With no huge upsets or surprises this week, the power rankings saw little change as the playoff picture has mostly been revealed. But who were able to move around? Find out in week 9’s edition of the LCK power rankings! As always find last week’s power rankings here!
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
Jin Air was close to another win this week against KT Rolster. Despite the 2-0 score, Jin Air had a decent lead in both games, but bad decision-making and plays led to another 0-2 result for Jin Air.
With their defeat, Jin Air is now guaranteed last place in the LCK. It’s an expected end to an ultimately disappointing season for Jin Air. With matches against SK Telecom and Griffin remaining to finish out the season, Jin air will likely finish their season with another 0-2 week. But if they can pick up a huge upset victory, they would be able to finish the season off on a high note. Regardless of what happens, Jin Air’s fate is now sealed and relegation awaits.
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
KT Rolster’s fall continues as they end week 9 with a loss against Kingzone DragonX and barely managing a win against Jin Air Green Wings. As top laner Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho was subbed out for Hwang “Kingen” Seong-hoon yet again, KT has continued to struggle in their matches.
Luckily for KT, they still have a chance at avoiding relegation with a victory over Hanwha Life Esports or DAMWON Gaming. Along with that, they’ll also need some help from SKT as they’ll need to beat Afreeca Freecs as well. However, as KT has yet to beat a top team in the league, their chances are still rough. Their best chance will come against Hanwha, who have nothing left to fight for. Will they be able to avoid relegation? Only time will tell.
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
Afreeca Freecs’s inconsistency continues to be an issue as they end the week without locking in their safety from relegation. Once again, their only saving grace for the team was top laner Kim “Kiin” Gi-in’s great play. With poor play from the likes of Lee “Dread” Jin-hyeok and Kim “Aiming” Ha-ram, Afreeca have thrown away their best chance to remain safe and must now face SK Telecom T1 in the last week.
While their chances at avoiding relegation are still quite high due to KT’s poor play, the fact that Afreeca remain in a position to drop in to relegation should be worrying. Regardless of what happens in the last week, Afreeca will need to look long and hard at their roster and quickly make changes as needed if they want to make a late push for worlds in the Summer Split. For now they sit at 8th in the power rankings.
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
With their victory over Afreeca Freecs this week, Gen.G has shown that despite how poorly the team has performed over the split, they are the best team out of the bottom 4. Along with that, their victory has luckily guaranteed their spot in the Summer Split. All of this is mostly thanks to the amazing play of ADC Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk, who has been the key player and star of the team.
With nothing else to play for in the final week of the Spring Split, Gen.G will look to play spoilers to SANDBOX who are still fighting for better seeding in the playoffs. While they prepare for the remaining games, they will also move up to 7th in the power rankings.
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
With another 0-2 week, Hanwha Life Esports have officially been eliminated from playoff contention. While it’s another disappointing split without the playoffs once again for Hanwha, they will be able to build off the success of the players and the potential and constant growth they showed.
Much like Gen.G, Hanwha won’t have anything on the line in their final match of the split. At this point they can decide to give their substitutes a chance to play on the main stage. Another option is for Hanwha to play their main roster and stop KT Rolster from avoiding relegation. Regardless of what happens, Hanwha’s split is effectively over but the future looks bright.
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
Rough week for DAMWON Gaming as their mental block against Griffin continues as they drop 0-2 once again.
While their playoff spot is locked in, they’ll look to finish the regular season on a high note with two very easy matches against Gen.G and KT Rolster. Regardless of what happens next week, DAMWON will have a tough road ahead of them as they’ll start the playoffs in round 1. For now they remain at 5th in the power rankings with another 0-2 defeat to Griffin.
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
With another easy week, Kingzone remain at 4th in the power rankings thanks to their 2-0 week. While ADC Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu was amazing once again, the whole team made huge contributions this week. With great play from the likes of Heo “PawN” Won-seok and Moon “Cuzz” Woo-chan playing huge roles in various victories across the week.
If the whole team can continue their great play Kingzone will be a huge threat going into the playoffs. Going into the last week, Kingzone will have a huge challenge ahead of them in Griffin. If they want a better position in the playoffs, they’ll need to find a way to beat Griffin, otherwise they’ll likely start in the wildcard round against DAMWON.
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
SANDBOX Gaming remain at 3rd in the power rankings after a 1-1 week. While they weren’t able to jump ahead in the standings with their defeat to SK Telecom T1, the team did end the playoff hopes of Hanwha Life Esports with their 2-0 victory over them.
As a result of their 1-1 week, their final match of the regular season will still have some playoff implications as they fight for their spot in the quarterfinals. Fortunately for them, they’ll have a match against Gen.G as opposed to Griffin. With an important match still left for SANDBOX, they’ll look to end the season on a high note. Will it happen? Only time will tell.
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
SK Telecom T1 had a short week with a 2-0 victory over SANDBOX Gaming as their only match of the week.
Now they look ahead to finish the regular season off with another 2-0 week over Jin Air Green Wings and Afreeca Freecs. While their place in the standings is all but locked up, SKT still need to play well and ensure no upsets take place. With that being said SKT end the week at 2nd in the power rankings as they get ready for playoffs.
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
It would appear reports of Griffin’s demise after last week’s shocking 0-2 have been greatly exaggerated. Instead, they come back in week 9 with some of their best performances recently on their way to another 2-0 week.
With first place officially locked up for Griffin, they should be able to have a relaxing end to the season with matches against Kingzone DragonX and Jin Air Green Wings remaining. As such, Griffin cruise into the final week back at 1st in the power rankings.
To watch League of Legends tournaments, visit watch.na.lolesports.com. For more information on the Split, teams, standings, and players, visit www.lolesports.com. Recaps of former weeks and other LoL content can be found at https://thegamehaus.com/league-of-legends/.
Featured image courtesy of LCK flickr.
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles
Follow Rui on Twitter @ruixu38
From Our Haus to Yours.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
