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Power Rankings - Week 31

Riot·8/27/2014, 10:58:56 PM·0 votes·26,209 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)
Our panel is available at the footer of this article, with each of their credentials and specialties. It is important to note that all our voters follow all five major professional leagues (LPL, OGN, GPL, NA/EU LCS) on a weekly basis. Make sure to tweet @Lolesports with your Power Rankings or let us know in the comments below. Bolded teams have qualified for Worlds.
  1. KT Rolster Arrows ( - )
  2. Samsung Galaxy Blue (+1)
  3. Samsung Galaxy White ( - )
  4. Edward Gaming (+1)
  5. SK Telecom T1 K (-1)
  6. OMG ( - )
  7. Alliance (+1)
  8. Najin White Shield ( - )
  9. Najin Black Sword ( - )
  10. StarHorn Royal Club ( - )
  11. Cloud9 (+2)
  12. Jin Air Stealths (-1)
  13. LMQ (+2)
  14. Fnatic ( - )
  15. CJ Entus Blaze ( - )
  16. SK Telecom T1 S (-3)
  17. SK Gaming ( - )
  18. LGD ( - )
  19. Team SoloMid (+1)
  20. Taipei Assassins (NEW)
Number of first place votes in brackets.
  1. ( - ) KT Rolster Arrows - #3 Korea Regionals - 194pts - [4] Editor's Note: As you can see from the point spread, Samsung Blue and KT Arrows are tied for first.
  2. (+1) Samsung Galaxy Blue - Korea - Qualified for Worlds - 194pts - [3] Editor's Note: As you can see from the point spread, Blue and Arrows are tied for first.
  3. ( - ) Samsung Galaxy White - Korea - Qualified for Worlds - 188pts - [1] Samsung Galaxy White roared through SK Telecom T1 K 3-0 to win the tiebreaker series between the two squads. Their win locks them into the 2014 World Championship. White played extremely well throughout the series, and it was a total team effort. If there was any doubt surrounding White before today, they erased it and put themselves squarely in the discussion regarding which teams are favored to win the 2014 World Championship. Written by Thomas Watts
  4. (+1) Edward Gaming - China - Qualified for Worlds - 168pts After securing themselves a place in the 2014 Season World Championships this week in a double elimination best of five tournament where they only lost one game, few remain to question Edward Gaming's dominance of Chinese League of Legends. Ming "Clearlove" Kai, who has struggled with inconsistency, performed dominantly throughout the entire tournament. With exceptional team fighting and coordination, EDG only has to play one best of three to secure China's first seed for the World Championship. Has World Elite's ex-coach, Aaron, raised a second team powerful enough to challenge for the title of best in the world? Written by Kelsey Moser
  5. (-1) SK Telecom T1 K - #1 Korea Regionals - 167pts SK Telecom T1 K was swept straight into Korea's Regional Qualifier by Samsung Galaxy White. The team had failures at every level that White leveraged for their win. They are in the finals of the Regional Qualifier thanks to their accrued Circuit Points, but the dismal performance against White puts them squarely in the underdog position heading into that best-of-five against the KT Rolster Arrows, NaJin White Shield, or the KT Rolster Bullets. Written by Thomas Watts
  6. ( - ) OMG - #1 China Regionals - 153pts OMG had a less than stellar performance this weekend. While EDG brought their A Game every time, OMG showed massive inconsistency. In the best of five format, they adapted well, but in a best of three, they might not have enough time to cope. Against StarHorn Royal Club, they showed they're the better team when it comes to closing out games, but making sure they get it into gear in the first place is something that will make or break them when they vie for the two remaining Chinese seeds in the Regional Qualifier. Written by Kelsey Moser
  7. (+1) Alliance - Europe - Qualified for Worlds - 139pts
  8. ( - ) Najin White Shield - #5 Korea Regionals - 129pts
  9. ( - ) Najin Black Sword - OGN - 123pts
  10. ( - ) StarHorn Royal Club - #2 China Regionals - 115pts StarHorn Royal Club seems to only have one style at their disposal: crush quickly, and crush early. When they fail to take control of the early game, they often pick questionable engagements from gold deficits. InSec is easily punished when stealth champions and Lee Sin are taken away from him, as he has no means of escaping when he presses the go button from behind. That said, when SHRC grabs the early game, they don't let it go. They might struggle to close, but usually they are so adept at snowballing that they find their way to the enemy Nexus eventually. Slowing them down is difficult, and it's a challenge many teams will struggle with on the international stage if they can grab a seed to Worlds. Written by Kelsey Moser
  11. (+2) Cloud9 - #1 NA Regionals - 111pts Cloud9 squares off against Curse in their first best of five of the postseason. C9 defeated Curse 3-1 during the course of the summer split and enter this match as a favorite - though not by much. Although showing moments of weakness in the middle of the split, C9 found their roots and maintained their No. 1 spot and finished at the top. C9 arrived at Season 3 Worlds as the No. 1 seed for North American, but can they do it again against an impressive Curse team? Written by Jack “NeoIllusions” Ho
  12. (-1) Jin Air Stealths - OGN - 106pts
  13. (+2) LMQ - #2 NA Regionals - 100pts The rookies of the NA LCS only by name, LMQ faces Team SoloMid in the first semifinals series on Saturday. Going into the best of five as the clear favorites, LMQ routed TSM 4-0 during the regular season. Looking to compete at Worlds for the first time, this could be a monumental year for LMQ. By topping the rankings in their inaugural split in the NA LCS, LMQ has the potential to represent their new home region if they win the series on Saturday. Written by Jack “NeoIllusions” Ho
  14. ( - ) Fnatic - Europe - Qualified for Worlds - 99pts
  15. ( - ) CJ Entus Blaze - OGN - 79pts
  16. (-4) SK Telecom T1 S - OGN - 70pts
  17. (+1) SK Gaming - Europe - Qualified for Worlds - 70pts
  18. ( - ) LGD - Qualified for China Regionals - 58pts
  19. (+1) Team SoloMid - #3 NA Regionals - 55pts By defeating Dignitas 3-1 in their quarterfinal match, Team SoloMid not only kept their 2014 Worlds dream alive but they can still become the only squad to compete in all four World Championships. However, TSM's road to Worlds this year is an arduous journey. Up first, TSM will have to find a way to upset LMQ, a team they have yet to obtain a victory against. Written by Jack “NeoIllusions” Ho
  20. (NEW) Taipei Assassins - SEA - Qualified for Worlds - 43pts
Others Receiving Votes: Curse, CJ Entus Frost, Jin Air Falcons, Team WE, AHQ, CLG The Panel: Alex Manisier - ggChronicle staff writer, OGN expert and President of UTS LoLSoc in Sydney, Australia. Regularly watches all five major leagues. Andrew "Glyceroll" Whitmore - Covers NA and EU LCS as well as Challenger for lolesports.com and surrenderat20.net. Regularly watches the five major leagues. Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles - OGN Analyst and Commentator. Season 3 World Championship Analyst, esports veteran. Frank "Mirhi" Fields - Senior Web Content Coordinator for lolesports.com. Esports veteran, follows all five major leagues. Jack "NeoIllusions" Ho - TeamLiquid staff writer. Has covered OGN, NA and EU LCS for TL and lolesports.com. Regularly watches most of the five major leagues. James "Obscurica" Chen - GPL and SEA expert. Covers GPL for lolesports.com and watches all five major leagues regularly. Jason "Jayway" Wai - Web Content Coordinator and stats aficionado for lolesports.com. Watches OGN religiously and regularly watches all five major leagues. Kelsey Moser - GosuGamers senior editor and LPL expert. Covers LPL for lolesports.com. Regularly watches all five major leagues. Joshua "Jatt" Leesman - Riot Games LCS Analyst and Commentator. Veteran commentator of both Season 2 and Season 3 World Championships. Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman - League of Legends theorycrafter and statistics nerd turned esports journalist, watches NA/EU religiously and all five major leagues regularly. Michael Mooridian - Freelance esports journalist. Specializes in NA & EU LCS and Challenger leagues and follows all five major leagues. Taylor Cocke - Web Content Coordinator for lolesports.com Watches EU/NA with a passion, follows all other leagues. Team Inven - Esports veterans and OGN experts. Regularly watch every game of all five major leagues. Thomas Watts - OGN expert and freelancer for lolesports.com. Veteran college football reporter. Regularly watches most of the five major leagues. Tyler "Fionn" Erzberger - TeamLiquid staff writer and OGN expert. Esports veteran and Freelancer for lolesports.com. Regularly watches all five major leagues.

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46 Comments

Brown Flame8/28/2014, 12:51:10 AM12 votes

I think Curse deserves a ranking on this list a lot more than TSM does. Curse played beautifully well against CLG, and they are roaring going into the semis. I don't think TSM played all that well against DIG, aside from the 4th game. The first three games all went to 50 minutes, and two of them ended in backdoors, and while flashy, they should never happen in a competitive environment with a good shotcaller. Their baron control was abysmal as well, even though they were so far ahead, DIG kept taking the barons and keeping themselves in the game. For a team that's hoping to make worlds, that's not the level of play they should have. I think Curse is looking MUCH stronger than TSM is heading into the semis.

Soley8/28/2014, 12:13:24 AM5 votes

Someone really likes Alliance... They move up without even playing...

ARCDRlVEFlNISH8/28/2014, 12:11:01 AM4 votes

Wait...cloud 9 above Jin Air Stealths?

heyitsRengar8/28/2014, 5:56:58 PM3 votes

The amount of TSM fans are unreal

PadreSibyla8/27/2014, 11:26:00 PM3 votes

As much as I would like to see SKT T1 K in worlds, I think they don't deserve to qualify anymore after Samsung White sweeped them 3-0. They don't seem to be the same team that dominated S3. KT arrows or Najin white shield should take the last spot for worlds. They might have a better showing than what SKT has right now.

TauNoob18/28/2014, 2:03:03 AM3 votes

"LMQ faces Team SoloMid in the first semifinals series on Saturday. Going into the best of five as the clear favor LMQ routed TSM 4-0 during the regular season" LMQ "as the clear favorites" against TSM, yeah there's something seriously wrong there...

Slashiroth8/29/2014, 12:38:02 PM3 votes

ALL > SK > C9 > FNC

Thats the real order

VegitaTarble8/29/2014, 5:02:04 PM2 votes

Just saying but EDG has a really good records in scrims against top Korean teams and Korean teams take scrims very seriously.

Phoenix Kotori 8/29/2014, 1:01:24 PM2 votes

Welp too bad rito didn't make this a bit later, since KTA were crushed by White Shield today item 3070.

Can't wait to see how much Shield Ryze in the ranks next week after they qualify for worlds tomorrow, since they're extremely favored over SKT now.

Meanie408/28/2014, 5:26:15 AM1 votes

What happens when it's Blue and White in the finals at Worlds?

Jathiel8/28/2014, 1:02:47 AM1 votes

TSM are entirely undeserving of their spot on this list. I feel this panel looks at results all too often, rather then looking at how those results came to be. TSM did not play well vs. a DIG team that has been playing poorly as well. I am not saying CRS deserves their spot (yet) but TSM is not the 19th best team in the world right now.

Spirit of Fate8/29/2014, 2:40:32 PM1 votes

FNC has also been to worlds 4 times...

OSRS Player8/29/2014, 1:40:32 AM1 votes

KT Rolster fan here, I think its ridiculous that EDG is ahead of SKT lololololol