NA team (what would become team impulse) beat them.

Will Fanatic drop the ball? I don't think they will. Will NA out perform expectations, probably, but not by much. But, Western teams have a habit of never performing quite like we all expect them too.

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