Power Rankings - Week 25
Riot·7/16/2014, 11:12:57 PM·0 votes·2,786 views
We use a system similar to the Associated Press power rankings for College Football or Basketball - a panel of writers vote on who they think should be listed, and an aggregate is produced from combining their rankings.
Our panel votes on these criteria, in this order:
- Recent results
- Predicted future performance
- Historical trends (as they pertain to future results and present form)
- The "eye" test (How good does a team look, relative to the rest of the world)
- Samsung Galaxy Blue ( - )
- Samsung Galaxy White ( - )
- KT Rolster Arrows (+1)
- SK Telecom T1 K (-1)
- Najin Black Sword (+1)
- Najin White Shield (-1)
- OMG (+1)
- Edward Gaming (+3)
- SKT T1 S (+3)
- Team WE (+3)
- Jin Air Stealths (+6)
- CJ Entus Blaze (-5)
- CJ Entus Frost (-4)
- Alliance (-3)
- Counter Logic Gaming ( - )
- StarHorn Royal Club (-2)
- Fnatic (+3)
- LMQ (+1)
- Team SoloMid (NEW)
- Team Dignitas (-5)
- ( - ) Samsung Galaxy Blue - OGN - (5-1)
- ( - ) Samsung Galaxy White - OGN - (5-1)
- (+1) KT Rolster Arrows - OGN - (8-3) The KT Rolster Arrows have already played their quarterfinals series against NaJin White Shield, and it was an epic confrontation. After falling behind 0-2, the Arrows came thundering back to win the series 3-2. A confident Arrows squad is waiting for the winner of the NaJin Black Sword/SK Telecom T1 S series in the semifinals. They will enter that series as the favorite, and should they take care of business, the Circuit Points that come with a first or second place will have far-reaching consequences for the Korean Regional Qualifier for the 2014 World Championship. Written by Thomas Watts
- (-1) SK Telecom T1 K - OGN - (3-3)
- (+1) Najin Black Sword - OGN - (5-1) The NaJin organisation have truly struck gold with the new Sword roster. By defeating the Jin Air Falcons 2-0, Sword have cemented a higher seed in the bracket stage of Champions Summer, as well as securing a (short lived) spot in the bracket stage for sister team Shield. AD carry Ohq is in his element, performing superbly all throughout the group stage with the assistance of veteran support Cain. In the upcoming round of 8, Sword's explosive playstyle will clash with SK Telecom T1 S's defensive tactics in the upcoming round of 8. This will be the team's first best-of-five, and their first real test. Written by Alex Manisier
- (-1) Najin White Shield - OGN (5-6)
- (+1) OMG - LPL - (11-3)
OMG had a bad week. There's really no way around it. After one close loss to Edward Gaming where they maintained objective control despite falling behind in kills, they seemed to unravel. The second game of the best of three can only be described as a stomp, as OMG never had an advantage. Then, in LPL, OMG fell for a trap laid by Young Glory, the seventh place LPL team, in champion select, resulting in an even split for the series.
All told, OMG lost three of their four competitive games one week after acing four games in a row. Of course, OMG was playing with a substitute, and the rushed circumstances of the online semifinals left them less than prepared, but a trait of a strong international team is an ability to perform in adversity, and OMG fell short. They'll face steep competition this week in LPL, and if they want to redeem themselves, going 2-0 against EDG and World Elite would be just what the doctor ordered.
Editors Note: Though OMG had a bad week, their movement up in the rankings is reflective of several Korean teams massively under performing. Their gap relative to their peers lessened substantially this week.
Written by Kelsey Moser - (+3) Edward Gaming - LPL - (10-4) Edward Gaming nearly destroyed OMG, the first place LPL team, in the best of three for IEM Shenzhen's online semifinals. To top it off, they hold on tightly to their second place tie with World Elite and have a chance to challenge OMG this week for the LPL leader spot. Edward Gaming continue to tighten their game, but Clearlove's inconsistency is still a point of contingency. EDG is primed to claim the title of "best team in China" both at IEM Shenzhen on the 20th and in LPL against OMG on the 18th. Tune in to see a new king crowned or a rising giant toppled. Written by Kelsey Moser
- (+3) SK Telecom T1 S - OGN - (4-2)
- (+3) Team WE - LPL - (10-4) There have been a lot of people placing Edward Gaming and OMG at the top of the Chinese League of Legends ranks and still more supporting StarHorn Royal Club as a rising challenger, but given how little attention World Elite has gotten, it might surprise you that they are currently tied for second place in LPL and have come out with split best of twos against all three of those teams. In addition, they will be playing in the IEM Shenzhen finals against EDG this Sunday. World Elite has been steadily improving since their shaky start with Ninja and Sin who were all-but-thrown into the LPL arena the week they came to China. They have been struggling with communication and closing games, but despite shaky late games, no team has been able to 2-0 them. If they continue to come out with intelligent compositions like the one they used against Edward Gaming in LPL last weekend, WE could be a contender not just for the top three, but for first place in LPL. If they manage to throw off OMG, EDG, and World Elite Academy this weekend, we might be forced to acknowledge that there are more than just two contenders for the title of best team in China. Written by Kelsey Moser
- (+6) Jin Air GreenWings Stealths - OGN - (4-2)
- (-5) CJ Entus Blaze - OGN - (3-3) The pressure was high for CJ Entus Blaze as they entered a do-or-die match against the Jin Air Stealths last Saturday. Unfortunately, the OGN veterans barely fell short of the 2-0 victory that was required for their advancement in Champions Summer, tying the series 1-1 against their ex-AD carry Cpt Jack. Dropping out of the group stage of Champions for the first time in history, Blaze will now fight through the NLB once again, attempting to earn enough circuit points to keep their World Championship hopes alive. Written by Alex Manisier
- (-4) CJ Entus Frost - OGN - (3-3)
- (-3) Alliance - EU LCS - (14-6) There's no reason to sound the alarm - yet. Alliance is still the No. 1 record in Europe, and their only reasonably close competitor is Fnatic. They face SHC next week, and a loss there would only add to the tilt they must be beginning to feel on their four-game losing streak. It's time to put up or shut up for Alliance, as a losing streak going into the last weeks of the season hurts their confidence as well as their playoff seeding. Written by Mattias “Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman
- ( - ) Counter Logic Gaming - NA LCS - (13-7) As CLG inches ever closer to individually holding the No. 1 spot in the NA LCS for themselves, Doublelift continues to go on a tear after going 8-1-5 on Lucian and 9-1-1 on Kog'Maw last week. Although the rest of the team doesn't have as impressive of KDA as their ADC, as a cohesive team, CLG's shot-calling is slowly improving week after week. While Seraph has been using his Teleport better lately than at the beginning of the split, CLG's top lane has been proving himself to be an asset to the team. Written by Jack "NeoIllusions" Ho
- (-2) Star Horn Royal Club - LPL - (8-6) After Invictus Gaming dropped a game to World Elite Academy this weekend, the fact that StarHorn lost a game to them would normally seem unflattering. Still, iG has a long history of being able to take games off the top teams and lose to teams at the bottom, so we don't hold it too strongly against them. Like WE, SHRC has been struggling with late game communication, and they fumbled a lead hard against iG this week. Part of their difficulties come from over-extensions made by both Uzi and inSec, yet they have still made strides in LPL and maintained top four standings. They have even managed to split sets with both Edward Gaming and World Elite. If SHRC continue to improve, this could be the first year we see a runner up return to the World Championship. Written by Kelsey Moser
- (+3) Fnatic - EU LCS - (13-7)
It's that time of season again. Fnatic cruised to a 2-0 over their 2nd place rivals SK Gaming (and SHC), parking them firmly in 2nd place; only one game behind the No. 1 Alliance after a now six-game winning streak. They look nigh unstoppable, so expect to see yet another dominant Fnatic playoffs showing.
Written by Mattias “Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman - (+1) LMQ - NA LCS - (13-7) Refusing to take a hit against the compLexity blue shell, LMQ rallied off of XiaoWeiXiao's Orianna and kept their dream of No.1 alive for another week. Not to be outdone by Doublelift, Vasilii had a monstrous game on Tristana, going 10-0-6 in their first match against Dignitas. LMQ should look to make a statement next week with two big games against TSM and then CLG. A win against TSM could continue LMQ's perfect streak this split against them and defeating CLG would be what the team needs to finally sit at the top by themselves. Written by Jack "NeoIllusions" Ho
- (NEW) Team SoloMid - NA LCS - (12-8) With one of the more difficult schedules last week, TSM defeated Cloud9 off the strong performance of WildTurtle's 10-1-2 Tristana. However against their long time rivals, CLG, WildTurtle's Megling Gunner was unable to put up a repeat performance. Dyrus has shown a strong affinity lately towards Gragas and TSM will need their top lane to consistently perform if they look to defeat LMQ and coL next week. Written by Jack "NeoIllusions" Ho
- (-5) Team Dignitas - NA LCS (11-9)
While Dignitas had a difficult week, they fell 0-2 after losing to both LMQ and CLG, the former of which they had yet to lose to this season. While all hope isn’t lost, we’re beginning to wonder if this is the beginning of the Dignitas collapse we’ve come to expect. They have a much easier week in Week 9 against Curse and EG.
Written by Frank “Riot Mirhi” Fields
SK Telecom T1 K made the bracket stage after a 1-1 split with Incredible Miracle #1. Their loss in that series was a stunner, even if it can be explained away by stating the game didn't matter since K had already locked up the No. 2 seed from Group A. The Fightin' Fakers were matched up against Samsung Galaxy White in the quarterfinals. That best-of-five series promises to be explosive since White knocked T1K out of OGN Champions Spring during the quarterfinals just a few months ago.
Written by Thomas Watts
SK Telecom T1 S is in uncharted territory following a 1-1 split with CJ Entus Frost on the last day of group competition in OGN Champions Summer. Their current roster hadn't ever made the playoffs before this past week. They got a lucky draw against NaJin Black Sword, the weakest of the four No. 1 seeds. Their best-of-five is scheduled for July 18th.
Written by Thomas Watts
Like their sister team Blaze, Frost have failed to make it through the group stage of Champions Summer, marking their worst performance in history. Frost will have some serious issues to work on as they face either Prime Optimus or MKZ in NLB Summer, especially in the mid lane as Coco attempts to reclaim his groove. A bright spot exists in Swift, who snatched DanDy's title as the "Prince of Thieves" with some incredible Baron steals and overall superb play one Lee Sin. Despite dropping out of Champions in a nailbiting draw against SK Telecom T1 S, Frost have a clear direction in which to improve.
Written by Thomas Watts
