The final weekend of the preseason Lock In Tournament is about to get underway. Only four teams remain and many believe they are the four best teams in the LCS. The questions then start to become, where does each one rank, who will win the final preseason weekend and where do the other six stand? Here is a look at the final Lock In tournament Power Rankings.
[Related: LCS Lock In Week 2 Power Rankings: Live Evil or Die Trying]
Was their 2-0 sweep this past weekend against FlyQuest the cleanest, no. But what this team has that basically no other team does at this point, is the ability to carry through any lane. Team Liquid are a menace and no matter what teams in the LCS throw at them, they will find a major advantage and exploit it. This is not to say they are infallible as was seen against FlyQuest but of all the teams in the LCS right now, they are the strongest and should be the favorite to win the Lock In tournament.
While everyone expected 100 Thieves to be strong, they are making a case to be pushing for the best team in the league at this point. They know who they are, which is a lot more than most teams in the LCS can say, and they are willing to play their style to victory. This past weekend Ssumday finally started to look like he was on the same page as the rest of the former Golden Guardians squad. While they are not the favorites, they absolutely have a chance to win the Lock In tournament and prove that they are a team to be feared in 2021.
Of the top four teams, C9 were the only one to drop a game. This is likely because they faced the best team of the four to not make it to the next round. That said, there are pretty legitimate concerns for this team. Fudge looked better during the TSM series but is still not at the top-level C9 are hoping he can be. Also, Perkz was absolutely not the reason they won that series, in fact, it felt like he was barely a factor at all. If Cloud9 want to reach their fullest potential they have to get more out of the solo lanes. Luckily Blaber, Zven and Vulcan have been hard carrying. Because of the immense potential this team still has and this tournament being a preseason, there is a good chance they come out this week and stomp as they continue to come together.
It isn’t that Evil Geniuses haven’t looked convincing or even as good as the other top teams, it is frankly that it is hard to see them beating any of the three teams above them in a five-game series. They have proven that they are a team to be taken seriously and if TL don’t do that, EG could very easily upset. When looking at the lanes and trying to find an advantage for EG the only ones that could be argued for are Impact vs Alphari and Jiizuke vs Jensen. Even those would require quite the argument. Fourth is a solid spot and EG should be proud given this is just the preseason.
Right now, TSM are one of the teams on the outside looking in. If they do not fix some of their major issues, this could be them come the end of the Spring season. So far the drafting for TSM has been pretty rough while PoE and SwordArt struggled or had little impact almost the entire tournament. TSM fans shouldn’t worry too much as most of their issues stem from communication issues and very fixable draft mistakes. This tournament was a great way for TSM to learn that and now they have a chance to work on it for two weeks before their next game. If game one against Cloud9 was any indication of what this team could be, then the rest of the LCS better watch out.
It is hard to believe that a player who has never played in the LCS and one who has never played with any of his teammates could have the effect that Josedeodo had on FlyQuest. Yet, Josedeodo seems to be the catalyst for this team already and one that FQ fans should be very excited about. Week two of the Lock In tournament was so much better for FlyQuest even if they went 2-2 they still took down EG who were the hottest team in the LCS. They played a strong series against TL and should be happy to see all of the young players starting to find their footing. There is no doubt that FlyQuest have a chance to be a very strong team and even though an LCS title might be out of reach at this time, the future is very bright.
Another young team and one that has probably surprised the most people so far. Specifically Iconic has been a revelation. It is hard not to keep repeating this but he really did not look good at Scouting Grounds. Maybe it is the fact that Niles is leading this team and he is comfortable or maybe nerves just got the best of him during that event? Either way, Iconic looks to be a strong building block for this team along with Ablazeolive and Niles. There are still some questions around the Stixxay and Newbie bot lane but they have looked respectable so far. Golden Guardians are another team that brings hope to NA as fans get to see a young team that should only get better.
It is really hard to say much about Immortals considering they decided to put in their Academy roster instead of any of their main players. The org is clearly working on figuring out who and what they have to build around. Potluck looks like an interesting player but the problem is that Immortals have Xerxe whenever he comes in. It is too bad that Potluck is blocked but for now, there is not much Immortals can do. It will be interesting to see this team with their full starting lineup as they still look potentially like a dark horse playoff contender.
For a team fighting for a chance to make it into the Lock In tournament, Dignitas really just struggled. They do not look terrible and there have been some flashes from the young players but overall Dignitas look like a bottom-tier team. The hope for this Spring will be that Neo, Soligo and FakeGod really give Dignitas an opportunity to decide whether they are worth developing or not. Other than that this team looks like it might have a pretty rough start to 2021.
CLG were the only team to not play this past weekend and that was likely a good thing. Finn was able to confirm that he has received his visa but Broxah has still been struggling to get his. Hopefully, CLG will look better once they have their starting lineup but weirdly enough it was the three veterans who struggled the most during the Lock In tournament. It is unlikely with the talent that CLG have that they stay at or near the bottom of the LCS but a lot of new young talent is rising and CLG just may not have enough to take them down.
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