The LCS resumes this week after a disappointing Rift Rivals tournament. Though the LEC won the weekend, there were some good moments from the NA Sides, and Team Liquid definitely made their mark. As things settle back down and the regular season resumes, the power rankings are as tricky as ever.
10: Tie: Echo Fox (Last week: 9) & FlyQuest (Last week: 8)
Echo Fox: With the recent announcement of Rush leaving the team and MikeYeung stepping in, Echo Fox seem like they are bound to have even more growing pains. Adding a new major piece only a few weeks into the season does not bode well for them. Everyone has seen MikeYeung’s potential in the past but he struggled immensely with TSM last year which is why he hasn’t been in the LCS since. There is no doubt that this team has talent at the LCS level and even at the Academy level, so it will be interesting to see who starts this week alongside MikeYeung and if they decide to try stick with that roster should they succeed. – Robert Hanes
FlyQuest: Right now this team is in total freefall and it seems as though it wont be stopping anytime soon. Pobelter and Santorin have not been what they were last Split. V1per has really been the only to have played well in most of their games and even carried them to their one victory over TSM. Hopefully this Rift Rivals break gave this team the opportunity to regroup and figure out what is going on. If not then they could be knocked out the playoffs as early as next week. – Robert Hanes
8. 100 Thieves (Last week: 10)
Heading into Week 5, 100 Thieves are feeling very confident. Though they’ve yet to prove themselves, the team is aiming towards TSM and Team Liquid this week to continue their slew of top rank wins. 100 Thieves have carved out a starting position to make a run for playoffs. Despite how painful it is to continue watching teams focus down FakeGod in the top lane, the Thieves seem to have found their working roster. Even a single win this weekend would set them up for a great second round robin. – Cody Hill
7. Clutch Gaming (Last week: 7)
Clutch Gaming have been slowly improving over the past few weeks getting wins over Spring Split playoff teams, Flyquest, Golden Guardians and Echo Fox. Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon has been playing out of his mind on both Irelia and Rumble. Cody Sun has also proven to be a rock in the bottom lane and gives his team the opportunity to snowball their lead easily in the mid to late game as he wins most of his early game matchups. This week Clutch plays both CLG and Cloud 9, two teams they lost to in the during the first half of the split. If CG manages to pull victories from these two playoff caliber teams, they’re sure to start looking at the playoffs. – Steven Zamora
6. Golden Guardians (Last week: 4)
After starting out as hot as anyone, the rest of the LCS have potentially figured out the Golden Guardians. Ban Tahm Kench and don’t let Hauntzer or Froggen impose their will. That seems to give teams an advantage. Also, letting TSM come back shows a lack of decisive decision making as well. Should this team hope to end their skid, they will need to adapt sooner rather than later. – Nick Butts
5. CLG (Last week: 5)
Why does it seem that CLG will forever be in the middle? They have solid enough players but, no one who gives them that push to get into the top tier. Wiggly’s massive improvement and Ruin joining the team have brought stability to CLG as a whole. Expect to see them continuing to be in the middle for right now, but hopefully someone steps up soon or they will probably have a quick playoff exit. – Thomas Baker
4. OpTic (Last week: 6)
OpTic were this close to pulling out a 2-0 weekend. They beat TSM without Crown and then went on to lose to Echo Fox. This team are looking pretty strong even with the TSM throw. With Crown expected to be back in the lineup, OpTic will need to continue working towards more 2-0 weekends in order to move past C9, TSM and TL at the top of the Power Rankings. – Robert Hanes
2. Tie: Cloud9 (Last week: 1) & TSM (Last week: 3)
Cloud9: Draft shortcomings and the lack of improvement from Sneaky and Zeyzal as a bot lane are hurting Cloud9 a bit. If they want to compete for the first seed, then those two issues need to be addressed. Overall though, they should still be in a strong position, as their struggles at Rift Rivals were largely due to illness. As long as the players are feeling better, they should look much better than they did at the tournament. – Richard Farley
TSM: TSM were the second best team from North America at Rift Rivals but it was not difficult given C9’s problems off the rift. TSM got a reality check coming up against the best teams in the world and will need to be ready for the upcoming week. That being said they are still a top three team and will feel pretty confident going up against CLG and 100T. – Jordan Marney
1. Team Liquid (Last week: 2)
Team Liquid are on an incredible stretch as of recent, including their 4 straight wins in the LCS and their 3-1 performance at Rift Rivals. This has been the result of great synergy and team play: something that most other teams in NA are lacking. With the momentum they’ve built, Team Liquid have catapulted themselves back into 1st place and should have no reason to be worried heading into Week 5. As of now, there isn’t another team in NA that can match up with them both on paper and on the rift. – Brayden Nazarian
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers!