NA LCS Power Rankings After Week Five

Zac Cameron,

February 22, 2018 11:30 PM

We're past the halfway point of the North American League of Legends Championship Series, so let's see how the teams are doing, relative to each other.

With plenty of players joining the NA LCS this season, including some new faces, and lots of roster swaps, it’s no wonder that the current standings are a little different than many might have predicted. So how do these “new” teams actually stack up against each other right now though? Starting at the top, let’s work our way down and see how each team has been competing, and what they can do to improve things.

  1. Echo Fox

Echo Fox is currently ruling the roost, and it’s for good reason. With strong solo laners in Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon and Kim “Fenix” Jae-hun, combined with aggressive style synergy from jungler Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett, Echo Fox has been running wild over the NA LCS. That would normally be enough to secure a spot on the upper end of the ladder, but the reason that Echo Fox is currently the best in NA comes from the fact that they combine those ingredients with a very solid bot lane pairing of AD Carry Johnny “Altec” Ru and support Adrian “Adrian” Ma, making the team a very lethal combination. Not to mention their willingness to think outside the box when it comes to champion selection.

Echo Fox celebrate yet another victory (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)
Echo Fox celebrate yet another victory (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)

  1. Cloud9

Cloud9 might not look quite as strong as Echo Fox right now, but when you have a match record of eight wins with two losses, and both of those losses come from Echo Fox, it’s easy to see why Cloud9 also deserves a spot near the top of the list. The backbone of the team comes from the bot lane, with support Andy “Smoothie” Ta making the big calls to guide his team, while Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi holds down the AD Carry role with an understated level of skill. Mid laner Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen is the player to watch out for on this team, with his mid lane dominance proving to be quite a threat to opposing teams. Newcomers to the team, jungler Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen and top laner Eric “Licorice” Ritchie are also performing well in the new environment, though rookie Licorice does seem to struggle against the hardened veterans of the NA LCS at times. Overall, a very solid team sitting solidly in second place.

Cloud9 may not be number 1, but they still have their fair share of wins (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)
Cloud9 may not be number 1, but they still have their fair share of wins (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)

  1. Clutch Gaming

Slotting in behind the two big teams of Echo Fox and Cloud9, Clutch Gaming have proven themselves to be a real danger to everyone. With the bot lane duo of AD Carry Apollo “Apollo” Price and support Nickolas “Hakuho” Surgent becoming quite a large threat in recent weeks, it’s no wonder that teams are having to devote more and more resources to keep them from taking over the game. Unfortunately that leaves the solo laners of Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten and Colin “Solo” Earnest to work towards creating advantages, while jungler Nam “LirA” Tae-yoo keeps the pressure on with his aggressive invades.

Clutch Gaming AD Carry Apollo is turning out to be quite the player (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)
Clutch Gaming AD Carry Apollo is turning out to be quite the player (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)

  1. Team Liquid

Expected to be one of the best, if not the top team in the NA LCS, Team Liquid has had a couple of stumbles that have hurt their ranking. While losses to the top teams are to be expected, their loss to the Golden Guardians has really hit them where it matters. That said, Team Liquid does have an impressive line-up, with former world champion Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong in the top lane, former NA LCS champion Jake “Xmithie” Puchero in the jungle, former NA LCS Champion Eugene “Pobelter” Park in the mid lane, Former NA LCS Champion Yiliang “Peter” Doublelift” Peng as AD Carry, and support Kim “Olleh” Joo-sung. On paper they are one of the strongest teams in the NA LCS, so it’s troubling that they seem unable to pull it all together in a manner that would allow them to show off their skill.

Team Liquid mid laner Pobelter is still holding down the mid lane for his team (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)
Team Liquid mid laner Pobelter is still holding down the mid lane for his team (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)

  1. 100 Thieves

Sitting in the middle of the pack with a 50% win rate, 100 Thieves are perhaps neither over performing nor underperforming. While they do have a strong roster, it’s not one that should be challenging the top tier teams. Their solo laners are capable of going to-to-toe with the best in NA, with top laner Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho and mid laner Yoo “Ryu” Sang-wook proving that while they may not be the best, they can at least compete with the best, and their support Zaqueri “aphromoo” Black has proven that he is more than capable of guiding teams to glory. Jungler William “Meteos” Hartman and AD Carry Cody “Cody Sun” Sun are no slouches either, though they are not having the impact that opposing teams do in these roles. 100 Thieves are doing well for themselves however, and are solidly in contention for playoffs, providing nothing goes horribly wrong.

100 Thieves jungler Meteos is helping his team sit in the middle of the pack (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)
100 Thieves jungler Meteos is helping his team sit in the middle of the pack (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)

  1. TSM

With their pedigree, it may seem like TSM should not be sitting quite so low on the totem, but historically speaking, this is more or less where TSM could be expected to sit after the changes the organization underwent in the pre-season. With only mid laner Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg and top laner Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell remaining from last year’s roster, it’s no surprise that TSM is having growing pains as they adapt to a new team. They are joined by Michael “MikeYeung” Yeung in the jungle, and EU Imports Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen as AD Carry and Alfonso "mithy" Aguirre Rodríguez as support. TSM have never really done excellent when it comes to best-of-ones, so it’s no surprise that they are having some struggles now. When it comes to the more endurance style matches, such as best-of-three’s and best-of-five’s, TSM will most likely rise again.

There might be smiles backstage, but TSM has some work to do before they can really celebrate (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)
There might be smiles backstage, but TSM has some work to do before they can really celebrate (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)

  1. Flyquest

Flyquest only recently managed to assemble their full roster, so their ability to sit around the middle of the pack is a welcome surprise to their fans. Now that the full team of top laner Lee "Flame" Ho-jong, jungler Andy "AnDa" Hoang, mid laner Song "Fly" Yong-jun, AD Carry Jason "WildTurtle" Tran and support William "Stunt" Chen are together, they should be able to begin to mesh together and become a more cohesive unit. Once that happens, they should be able to start challenging the top teams and possibly move up in the rankings.

Flyquest should be able to soar once their players mesh together (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)
Flyquest should be able to soar once their players mesh together (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)

  1. OpTic Gaming

OpTic are an interesting squad, they play aggressive at times, while also failing to make moves at others. Their line-up is a mixed bag as well, with some players that are capable of challenging the best, such as mid laner Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage and AD Carry Noh "Arrow" Dong-hyeon, though other members have been underperforming at times, such as top laner Derek "zig" Shao and support Daerek "LemonNation" Hart. Their jungler Matthew "Akaadian" Higginbotham will need to help pull his team together and get them all on the same page if OpTic want to challenge for a playoff spot.

OpTic have had some unorthodox champion selections, but they'll need more than that to climb the ladder (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)
OpTic have had some unorthodox champion selections, but they'll need more than that to climb the ladder (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)

  1. Counter Logic Gaming

This is not the CLG that won the NA LCS Championship way back when. While some of the players are the same, too much of the old magic has been lost. Their current line-up of top laner Darshan "Darshan" Upadhyaya, jungler Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin, mid laner Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun, AD Carry Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes, and support Vincent "Biofrost" Wang may at times have flashes of their former greatness, but with the loss of their former support and team captain aphromoo, CLG have looked less and less like a top three team.

CLG's bot lane duo need to put in the hard yards to reach the glory they once held (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)
CLG's bot lane duo need to put in the hard yards to reach the glory they once held (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)

  1. Golden Guardians

Holding down the last spot on this list, the Golden Guardians may have come a long way since their very first few weeks in the NA LCS, but they still have a long way to go if they want to prove their worth. Their current roster is made up of players that no-one would consider bad by any means, but none of them seem capable of being that “stand-out” player that is able to win games almost singlehandedly. With Samson "Lourlo" Jackson in the top lane, Juan "Contractz" Arturo Garcia in the jungle, Hai "Hai" Du Lam in the mid lane, Matthew "Deftly" Chen as AD Carry, and Matthew "Matt" Elento as support, the Golden Guardians have some serious work to do if they want to climb the ladder and be anything other than the last placed team in the NA LCS.

The Golden Guardians need to fight more, otherwise they risk becoming
The Golden Guardians need to fight more, otherwise they risk becoming "that team" at the bottom of the ladder (LoL Esports Photos, Flickr)

While these teams are all preparing for the coming games, why not check out our coverage of the games from week five, day one and day two, to see how they have been playing recently. For information on when these teams will be playing next, check out the Official Schedule page here.



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