Power Rankings 2/23/2016

As teams have dramatically improved over the course of the 2016 Spring Split, this week we see some dramatic shifts across the board.

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 (12-0)
• A Tier: C9 (8-4) | CLG (8-4)
• B Tier: NRG (6-6) | (-) TSM (7-5)
• C Tier: (+) DIG (4-8) | (+) EF (5-7) |  TL (5-7)
• D Tier: (-) TIP (4-8)
• F Tier: REN (1-11)

As we begin the second half of the Spring Split, a new Playoff contender has emerged, but for the most part things have stayed the same. We've had some entertaining games, and now it’s time to see how the dust has settled in NA. Beware, it might be time to slay some fools!

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S Tier: Immortals (12-0)

Immortals are a peculiar team -- while there is no denying their talent and their position as the best team in the NA LCS, recently they seem vulnerable. At any rate, what has been most impressive about the team to date is not only their willingness to skirmish and scrap it out, but also how they transition skirmishes to objectives. This seems most evident against their best opponents -- two weeks ago vs. Cloud9, and this past week vs. Liquid. Immortals won an early fight after Dardoch was caught out, and transitioned the skirmish to an insurmountable 5k gold lead at 12 minutes that continued to balloon. Still, considering their recent struggles I can’t help but think Immortals are very beatable and have some tough challenges ahead of them before they match Fnatic's 18-0 record.

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A Tier: Cloud9 (8-4) | Counter Logic Gaming (8-4)

After somehow winning three consecutive team fights to steal a game against TSM on Saturday, and obliterating NRG again on Sunday, Cloud9 have established themselves as NA LCS championship contenders -- maybe even as a world class team. What is particularly impressive about Cloud9 is how quickly they close out games once they get ahead, and its something few other teams in the NA LCS have demonstrated this split. 

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Cloud9's match against NRG was the first time this season we saw Rush in his 2015 Summer MVP form, playing confidently and mechanically perfect all game long -- truly a pleasure to watch. As for Jensen? He has clearly established himself as the best mid laner in NA, and if we had to describe his performance on Sunday, I think the legend himself said it best: he bodied those fools.

CLG had yet another dominant week, albeit against very weak opponents. It’s fun to see some variety in champion pools, so I commend CLG for the willingness to try new things. Sometimes it works (Pantheon top vs. Renegades), and sometimes it’s a flop (Ashe vs. TSM), but you never know unless you try. Xmithie’s resurgence to 2013 Vulcan form has been a pleasant surprise, and will make CLG a dangerous team come Playoffs.

Cloud9 and CLG face off this week, and we'll find out exactly which of these A Tier teams has the edge as we get ready for the Playoff chase.

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B Tier: TSM (7-5) | NRG (6-6)

There’s no denying it, TSM had a bad week. Things looked promising on Saturday with a great Champion Select and team composition vs. Cloud9; they even managed to secure the Kog'Maw + Braum "exploit" that seems nigh unstoppable on 6.3. But poor positioning in crucial team fights (a pro player shouldn't get caught by a Soraka silence root), poor shot calling, and clutch mechanical plays by Cloud9, led to a surprising TSM loss in the final moments. 

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Sunday’s game vs. Dignitas was filled with sloppy play, which has unfortunately become a trend for TSM. In particular, their Champion Select this game was puzzling. Quinn vs. Malphite has proven to be great in the early game for Quinn, but largely ineffective later in the game. TSM have two winnable games next week (Echo Fox Saturday, Liquid Sunday), and will be looking for a bounce-back win to get their Season back on track.

NRG definitely impressed on Saturday with a comprehensive victory vs. Team Dignitas, but then were utterly destroyed by Cloud9 on Sunday. I suspect this is an accurate reflection of where NRG currently stands -- they are an average team that can smash lesser opponents, but will get put in their place by teams better than them. GBM and Altec embody this characteristic -- both have pummeled lesser opponents, but are not outperforming many of the elite mid / ADCs in the region.

Given the struggles of the team, I'm curious why Impact isn't allowed to play more… impactful champions. He hard-carried NRG in his first game this split as Fiora, and since then has played a more supportive role. Impact needs a chance to shine and carry the roleplayers on his team.

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C Tier: Echo Fox (5-7) | Team Dignitas (4-8) | Liquid (5-7)

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The surging Echo Fox are making things pretty interesting. After a drawn out victory vs. Liquid on Saturday, Echo Fox destroyed Team Impulse on Sunday, presenting their credentials as a Playoff team. kfo appears to have acclimated to pro play, and has even shown carry potential with an impressive top lane Kayle performance vs. Impulse. Undoubtedly the most troll plays of Echo Fox’s weekend came from Froggen -- denying Keith’s pentakill Saturday, then spam laughing as Gangplank at Impulse after winning a team fight at top side river. Well meme’d, sir.

Liquid had another tough week, and it has to be said, they are a team on the outside looking in. Echo Fox is on the rise, and the once surging Liquid are no longer the new hotness. On Saturday, we saw poor macro shot calling and indecisiveness we attributed to the pre-Dardoch/Matt Liquid. With only three weeks left this split, Liquid are very much in danger of missing out on the Playoffs.

After getting mopped up by NRG on Saturday, Team Dignitas came back with an impressive win vs. TSM on Sunday. It was a curious choice to tower race against NRG, which cost them an inhibitor tower in bot lane. However, on Sunday Team Dignitas were able to capitalize on careless play and a lacklustre team comp from TSM. Perhaps the most encouraging part of Team Dignitas’ weekend came from Kiwikid’s post-game interview, where he acknowledged the limitations of the team and how they need to focus on what they do well. There’s no shame in acknowledging limitations and finding ways to overcome them.

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D Tier: Team Impulse (4-8)

Since going to their full roster, Team Impulse has taken a step backwards. That can’t all be on Feng, although he is definitely not playing well with an 0/6/3 KDA for the weekend. Impulse need to find an identity quickly, because it seems like they are still lacking one. With Liquid and NRG coming up next week, it’s not going to get much easier. Their success is completely dependent on which Impulse shows up -- the team that beat Team Dignitas two weeks ago, or the Impulse that has lost their other five most recent games with their full roster?

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F Tier: Renegades (1-11)

There isn’t much to say about Renegades beyond they’re having a tough first split. They had some pretty tough games this weekend, but put up a fight early against Immortals, which is some cause for hope. Truth be told, the team needs better performances from Alex Ich and Crumbz. While Alex’s KDA looked fine on Saturday, he missed crucial Shockwaves. Crumbz seems to have lost confidence and his shot calling is being affected as a result. Still, there’s time to turn it around before their potential Relegation battle.

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EU LCS

Written by James "Obscurica" Chen

• S Tier: G2 (9-3) | H2K (9-3) | VIT (9-3)
• A Tier: UOL (8-4)
• B Tier: OG (6-6) | FNC (7-5)
• C Tier: SPY (4-8)
• D Tier: EL (4-8) | GIA (2-10) | ROC (2-10)

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S Tier: G2 Esports (9-3) | H2K (9-3) | Vitality (9-3)

The top three in the EU LCS are pretty much settled at this point -- Vitality, H2K and G2 Esports are heads and shoulders above the average competition in both consistency and performance, with Vitality on a notable hot streak. KaSing, especially, has been playing with increasing confidence -- he's one of the few players in the LCS to still be dabbling with Bard and Tahm Kench at support. The influence he has with them raises questions about why they shifted out of the meta in the first place. Vitality's also beaten both of their fellow front runners in the last two weeks. This makes them, at least for now, the first among equals.

Conversely, G2 has some worrying to do. By any reasonable measure the game versus Fnatic should have been theirs. The first 26 minutes of it were incredibly lopsided in G2's favor. Whether it was Rekkles's own genius mechanics or G2 underestimating the impact of a late-game Kog'maw, a concretely settled game quickly proved itself made of sand, slipping through their fingers no matter how they tried to tighten their grip.

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A Tier: Unicorns of Love (8-4)

There are two things working against the Unicorns of Love this week. First, no matter how good they are against the rest of the field, they haven't been able to beat the top three teams in recent weeks. It's not for a lack of personal mechanics either -- both Fox and Steeelback have been incredibly impressive.

What they lack might be related to the second issue. An inability to hold onto junglers. Rudy, despite demonstrated prowess on carry junglers like Kindred, was recently dropped after just a few weeks of play. Loulex will replace him soon -- but, in the meantime, the Unicorn's overall teamwork and strategy is decidedly their biggest weakness. At least, relative to the top three.

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B Tier: Fnatic (7-5) | Origen (6-6)

What happens when a team of talented and well-regarded players are thoroughly dismantled week after week by the circuit's current leaders? You unfortunately get Origen and Fnatic. When these teams actually win, it's due more to them opportunistically capitalizing on critical errors by the other team, and less due to their own setups and initiative.

Fnatic's upset over G2 is an exception that only serves to prove the rule: up to the 26-minute mark, it seemed as if G2 was one Baron fight away from shutting the game out on them. The critical error, in this case, was assuming that they could keep overlooking Rekkles's previously irrelevant Kog'maw. Given Fnatic's decisive loss to Splyce the day after, not to mention Gamsu and Spirit's consistently underwhelming performances, it's hard not to consider that win very lucky.

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C Tier: Splyce (4-8)

Frankly, the only reason why Splyce isn't higher-ranked is because there isn't enough games to justify it yet. They haven't quite settled on a team identity yet, or fully recognized what does or doesn't work for them. Wunderwear either outright carries games from top lane, or he goes 0/4/0 on Quinn. When things do click, something magical happens, like the incredible amount of disruption and chaos their Nautilus/Lulu composition wreaked upon Fnatic in a decisive 13-0 blowout. This is not a team that's found their performance peak yet.

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D Tier: Elements (4-8) | Roccat (2-10) | Giants Gaming (2-10)

Similar to Splyce, both Roccat and Giants have actually looked increasingly good in recent weeks. Giants' mid laner xPepii, in particular, has been putting out plays and map pressure that is reminiscent of his form last Season. Like Splyce, it's probably wiser to err on the side of caution until they've had a few more games under their belt.

Elements, on the other hand, need no such consideration, because it's been a while since they've actually won or showcased any particular moment of great skill. Eika is consistently outclassed by pretty much every mid laner in the EU LCS right now (he went 1/7/7 this past week), and his teammates don't do anywhere near enough work to pick up the slack. Their scant few wins earlier in the split are quickly getting buried by their mountain of losses. There's still hope that they can retool around MrRallez and rally back up in these last few weeks, but the window of opportunity is quickly sliding shut.

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LMS

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

Record format: (Win-Loss-Draw)

With round one at a close and all teams having played each other twice, we’ll be going briefly into why each team has surpassed or missed expectations set in our Preseason Preview.Again the sequencing of teams is how I think they stack up to each other. This has probably been the most competitive split in LMS as we don’t have a clear upper half, but a clogged waist in the B tier.

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S Tier: ahq e-Sports Club (7-0-0)

Welcome back to S tier! This is the second split in a row ahq has achieved a flawless round one. ahq picked smarter and team fought better than TPA, never seeming to be in any trouble despite Ziv being camped heavily. We expected ahq to dip down to second place based on the assumptions Mountain would sit out spring to heal his wrists. Turning to Eastern therapy, Mountain now shows no sign of pain, and is unanimously considered the best performing jungler in the LMS, especially on Elise and Graves. Last season ahq’s win streak stopped at 14. Let’s see how far the streak can go as ahq face HKE, the 1:1 kings, on the 25th next week.

 

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A Tier: Taipei Assassins (3-2-2) | Flash Wolves (4-2-1)

Like previous weeks, Flash Wolves didn’t crush all of the early skirmishes, but when it came to playing their composition they won out handedly. Rin’s 493 armor Malphite shut Dee down, and Maple’s Stormraider’s Surge Gangplank was very interesting, building Phantom Dancer to split push against BoBo. In preseason we expected them to come in at first, due to a roster that looked very much intact, but with more mechanical talent in Rins top. They’ve had some slip-ups and overall I’d say they’re very slightly worse than imagined, due to a quiet season for Karsa and SwordArT. Still a strong contender even on the international caliber.

“They look like a team that speaks different languages.” is the remark Flash Wolves analyst Fluidwind gave TPA in their loss to ahq. The Assassins set up both games quite nicely, gaining early leads in the laneswap. And then it seemed they just stopped talking. Teamfighting wise, BeBe, Jay and Mountain all seem to be on different pages while REFRA1N and FoFo are just lost. TPA is as expected in third place, with all the foreseeable strengths and flaws. Strong individual players and laners, good macro play; poor coordination midway into the season, look way too timid to play aggressive compositions.

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B Tier: Hong Kong eSports (2-1-4) |  Machi (3-3-1) | Midnight Sun (1-4-2) | XGamers (2-3-2) 

Another match, another tie. HKE has split four of their matches so far with the team losing the first and winning the second everytime. Jungler Dinter claims that the team needs to warm up to play.Or maybe move the Coach should move prep talk from halftime to pregame. Whatever it is, HKE have had some very uneven performances, but then they go into the zone and bring things back with vision control and veterancy. HKE is slightly higher than we predicted, tied at 4th with Machi, with the main reason being the addition of Korean import Rokenia shoring up a carry position. This week’s Fizz game awarded him the game MVP and he continues to show a widening range of champions.

Machi had a disappointing week versus Flash Wolves. M17 has had some of the best GD@10 players in Dee and Dreamer, but they just don’t know how to play the game post laning phase. Both times they had chances to win the game by a BoBo split push, both times they settled for poor teleports into teamfights instead. M17 are a bit lower than expectations, being knocked down by HKE. They’ve become even stronger in strengths, lanning, but haven’t improved from last season in terms of strategy.

MSE avoided swapping places this week by delivering a clean sweep. CGE’s SpeaR actually outplayed Wulala for most of the second game, but Ninuo at top and CorGi and Kaiwing bottom won out on their own. MSE I for me are very close to XG, I’m putting them ahead for now because they seem to have more discipline and the bot lane is too hot to ignore. CorGi has improved his GD@10 by 24.8 to +9.00 compared to last split, that is not a typo. While he was always a good team fighter, this season with Kaiwing he’s carrying from lanning phase.

Yo had a career game with the new Gragas in game one, blasting HKE’s defenses with well placed barrel’s. In game two they were a bit too scrappy for their own good, and ended a 51 kill game on poorly planned skirmishes. While they’re lower than expected in standings(I’d rate them 7th), performance wise they’ve completely overreached anything I dreamed of. This is a team that made it through promotions. SuwaKo has stayed consistently good, and Nexus with Suki are pleasant surprises. Currently, they’re a bit messy in the engages and lane swaps, but if Yo can avoid being caught, they have a high ceiling and stronger supporting staff that I could see them challenge M17 next week.

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D Tier: (-) Cougar eSports (0-7-0)

At the end of the series versus MSE, CGE chose to ignore their base and five man bush-gank Ninuo while MSE calmly took their inhibitor. “Worth” is when you type it, and I guess moral victories are important when you have yet to win a game in the LMS. Next week team rosters will be locked for Spring. I fully expect more roster changes to come from CGE, as Never to top and CandyBB support actually looks like a downgrade from their former roster. CGE are as expected, last. The second round for them will be about snagging up usable talent in ECS.

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LPL

Written by Indiana "Froskurinn" Black

• S Tier: QG (7-0)
• A Tier: (-) EDG (4-2) | RNG (5-2)
• B Tier: WE (4-2) | (+) SS (4-2) | iG (4-2) | (+) OMG (3-4)
• C Tier: VG (3-4) | (+) LGD (1-6)
• D Tier: EPA (2-4) | M3 (2-5) | HYG (0-6)

The LPL is back after the two week New Year celebrations with teams looking refreshed and rejuvenated. And some, still on vacation. The elite of the pack faltered with the QG Reapers dropping their first game in the LPL, Edward Gaming fumbling their draft against Invictus Gaming, and Royal Never Gives Up getting blown out by Team WE.

Meanwhile, the middle of the pack is spiking in performance - seemingly demonstrating that it was refined strategy and macro play that bested them in the standings. With the top teams out of practice and games coming down to brute mechanical strength, the mid tier is thriving. Teams on the rise primarily being OMG and Team WE.

The LPL finally moved to Patch 6.1, but the region is falling behind the global norms. The meta is aged and skewed between the two groups, but one thing remains consistent: the LPL know how to fight and will never hesitate to do so.

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S Tier: QG Reapers (7-0)

Still undefeated but no longer perfect. QG had two sets this week against mid-tier Group B teams, OMG and Vici Gaming (VG). Though beating OMG 2-0, the series revealed some curious flaws and it should be noted that the 5th place Group B team has given QG the best run in the league.

There are QG’s own personal failings in identifying the correct power spikes to fight on, trying to engage early with Viktor/Ezreal compositions, but the tough fight was mostly due to OMG’s surprising proficiency for teamfighting that caught QG off-guard. "The Kings of Teamfighting" are not as untouchable in their habitat as once predicted. All hope was dashed in game two however; QG led a truculent train on bot lane and smashed OMG in 27 minutes.

Similar hope peaked for VG, taking game two off QG as the Reapers appeared far too lax around the map -- randomly running into DanDy’s jungle and throwing away free gold. VG managed to close out a very cautious lead before QG would sub Uzi out for Peco and again turn up to form and dismantle their opponents.

QG rest on their ability to out-fight opponents, but the question will be if that’s enough on the international stage as IEM approaches.

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A Tier: (-) Edward Gaming (4-2), Royal Never Gives Up (5-2)

EDG continue to bounce between tiers, riding on expectations rather than execution. This week they floundered with a 2-0 victory against LGD and then failed their match against Invictus Gaming (iG). EDG abuse standard lanes to open space for Clearlove to outperform the enemy jungler, but this style proved ineffective against iG. Their draft overlooked RooKie’s Corki and Kid simply hid from Clearlove; giving away farm, but shadowing RooKie with wards and support to maintain his lead. In the end, EDG have the experience to lane-swap on iG and expose their one-dimensional playstyle, but chose not to, and were punished due to lack of execution.  

RNG cemented their first place in Group B with EDG’s loss, but also suffered a loss of their own to Team WE (WE). The two up-and-coming Junglers WE Condi and RNG Mlxg faced off, and RNG were punished for their overly aggressive style and positioning; which seems to be entirely isolated from a gold lead or deficit. EDG retain their placement ahead of RNG and will also face WE this coming week -- whatever form shows in that match may finally begin to distinguish who is the clear front-runner in Group B.

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B Tier: Team WE (4-2) | Snake eSports (4-2) | Invictus Gaming (4-2) | OMG (3-4)

WE are finally reaping the benefits of their smart, conservative, acquisitions over the off-season. Condi is the player to watch on the squad as he continues to go from nobody, to lead enabler for the second place Group A team. He was the primary catalyst in their victory over RNG, and once-thought B tier carries (Mystic and Xiye) are finally leveling up to compete with top talent.

Snake share placement with WE but are entirely unique to the LPL in their style. One of the primary drivers of lane-swapping in the league, SS are attempting to push their map play to new heights, showing off Flandre’s proficiency in 2 vs. 1 scenarios. SS will take a back-seat to the performing WE however due to their continued struggle with teamfighting, something that once defined the team. Where TANK has failed to integrate, zzR has stepped up massively, but only time will tell if that will be enough to compensate for their lackluster coordination.

On the back half are the surprising performances of iG and OMG. No one expected these teams to be contenders with entirely revamped rosters of relatively unknown talent. OMG in particular get to move up a tier and should continue to rise (watch out for them). Currently sitting 5th, they’ve only dropped games to the top teams in the league and their placement seems more to do with their front loaded schedule than actual talent -- in particular their new mid laner: Icon.

iG continue to find victories off the back RooKie and his Corki. The team should be congratulated on understanding their win conditions, something the rest of the league still struggles with, but come Playoffs and meta shifts, iG will certainly feel the growing pains as they are the most static team in the league.

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C Tier: Vici Gaming (3-4) | LGD Gaming (1-6)

VG had a lopsided week, facing both M3 and QG. Their lack of carry continues to plague the team, but they’ve made progress in Easyhoon and DanDy stepping up to fill that void. Currently, Easyhoon is undefeated on Lissandra, making that the obvious target ban as the team ahas found little success on any other picks. Meanwhile, DanDy has played Graves twice as many times as any other champion, continuing to try and put the team on his back. Until the rest of the team can get on the same page consistently, VG will sink.

LGD may have lost both their sets this week after finally getting on the board, but they should be proud nonetheless. Facing both EDG and RNG was a tough schedule and despite losing, LGD showed a much stronger performance than they had in the initial weeks; utilizing MaRin far more successfully and getting 2015 reminiscent performances from We1less. Hopefully these losses won’t demoralize the squad and they can appreciate their growth.

One of these teams will scrape into the final Playoff spot as top four from each group move on. VG are much tighter in the standings but have the significantly harder group. It’ll be unfortunate if VG lose a run in the Playoffs, while LGD just need to beat out M3 and Energy Pacemaker.All.

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D Tier: Energy Pacemaker.All (2-4) | Masters 3 (2-5) | Hyper Youth Gaming (0-6)

EPA and HYG faced-off this week, EPA proving again they are the more dominant LSPL promotion team. All these teams demonstrate a clear understanding over the early-game, as all three have some of the earliest averages of first objective, but seem unable to connect the dots on an open map.

Unfortunately, these teams don’t have the luxury to attempt to “brute force” games with a mechanically talented roster due to the over-saturation of talent in the league. With no outstanding All Stars, if these teams want to find victory in the LPL, it must be on a cerebral level. But the LPL teams love to fight and keep pulling the trigger only to shoot themselves in the foot.   

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LCK

Written by Alex Manisier

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

The Lunar New Year has come and gone, and Champions Spring is back to its regular schedule. Across the 20 games that were played in Week 6, four teams have shifted in our Power Rankings. The ladder in Korea is looking very different to how we envisioned it in the Preseason -- expect it to become even stranger as Round 2 approaches.

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S Tier: ROX Tigers (8-0)

With their 2-0 victory over Jin Air Green Wings, the Tigers have all but completed their conquest of Round 1. For what it's worth, they aren't a perfect team. Peanut might be one of Korea's best carnivore junglers, but his status as a 'battle ward' isn't even a meme anymore -- it's a real, tangible factor in ROX's games.

The Tigers are seriously bucking the trend common between Korea's No. 1 teams by 'dumbing down' the game -- that is, they play in a way that reduces the importance of vision. They're happy to fight you for it, but the fight is the ends for the Tigers, not the means. It's a bullheaded approach to the game, but it's one that works. Korea is a one-horse race at the moment. We're just glad it's an entertaining horse.

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A Tier: Jin Air Green Wings (6-3)

Jin Air have spent a lot of time flying between A and B Tier this split, and most of that movement has come off the back of TrAce and Winged, who have become one of Korea's best solo lane/jungle pairings. They pulled out some entertaining carry picks in top Graves and jungle Rumble this week -- we keep saying it, but it's true: you can teach an old dog new tricks.

What does Jin Air's flight plan look like for the rest of the split? If they want to win Champions, it'll be putting more pressure on Kuzan to develop his playmaking skills. Jin Air's best games are actually the ones where Kuzan is taken off lane-dominant picks like Corki and onto more active champions -- we want to see more of that.

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B Tier: KT Rolster (5-3) | Longzhu Gaming (5-3) | SKTelecom T1 (5-4) | Samsung Galaxy (6-3)

First off, we'd like to welcome the kkOma facepalm screenshot back to Power Rankings! In the eternal words of the great expert Waxangel, if you aren't panicking about SKTelecom T1 yet, now is a good time to start. They simply aren't improving at the same rate as other teams. Couple that with Bengi's ailing form, and suddenly the Worlds curse feels very, very real.

We also finally dropped KT Rolster to B Tier. They aren't a bad team, but as the season develops, it's clear that Jin Air are now the only team that can really call themselves A Tier. KT struggle to reproduce the brilliance we see in some of their wins when Ssumday and Score aren't firing on all cylinders to make it happen. You can read more about them in the International section.

Finally, Longzhu and Samsung seem to be polar opposites. Longzhu are a team with immense talent that are finally beginning to gel a little, while Samsung field mediocre players (apart from mid laner Crown) that perform beyond their raw ability through great teamwork and coordination. Both teams could definitely punch their way into A Tier if they work on their weaknesses rather than their strengths.

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C Tier: Afreeca Freecs (3-5) | CJ Entus (3-5)

Afreeca became the fourth team of the Season to take down SKTelecom T1, and while it was against a limping, disoriented version of the 2015 World Champions, it was still a win. Lira and Mickey combined their favourite assassin picks of Nidalee and Kassadin to hand Bang his first loss on Kalista in Champions history.

Both Afreeca and CJ are beginning to find their identities: Afreeca's in Lira's aggressive jungling and the opportunities it unlocks for Mickey to strut his stuff, and CJ's in a mobile, noncommittal playstyle shepherded by MadLife's roaming. Round 2 should be a good opportunity for them to develop their craft -- especially as CJ brings in two new players in Bdd and Ghost.

D Tier: Kongdoo Monster (1-7) | SBENU Sonicboom (0-8)

Not to overstep, but it's likely that SBENU won't be changing its fortunes in the final week of LCK Round 1, seeing as their opponent this week is quite possibly the best team in the world right now: the ROX Tigers. As for Kongdoo Monster (formerly e-mFire) they face off against Madlife's CJ Entus. Given CJ's uneven play and general lack of decisiveness in recent weeks, Monster may have a chance to close out Round 1 on a high note. Maybe. 

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International

Teams are frequently judged by their adaptation. Not only in League of Legends, but in all esports, balance frequently changes from patch to patch, with certain players or teams "breaking" or figuring out the patch faster and more comprehensively than others. But often those players and teams struggle when a patch changes. Adaptability is important in League, and this week we take a look at one of the teams who have adapted best.

KT Rolster

KT Rolster haven't had the best two weeks in Champions. After getting spanked by telecommunication rivals SKT T1 last week, they opened Week 6 with a 1-2 loss to Jin Air. But that loss ended up being the most important match of the week, for better or for worse. In Game 2, KT pulled out an original response to the marksman-heavy metagame. It was an answer that was staring us in the face the whole time.

Rammus.

The subject of many memes since his inception, Rammus has rolled in and out of competitive play, a passenger on the cruise ship that is the jungle metagame. While he succeeds in low-economy metagames that favoured heavy ganking junglers who could build a Sightstone and be done with it, his susceptibility in the jungle and slow clear time has always been a thorn in his side.

His strengths are clear though -- as a tank who gains immense gold value from building armor, he's a natural fit in any metagame in which AD champions dominate. KT Rolster circumvented his jungle weakness by giving him to Ssumday after TrAce had already picked Poppy, guaranteeing a relatively smooth early game. The Rumble pick that Jin Air had assumed would go to Ssumday instead went to Score, who inadvertently inspired junglers across the world to add the Mechanized Menace to their champion pools.

The result: a crushing performance by KT. Jin Air's triple marksman lineup of Graves, Corki and Ezreal could do nothing to the Armordillo as he facetanked an array of projectiles that would make Duck Hunt Duo mains proud.

There are many ways in which a team can respond to the prevailing metagame. Solutions range from playing the early game lane configuration a little differently (how do you think the 4v0 became a thing in the first place?) to placing extreme emphasis on certain objectives (we're looking at you, 2013 Cloud9). But the most interesting (or perhaps crowd-pleasing, so as to not offend our resident macro fanatics Clement Chu and MonteCristo) responses come in the form of new champion picks.

The Season is still young, and the 6.x patches are still being figured out. Let us know if you've got any clever ideas that could help teams like KT nab a few cheeky wins here and there!

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Who will be the last undefeated team in League? Can ahq, ROX, Immortals, and Qiao Gu keep up the pace?

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