NA LCS Power Rankings Heading Into Week 7

The North American League of Legends Championship Series is getting harder and harder to predict each week, as top ranked teams make mistakes, and lower tier teams rise up. Which teams will prove the most successful in the weeks leading towards Playoffs? Let’s start at the top.

Echo Fox

Still sitting at Number One, Echo Fox had only their second loss of the year last week, falling to a TSM comp that seemed to come out of nowhere. Not a team to just give up after a loss, Echo Fox returned the next day eager to prove that they are the best team in the NA LCS, taking down Team Liquid in record fashion. Quite a few teams have dedicated a lot of resources to keeping top laner Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon from becoming a problem, but they need to start focusing more on mid laner Kim “Fenix” Jae-hun as well. To be frank, Echo Fox simply has too many threats for a lot of teams to deal with, which is why they are the best in the region right now.

Cloud9

Cloud9 also ended the week with a win, but it was not a great week for them, falling to 100 Thieves on the first day. Put simply, Cloud9could be the best if they cleaned up their draft a little. It’s all well and good to want to stick with what you know, but too many times it has seemed that Cloud9 are being pushed onto predictable picks, and when they try new things, it doesn’t always go well. It’s only due to their individual skills that Cloud9 have managed to land this high on the ladder, but with a few teams looking to improve their standings, Cloud9 does have a big target on their back.

Clutch Gaming

Clutch also had a lukewarm 1-1 week, but that doesn’t mean they’re dropping off any time soon. Top laner Colin “Solo” Earnest took a beating last week, but otherwise Clutch performed reasonably well as a whole. If jungler Nam “LirA” Tae-yoo is able to devote a little more attention to the top of the map, Clutch should be able to shore up their weaknesses before Playoffs roll around.

100 Thieves

The 100 Thieves squad had a great weekend, going 2-0 to showcase their newfound teamwork, including taking down the number two team, Cloud9. Unfortunately, the other team they took down was Flyquest, not exactly one of the best teams in the region right now, so that hampered their ability to climb higher for now. Still, support Zaqueri “aphromoo” Black is certainly showing off why he is so highly valued in his role, taking Thresh and Blitzcrank and demonstrating that sometimes, skill-shots are really just point-and-click abilities in the right hands.

Team Liquid

Team Liquid started the week out strong, taking down Flyquest in a fairly straight forward manner, but their second game against Echo Fox left a lot to be desired. There’s not a lot of point in focusing all your efforts on attacking one player if they are not the only carry on their team, and Liquids insistence of keeping Huni from taking over failed completely when the rest of Echo Fox was able to push advantages elsewhere. If Liquid wants to prove that they are a dominant team, they need to come up with a better game plan than drafting for late game and hoping the enemy team makes a mistake.

TSM

TSM have finally shown up, displaying the skills that everyone knew they had, and collecting the wins everyone expected of them from the beginning. Having gone 2-0 this week, TSM still have a lot of work to do to play catch-up to the other top teams, but they mostly have the hardest part of the season behind them now. If these are the kind of games TSM are able to deliver from now on, they should find themselves climbing the ladder fairly easily.

Flyquest

Flyquest had a shocker of a week, failing to grab any kind of victory as they fell to 100 Thieves and Team Liquid. Expectations were high that the team would begin to perform better with their fully assembled roster, but that has yet to happen, as they still seem to struggle against the other teams. Their bot lane is still managing to do well however, giving some hope to fans that they can at least maintain their position, if not begin to climb the ladder a little.

OpTic Gaming

OpTic Gaming are only rated here because they beat the teams below them, but quite frankly, that’s about the only distinction between the bottom three teams. Their style of unconventional picks may have worked as shock tactics previously, but it’s going to be increasingly harder to surprise the other teams in the NA LCS going into the future. They’re going to need to rapidly improve if they hope to stand a chance in Playoffs.

Counter Logic Gaming

CLG should not be this low, but recent results are giving credence to the belief that they seriously lost the pre-season with their roster shuffle. This is not the team that developed a rivalry with TSM, and this is not the team that went face-to-face with SKT T1 at MSI. If there is any hope left, it’s that they can at least climb back into playoffs position, and pray that they find some kind of miracle to allow them to begin to play at the level everyone expected of them.

Golden Guardians

The Golden Guardians could very well be interchangeable on this list with CLG. After a dismal start to the split, GGS seem to finally be finding their feet, though it may have proven too late to make any real gains on the rest of the pack. They are certainly playing better as a team, and no longer seem to be unsettled by playing on stage together. They seem unlikely to make Playoffs, but at this rate, they might not finish last after all.

For more LCS action, check out the Power Rankings for the EU LCS, and for more information on when the teams are playing next, check out the Official Schedule page, here.