Power Rankings - Week 13
Riot·4/9/2014, 11:59:14 PM·0 votes·6,454 views
Welcome to Week 13 of Lolesports Power Rankings.
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 Ozone - [7] - OGN Champions (4-0)
- (+1) OMG - [3] - LPL - (18-2)
Despite losing their second game against World Elite and struggling against their Annie top lane composition in the first game, OMG proved themselves even more versatile this week. Gogoing has stepped up his performance by adapting to the new popularity of Ryze and reminding us that he's more than just a tank player. Additionally, their series against Royal Club's new lineup ended much more decisively than the last, suggesting that their synergy has improved since the first round.
Written by Kelsey Moser - (-1) SK Telecom T1 K - OGN Champions (4-3)
Through what could only be considered serendipity, SK Telecom T1 K is in the bracket stage for OGN Champions Spring. It took sister team SK Telecom T1 S losing a pair of games to PRIME Optimus to set up an SK Telecom team-kill tiebreaker. T1 K took the game after twenty-five minutes. The World Champions do not gain any sort of reprieve in the bracket stage. They're scheduled to battle Samsung Galaxy Ozone, the only Korean team ahead of T1 K in the Power Rankings, in the first matches of the bracket stage.
Written by Thomas Watts - (+1) Najin White Shield - OGN Champions (5-1)
- (-1) CJ Entus Blaze - OGN Champions (5-1)
Although Daydream's meteoric rise among the rest of Korea's junglers put a lot of weight behind CJ Entus Blaze's improvement as a team, it is clear that the team is becoming a little too comfortable with their current form. Solo laners Flame and Ambition seem uncomfortable on their current champion pools, though they have not performed poorly in any sense of the word. Blaze's talents lie in taking an early game in a match and running away with it, but their weak mid-game adaptation leaves something to be desired. Their success in the OGN bracket stage will be contingent on their ability to prepare and adapt.
Written by Alex Manisier - (+2) KT Rolster Arrows - OGN Champions (4-2)
- (+3) Samsung Galaxy Blue - OGN Champions (3-1)
- (+1) KT Rolster Bullets - OGN Champions (4-2) | IEM World Champions (7-0)
- (+2) Edward Gaming - LPL - (17-3)
Edward Gaming are still on a hot streak, finishing five series with finesse. That means they've won ten games in total since their last loss at the hands of OMG. U's performances are a big part of the team's success, and he pulled out some high damage dealers this week to complement his extensive pool of utility-based mages. EDG's rise has positioned them just one point below OMG in the LPL standings. Since the top two teams face each other again this weekend, EDG not only has a chance to redeem themselves, but they could very well claim OMG's first place spot and cause an upset.
Written by Kelsey Moser - (-3) Najin Black Sword - OGN Champions (3-3)
Different season, same NaJin Black Sword. After turning some heads in the SK Telecom LTE-A Masters and looking like a legitimate contender for the bracket stage of OGN Champions Spring, it all fell apart at the finish line. NaJin Black Sword suffered a sweep at the hands of Samsung Galaxy Blue and fell into the bigfile NLB Spring 2014 tournament. Adding insult to injury, they were blown out by CJ Entus Blaze the day after their sweep in the LoL Masters Tournament.
Written by Thomas Watts - (-5) SK Telecom T1 S - OGN Champions (3-4)
An incredibly promising run in Masters and a convincing 2:0 victory over the KT Rolster Arrows gave some hope to SK Telecom T1's newer team, but their Champions run was cut short in the tiebreaker game once again. T1 S appear to be the most binary team in the world that is still capable of performing at the highest level, but their inflexibility proved to be their downfall as they could not come back after a crushing loss to the upstart PRIME Optimus. Their NLB campaign should be worth watching, however, and with less pressure on them, T1 S are now free to experiment and branch out in terms of playstyle.
Written by Alex Manisier - ( - ) Cloud 9 - NA LCS - (24-4)
Cloud 9 coasted through to the end of the NA LCS with a dominating 4-0 and a flashy win vs Team Coast. Their shaky start led many to conclude that they had failed to keep up with the growth of the NA scene. However, their 24-4 record this season is – in many ways – even more dominant than their 25-3 from last season. They have held off a Bjergsen-empowered TSM, and no team has managed to beat them more than once. Their few losses seemed more the result of experimentation than failure, as they broadened their champion pool in the 2014 Spring Split. This is the Cloud 9 we expected to see at the World Championships last year, and they've already made splashes abroad with their performance at IEM Katowice. Bring on the hype train: Cloud 9 is here to win.
Written by Mattias Lehman - ( - ) Team SoloMid - NA LCS - (22-6)
Team SoloMid was the class of the North American field for months, but something has gone awry with this team. During the LCS Super week, the team appeared timid in several games, and then suffered a dominating blowout at the hands of Cloud 9. Several team members have taken to Twitter about the issues facing TSM moving forward. Luckily, the second place they secured will give the squad a bye so they'll have some time to work out all of their issues before they head back to the Rift in the LCS.
Written by Thomas Watts - ( - ) Taipei Assassins - GPL Champions - (19-4)
Though more self-reliant marksmen champions with escape abilities are popular in competitive play, the Taipei Assassin's roster boasts bebe, who has long since seemed in unkillable in GPL. In this week's finals against AHQ, he seemed just as devastating on Twitch and Kog'Maw as he did on Sivir. Bebe and his team proved themselves capable of both well-coordinated aggressive play and enough resilience to turtle through inhibitor losses and turn an important series around. When they show up at the All-Stars Invitational, TPA might easily find wins against other regions' top teams—as long as they don't see it as an opportunity to experiment on the fly.
Written by Kelsey Moser - ( - ) SK Gaming - EU LCS - (18-10)
SK Gaming continues to coast on and assert their dominance, with a 4-0 Super Week including victories over their two closest competitors: Fnatic and Alliance. SK Gaming has established themselves as one of the truly consistent teams in Europe, and it seems like any one of their players can show up to play on any day. CandyPanda and nRated will be able to bring their playoffs experience to bear, and keep SK Gaming going, making them a strong contender for the top spots in Europe.
Written by Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman - (+1) Fnatic - EU LCS - (17-11)
Fnatic has always been a frustrating team to watch, with on-again, off-again performances that only really seem to kick in when they feel like it: the beginning and end of seasons. They brought their A game to the end of the season after an extremely poor middle, and if their history is any indication, they'll step it up for the playoffs. Look to see them give SK Gaming a run for their money in the playoffs despite losing to them last week.
Written by Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman - (-1) CJ Entus Frost - OGN Champions - (4-2)
- (+1) AHQ Esports Club - GPL - (17-4)
AHQ Esports Club has been running quite a few global compositions lately, and when champions like Nocturne and Twisted Fate aren't the most powerful in the meta, they require both strong coordination and superior skill to pull off. Throughout the Spring GPL, AHQ has received some criticism for passive early games, but there's no denying their late game power, and in this weekend's playoff games, AHQ also set their noses to the grind stone to come out with powerful invades and take a few early dragons. Though they ultimately came in second place this split, AHQ's improvement was obvious, and they've risen a rank in our estimation as a result.
Written by Kelsey Moser - (+1) Counter Logic Gaming - NA LCS - (18-10)
With their roster finally solid, CLG have turned the NA spring playoffs into a three-way brawl. Having put in solid, consistent performances for several weeks now, CLG appears to have taken the next step forward as a major player. Perhaps the greatest improvement of this split has been the rise of Aphromoo as a top level support. If CLG's bottom lane continues playing at this level, they could be a true contender in an international tournament.
Written by Trent Murray - (NEW) Alliance - EU LCS - (16-12)
Alliance was hyped as a super-team when the season began, but they looked more like Frankenstein's monster to start. As time has gone on, they have only improved, but their 2-2 Super Week and loss to Millenium raises questions about their consistency. They've shown they can play, now it's time to prove they can win when it matters. They'll need to stick to their strong suit: make sure that it's the Wickd who's 6-1 on Irelia who shows up, not the Wickd who's a combined 8-10 on Renekton/Shyvana/Trundle. He's not the only inconsistent element of the team, of course, but he is the one Tabzz will want to carry from behind.
Written by Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman
