With another week of LCK action ending, two things have become clear. The first being the three teams that are fighting for relegation are Jin Air Green Wings, Hanwha Life Esports and KT Rolster. The second thing fans have learned is that the playoff picture might not be complete until the final day of the regular season. With that being said, let’s find out who ended up where with another edition of the LCK Summer power rankings! As always, if you missed last week’s power rankings, you can find them here!
10.Jin Air Green Wings (-)
Current record: 0-14
0-2 vs Hanwha Life Esports
0-2 vs DAMWON Gaming
Another 0-2 week, another step closer to the 0-18 result. With their loss to Hanwha, Jin Air will have one last realistic chance at winning a series this split against KT Rolster later on. Despite some upsides to the team’s performance early on into the split, the team appears to struggle at every point of the game currently. Unfortunately, any win at this point won’t mean much as Jin Air’s destiny seems all but decided. Soon, they will face off against the threat of relegation once again.
9.Hanwha Life Esports (-)
Current record: 3-10
2-0 vs Jin Air Green Wings
While Hanwha was able to pick up the victory against Jin Air in their only match this week, they remain at 9th in the power rankings. While the victory does push Hanwha ahead of KT Rolster in the standings due to game score, KT still has a match against Jin Air remaining. Along with that, the true decider for the remaining spot in relegations is still the match between Hanwha and KT themselves. Until that match has taken place, Hanwha will need to continue to try and steal wins against the top teams of the league.
8.KT Rolster (-)
Current record: 3-10
0-2 vs Griffin
0-2 vs Gen.G
After a surprise victory over Afreeca Freecs the week before, KT has fallen back on their losing ways. While an upset this week would’ve likely guaranteed KT’s safety from relegation, it now seems that KT will need to continue fighting to survive. Whether KT has what it takes to push on and win important matches against Hanwha and Jin Air is yet to be seen. As the split winds down, the next three weeks will be by far the most important for KT, will they have what it takes to avoid relegation?
7.Griffin (-1)
Current record: 8-5
2-0 vs KT Rolster
1-2 vs SK Telecom T1
Much like the Spring Split, Griffin’s late struggles don’t seem to be ending as they end another week 1-1. With a mediocre win against KT and a terrible performance against SKT, the team is currently in a four-team race for the final playoff spots. While Griffin has the best game score at the moment, they do look the weakest among the four teams. If Griffin can’t recover at any point this split, they could realistically still miss Worlds yet again.
6.Gen.G (-4)
Current record: 9-5
0-2 vs SK Telecom T1
2-0 vs KT Rolster
After a huge jump to 2nd in the power rankings last week, Gen.G’s inconsistency drops them all the way back down to 6th this week. With the tight race for playoffs at the moment, Gen.G’s inconsistency could end their Worlds ambitions. If Gen.G fails to find a high level of constant play, then this could be it for Gen.G’s fairly impressive run overall this split. With an easy week coming up with a matchup against Jin Air awaiting them, this could be the chance for Gen.G to lock in for the remaining weeks and qualify for the playoffs.
5.SANDBOX Gaming (-)
Current record: 9-4
1-2 vs DAMWON Gaming
While DAMWON were able to defeat their demons in Griffin, SANDBOX was unable to slay their demons as they fall yet again to DAMWON. While SANDBOX sit fairly comfortably in second, they still have a very tough road ahead of them. With matches against the likes of Kingzone DragonX and SK Telecom T1 still awaiting them, SANDBOX could still realistically lose their spot in the playoffs. With that being said, SANDBOX has been looking better recently and should be able to beat out the other top teams fighting for their spot in the playoffs.
4.Kingzone DragonX (-1)
Current record: 8-5
1-2 vs Afreeca Freecs
Much like Griffin, Kingzone has begun declining once again as Worlds approaches. While their decline isn’t as bad as last season, it is still troubling. As a result of their loss to Afreeca, Kingzone joins three other teams at 8-5 as they fight for the final spots in the playoffs. While Kingzone has what it takes to win out in the end and make the playoffs, especially as they still have matches against Jin Air and KT remaining in their schedule. Howerver, even if Kingzone were to make the playoffs, how far could they go in their current state?
3.Afreeca Freecs (+4)
Current record: 8-5
2-1 vs Kingzone DragonX
With a win over Kingzone and other teams struggling, Afreeca was able to make a huge jump back up to 3rd in the power rankings. While Afreeca currently sit outside a playoff spot, the team has shown that they can still compete against other top teams of the region. However, if Afreeca shows any signs of struggling at any point in the remaining weeks, they could easily become the first of the four teams with 8-5 scores to drop out of playoff contention.
2.SK Telecom T1 (+2)
Current record: 8-5
2-0 vs Gen.G
2-1 vs Griffin
After a very rough start to the season, SKT has finally climbed all the way back up to 2nd in the power rankings. With support Lee “Effort” Sang-ho still impressing fans with his play as he takes the spot of Cho “Mata” Se-hyeong, SKT has simply looked better and better each week. While they’re still in a tough fight for the final playoff spots, SKT has looked the best out of the four teams at 8-5. While it seemed impossible early on during the Summer Split, it is possible that SKT could repeat and defend their throne as champions of LCK. With a tough schedule still ahead to finish off the season, can SKT keep it up?
1.DAMWON Gaming (-)
Current record: 10-3
2-1 vs SANDBOX Gaming
2-0 vs Jin Air Green Wings
Remaining in 1st this week is DAMWON Gaming thanks to a fairly easy week against SANDBOX and Jin Air. While DAMWON haven’t locked in the number one seed of the gauntlet quite yet they shouldn’t lose it in the final weeks as DAMWON is still set to face Hanwha and KT. With a fairly easy schedule remaining DAMWON should find themselves in first at the end of the regular season, but will that mean we’ll see them as the number one seed for Korea going into Worlds? Only time will tell.
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.
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