Last week in the LCS, Team Liquid fell to a hot TSM squad and Cloud9 and FlyQuest continued their climb to the top. These games clearly shook up the power rankings, but how much? Taking a deeper dive into it, even with teams so close in record, they may not be as close as people think.
10. OpTic Gaming (2-6)
Somehow a mixed roster performed better than their starting roster. After dropping to 0-4 with their starting roster, this team looks completely lost. Lee “Crown” Min-ho is struggling and ever since they have come back, as have William “Meteos” Hartman and Noh “Arrow” Dong-hyeon. To be fair, they did play two top tier teams in TSM and Cloud 9 this past weekend so maybe this week will be different.
This week they face off against two struggling teams in 100 Thieves and and Clutch Gaming. If there are games to win, then these would be it. If they don’t, then it looks like it is time to start looking at the Academy roster to bring something new to the starting lineup.
9. Clutch Gaming (2-6)
After losing to CLG and FlyQuest last weekend this team has cemented itself in the bottom two. Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon and Nam “Lira” Tae-yoo look terrible and without Tanner “Damonte” Damonte they could easily be 1-5 or 0-6. Also if OpTic wasn’t 0-4 with what is supposed to be their starting lineup then this team would be 10th.
This week they face a Golden Guardians team that has been looking much better as of late, and the only team ranked below them. Similar to OpTic, if Clutch comes out of this weekend 0-2 then it may be time for Clutch to take a serious look at making roster moves.
8. CLG (4-4)
Had they beaten 100 Thieves and Golden Guardians, CLG would be much higher on this list. It is hard to predict where they fall because they will beat Cloud 9 and Echo Fox then lose to teams that they should beat easily. Until they can get a little more consistent this is where they will have to sit.
This week CLG have the chance to make some major noise. If they are able to beat TSM and Cloud 9 again, then they will be looking like a guaranteed playoff team. That said, both of those teams are looking solid right now so CLG will have their work cut out for them.
7. Golden Guardians (3-5)
Golden Guardians are hanging onto their win against TSM and there is no doubt they have the potential to be a playoff team. That said they still have some pretty rough losses and did not look great against Team Liquid. The pieces are all there but they have to start gelling and winning close games, otherwise they may be destined for their third straight split without making the playoffs.
They will face off against Clutch and Echo Fox this week. These are both games that should be won based on the talent this team has. Although it wouldn’t be surprising to see them lose to Clutch and then stomp Echo Fox. That is truly how inconsistent this team is.
6. 100 Thieves (3-5)
It is still surprising that this team is struggling as much as they are. After losing to FlyQuest and Echo Fox last week they are just outside of the playoff hunt. While there is still plenty of time left to make a run, 100Thieves needs to figure out what is up with Zaqueri “aphromoo” Black and what they need to do to finish out these games.
For this week, they will face two extremes, OpTic and Team Liquid. They need to get the win against OpTic and at least have a solid performance against a Team Liquid team that was brought back down to Earth last week by TSM. If they can do this they will be at least in playoff contention. If not, then owner Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag may need to have some serious talks with the underperforming squad.
5. Echo Fox (4-4)
After getting stomped by Cloud 9, Echo Fox came out and stomped 100 Thieves. The problem is that unlike some of these other teams this may just be who Echo Fox are. They are barely a playoff team and that is about it. They probably wont surprise anyone but they will win against opponents they should beat and they will lose to teams that are considered better than them.
This week may be another 1-1 week for them. If they continue their trend then they will lose to TL and win against GGS.
4. FlyQuest (5-3)
There is no doubt that this team is talented, and while they did beat TSM, they got blown out by Team Liquid who TSM just beat a week later. One more impressive win and there will be no more room to doubt this team. Adding Eugene “Pobelter” Park had made them that much better and with Omran “V1per” Shoura pulling out his Riven at just about any time, this team should scare any opponent.
This is possibly the most important week of the season for FlyQuest. They have the chance to prove just how good they are as they do battle against Cloud9 and TSM. A 2-0 week shows everyone that this team is legit and should not be questioned. If they lose both then they are a good playoff team with the potential to get some surprise wins.
3. TSM (4-4)
As stated above, the only reason this team is currently ranked higher than FlyQuest is because of their win against Team Liquid. They also looked vulnerable against OpTic. So this team either got lucky and caught TL on a bad day or they really are that good and are finally putting it all together.
This week TSM have the chance to solidify their top tier status by taking on CLG and FlyQuest. While CLG has been all over the place, FlyQuest are also out to prove where they truly belong. TSM need to win both of these games if they ever hope to be as respected as the old TSM.
2. Cloud 9 (6-2)
This team just keeps doing their thing. Eric “Licorice” Ritchie is the best Top Laner in the league, Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi is doing Sneaky things and Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer can clearly hold his own against anyone in the Mid Lane. This team is really good and their wins against Echo Fox and OpTic showed as such.
Cloud 9 will start the week looking to show that they are at least the second best team in the LCS when they face off against FlyQuest. Then they will be looking for revenge versus CLG. There is no doubt that Cloud 9 should go 2-0 and cement themselves as one of the two best teams in the LCS.
1. Team Liquid (7-1)
Well, they finally lost. It was an ugly game as only Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng seemed to play well. It was only a matter of time until they would have a bad day, and it should actually help them. Now they have seen some of the chinks in the armor and they will be able to learn from it.
Echo Fox and 100 Thieves will be the next ones to try and beat TL. More than likely they will get stomped as Doublelift and company wont be looking to lose again. This team is still obviously the best team in the league, as of now, and they should show that this weekend.
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