Boards›Esports

Power Rankings - Week 28

Riot·8/6/2014, 9:49:05 PM·0 votes·7,676 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.
  1. Samsung Galaxy Blue ( - )
  2. Samsung Galaxy White ( - )
  3. KT Rolster Arrows ( - )
  4. SK Telecom T1 K ( - )
  5. OMG ( - )
  6. Edward Gaming (+1)
  7. Najin White Shield (-1)
  8. Najin Black Sword (+1)
  9. SKT T1 S (-1)
  10. Jin Air Stealths ( - )
  11. Alliance (+1)
  12. Fnatic (+3)
  13. Blaze ( - )
  14. Cloud9 (+3)
  15. Team WE (-4)
  16. LMQ (-2)
  17. StarHorn Royal Club (+2)
  18. CJ Entus Frost (-2)
  19. Taipei Assassins (NEW)
  20. Team SoloMid (-2)
Current league record in parenthesis. Number of first place votes in brackets
  1. ( - ) Samsung Galaxy Blue - OGN - (11-2) - 200pts - [7] Samsung Galaxy Blue stomped sister team Samsung Galaxy White 3-1 in the semifinals of OGN Champions Summer. It was a supreme performance for the team after they had some major issues in the quarterfinals against the Jin Air Green Wings Stealths. They will play the KT Rolster Arrows in the finals. Written by Thomas Watts
  2. ( - ) Samsung Galaxy White - OGN - 167 pts - (12-5) Samsung Galaxy White lost to their sister team in the semifinals of an OGN Champions tournament for the second tournament in a row, but bounced back with a 3-0 sweep over SK Telecom T1 S in the third/fourth place game. The team now waits for the results of the series between SK Telecom T1 K and NaJin Black Sword in the NLB finals to see if they earn an automatic bid to the 2014 World Championship, or if they have to play a tiebreaker against T1K. Written by Thomas Watts
  3. ( - ) KT Rolster Arrows - OGN - 161 pts - (11-5)
  4. ( - ) SK Telecom T1 K - OGN - 153 pts - (4-6) SK Telecom T1K was pushed to the limit by the Jin Air Green Wings Stealths in the NLB semifinals. They had to win a blind pick game to escape with a 3-2 victory. They move on to face NaJin Black Sword in the NLB Championship. SK Telecom T1 K ties Samsung Galaxy White in Circuit Points with a win which will force a tiebreaker between the two squads to see which one gets an automatic berth to the 2014 World Championship. Written by Thomas Watts
  5. ( - ) OMG - LPL - 140 pts - (16-8) OMG dominated against LGD Gaming, as we had expected after their powerful performance against World Elite, but they took a step back after getting 2-0'd by StarHorn Royal Club. While we question whether a ward on the Baron pit may have been bugged, OMG didn't look like the powerful force that took down Team WE, the IEM Shenzhen champions. Even so, Gogoing's Shyvana made fans realize it's still possible to carry games from the top lane, and Drug's use of Cataclysm may have been so creative and powerful that it will redefine Jarvan play in LPL going forward. We still think OMG has the best chance of any Chinese team of upsetting the dominating Korean opposition, but they still have a ways to go before this can become a reality. Written by Kelsey Moser
  6. (+1) Edward Gaming - LPL - 134 pts - (15-7) Edward Gaming is one of the Chinese teams that benefited the most from the switch to Patch 4.11. NaMei and Fzzf's strengths in a 2v2 lane all but guaranteed strong wins against World Elite Academy. EDG flagged last week with a 1-3 win-loss score for the week in LPL, and though WEA is currently the last place team in LPL, a crushing performance like that can only boost morale. Written by Kelsey Moser
  7. (-1) Najin White Shield - OGN - 128 pts - (5-6)
  8. (+1) Najin Black Sword - OGN - 121 pts - (7-4)
  9. (-1) SKT T1 S - OGN - 115 pts - (9-10)
  10. ( - ) Jin Air Stealths - OGN - 103 pts - (4-5)
  11. (+1) Alliance - EU LCS - 100 pts - (21-7) Alliance came out in the Spring Split as an advertised "Super Team", and fell short. Now, they've worked out the kinks, thanks in part to their analyst, and are looking to form a dynasty of their own. Froggen and Wickd will be alongside sOAZ xPeke as some of the few current EU players with World Championships experience, and no doubt, they're hungry for more. Written by Mattias ‘Gentleman Gustaf’ Lehman
  12. (+3) Fnatic - EU LCS - 92 pts - (19-9) Only three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and Fnatic showing up for the playoffs. Fnatic may not have secured the #1 Season record, but now it's time for playoffs, and no EU team is wilier, and no team in the world has more experience than they do. Look to see them come out strong for their dynasty. Written by Mattias ‘Gentleman Gustaf’ Lehman
  13. ( - ) CJ Entus Blaze - OGN - 91 pts - (3-3)
  14. (+3) Cloud9 - NA LCS - 85 pts - (18-10) After a tepid season placing Cloud9 outside of the top 2 for much of the split, C9 finally rallied at the end of the season and pulled out a No. 1 regular season finish in the clutch. Even though C9 had a light Super Week schedule, including a match against a full sub CLG roster, C9 is slowly looking like their former selves and all in the nick of time. C9 will be waiting for the victor of the Curse and CLG quarterfinal match to see who will stand in their way of the finals and eventually a spot for Worlds. Written by Jack Ho
  15. (-4) Team WE - LPL - 78 pts - (13-9) It's hard to characterize World Elite's recent slumps as anything but disappointing. After the worst week any team in LPL played all season (a record of only one win in six games hasn't been matched due to the low frequency of six game weekends), WE split even in their only set this week against Invictus Gaming. While iG has proven themselves capable of splitting even with almost any team in LPL, a loss to WE's long-time rivals won't go unnoticed when the team reflects over the past two weeks. WE is falling in our standings, and one might blame the new shift to 2v2s and Conan's distaste for laning, but regardless of the cause, WE has looked less collected. If WE plans to make an appearance at the 2014 Season World Championships, they'll need to re-evaluate. It isn't too late, even if they've just lost their third place in LPL's standings to StarHorn Royal Club. Written by Kelsey Moser
  16. (-2) LMQ - NA LCS - 75 pts - (18-10) Although LMQ had the potential to hold on to their No. 1 spot, by going 2-2 during Super Week, LMQ's record tied C9's and they ultimately fell to No. 2 with the losing head-to-head record. Despite this minor setback, the only thing separating LMQ from a ticket to Worlds is a single best of five. LMQ will face off against the winner of TSM and Dignitas for an opportunity to move into the finals. Should LMQ lose in the semifinals, they will have one more chance to qualify for Worlds in the No. 3 playoff spots for the last NA seed. Written by Jack Ho
  17. (+2) StarHorn Royal Club - LPL - 71 pts - (15-9) With Patch 4.12 rolling out to Tencent servers this Monday and Lucian open to champion select, UZI's playstyle received a significant buff. Against Invictus Gaming, he and Zero controlled the 2v2, and his overzealous positioning in team fights was rewarded with a low cooldown escape mechanism at his disposal. Of all the teams in China to benefit from a higher frequency of 2v2 matchups, SHRC has the most to gain. That, of course, is not to undercut the developments the solo laners of SHRC have made. Corn in particular proved he can solo carry games with a little bit of love from his jungler, and both his Fizz and Orianna were banned against the team this week. If the wealth is spread more evenly on SHRC, their solo laners can hold their own, and that may well be the key to the team finding a spot in the 2014 World Championship. Written by Kelsey Moser
  18. (-2) CJ Entus Frost - OGN - 63 pts - (3-3)
  19. (NEW) Taipei Assassins - GPL - 56 pts - (15-2)
  20. (-2) Team SoloMid - NA LCS - 46 pts - (16-12) TSM severely underperformed last week as they went 1-3, with losses to LMQ, Cloud9, and Curse. Their sole win of the week was against Dignitas and it prevented TSM from getting clean swept by Dignitas during the regular season. TSM will want to focus on how they defeated DIG as they are TSM's first round opponents in the playoffs. With a berth to the World Championships on the line, if there was ever a time for the boys of Baylife to go full throttle, it'd definitely be now. Written by Jack Ho
    21. Others Receiving Votes: Supa Hot Crew, SK Gaming, Invictus Gaming, Counter Logic Gaming, Jin Air Green Wings Falcons 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 "Chexx" Kiefer - German born, Korean resident. TeamLiquid staff writer and Esports veteran. Expert on all things Korea. Regularly watches all five major leagues. 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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31 Comments

Bro Maniac8/7/2014, 12:57:07 AM18 votes

It's funny how some people seem to already know who is going to Qualify for Worlds, win Worlds, and how every single match is going to be played. Like hey congrats you don't even have to watch it then! And please don't tell me what is going to happen, since I am 100% sure you are right! And yes, I am talking to YOU, just YOU - just you 947308523 people out there with completely different opinions.

Could you stop screaming at one another for the guesses you're taking and accept that we will find out while watching the event?

Thank you for your attention, rant over.

TToucan8/7/2014, 12:06:30 AM7 votes

How is Shield ahead of Sword when Sword just 3-0d them in NLB?

Irvine Saix8/6/2014, 11:42:38 PM6 votes

No Curse? Not even a mention that they are on a massive hotstreak against the top teams in NA or that they completely stopped LMQ from being able to take the first place seed before play offs? #elephantonfire

BlazinNewel8/7/2014, 12:18:22 AM3 votes

can we have a rule where we don't put GPL teams on this list, they are like the level of EU challenger teams

TrippyNation9718/7/2014, 11:00:25 PM3 votes

C9>World

Hsekiu8/9/2014, 6:05:28 AM3 votes

Wow these rankings are so informative.

I'm glad to know that fnatic and alliance are better than CJ blaze. Also cloud9 is certainly better than CJ frost. I sure do hope tomorrow when C9 plays Frost @ Kcon they win.....

Mangiraikos8/11/2014, 12:28:49 PM2 votes

After worlds and all stars, we saw only Korean teams up top. Now we see OMG and some of the European teams creeping up on the ranking again. I can fathom that a Chinese team or one or two of the top NA or European team. But a best out of 3 or a best out of 5 against a Korean team? At this point, I don't think so. Yes, the NA and the European teams are hiring more supporting staff to boister their teams, but I think it will take another year or so for the teamwork to actually kick in. Thank being said, as a Korean I hope Korea wins it all this year but I would love to see 3:2's and 2:1 instead of 2:0, 3:0 stomps.

Wrath of Kon8/7/2014, 12:04:07 AM2 votes

Lets be honest top 20 teams in the world are.... OGN 16 and top 4 who didn't qualify for OGN in NLB

Jathiel8/7/2014, 3:10:20 AM2 votes

Why... Why is is Fnatic so high?

Kemy8/7/2014, 9:10:18 AM2 votes

Once again Riot put Chinese teams too ahead in the rankings and when worlds come they will place EDG and OMG to their rightful spot. Stealths went 2-3 against SKT T1K and they didn't even move up when they consistently show that they are a future formidable team and would probably beat EDG and OMG

Kaxi8/8/2014, 4:00:40 PM1 votes

My hopes are still alive for NA to be represented by C9, CLG, and Dig. Let's go, North America! Show us your mettle! I know we ride this hype train to nowhere every year, but let's take down the rest of the world!

SmashKingDex8/10/2014, 7:01:47 AM1 votes

i mean honestly...... are the Asian teams really that much better? i watch all professional Leagues, I just dont feel they should all hold the top 10 out 20 spots. NOT saying they are not the OVERALL better skilled teams(last 2 worlds & international events speak for themselves), but no other region all over the world ranks higher then 10....really? i'm just shocked thats all. i really wish all Leagues were done the same way. whichever way that is, I sorta wish they were all the same. i feel it'd help get a better feel for the power of everyone vs everyone else. GO C9 & ALLIANCE!

Fiet8/7/2014, 1:10:36 PM1 votes

I still Alliance should be higher on this list at least more than 1 place above fnatic