NA LCS Week 1 Power Rankings
It was a topsy-turvy, shake things up start to the 2017 NA LCS Summer Split. Patch 7.10 shook the meta Etch A Sketch over the midseason break, leaving favorites and fodder on even footing (for now). Teams that underperformed in Spring beat squads projected to be the best of Summer, with the top four from spring finishing Week 1 a combined 1-7. Cloud 9 was tested with the league’s toughest Week 1 schedule and fell flat. Team Solo Mid looked dominant until they didn’t. Echo Fox continued patenting pocket strategies, Phoenix 1 lost a step, and Team Liquid existed. Some things don’t change, I guess.
It’s too early to tell where these teams will be by split’s end, but this content farm knows no fallow seasons and I must till the earth. Enjoy these fresh-to-market power rankings, with more in-depth takes on new champions, items and objectives—are we sure Rift Herald is good? —coming to this stall in the coming days.
Prep your raptor camp, pick up a Doran’s Shield and let’s get into the first Completely Subjective Power Rankings for NA LCS Summer Split 2017.
Note: The movement stats are sort of useless since I never posted my pre-season rankings, but you can reverse engineer the numbers to get a clear picture.
1. Counter Logic Gaming (2-0, 4-1) (+2)
CLG kicked off the Summer Split with a 2-1 win over Cloud 9 that was by turns masterful, excruciating, and masterfully excruciating. Clean initiations from Aphromoo were marred by tentative late game macro that unnecessarily extended matches. Game 3 could have been played on Howling Abyss and not much would have changed. I did enjoy the lane-sized stars from Huhi’s Aurelion Sol, though they rarely amounted to much. CLG tightened things up against Team Liquid the following day for a clinical 2-0, but Liquid—mostly furniture at this point—offered token resistance.
For all the press Dardoch’s addition got over the break, the former Immortals jungler wasn’t that influential. Look instead to Aphromoo, the steady support who, now that the meta has shifted, gets to summon more playmaking champions like Rakan, Nami, and Bard. With shields slowly being tuned back to earth, teams with explosive supports like Aphromoo should be able to turn enough fights in the mid game to set up victory late. What worked against Cloud 9 should work against everyone else.
If Stixxay and Aphro can continue to find success in the bot lane, and Dardoch can resist the tilt, CLG will contend for a title. Let’s see where this magical journey leads.
2. Immortals (2-0, 4-1) (+4)
CLG looked solid in their opening weekend, but it was Immortals who turned heads, beating Team SoloMid in a best-of series for the first time in the organization’s history. That they opened the weekend defeating the third-place team of Spring in Phoenix 1 before kneecapping the Spring champs should put the entire league on notice. I’m sure Noah’s still smiling somewhere.
How did Immortals do it? Start with the reunion with Xmithie and Pobelter, two old CLG hands whose stellar interplay single-handedly raise the ceiling for this team. With a snowball ensured by Xmithie, Pobelter popped off in multiple games, showing everyone—who wasn’t already convinced—that he deserves his top spot on the NA Challenger ladder. Couple that with Flame playing out of his mind in the top lane and Olleh doing his best Aphromoo impression, Immortals look truly dangerous going forward.
Counter Logic Gaming barely squeaks out ahead in the rankings because I favor them in a best-of series, but if Immortals can clean up some issues with Cody Sun getting caught out while farming, they won’t stay second-best for long.
3. Team Solo Mid (1-1, 2-2) (-2)
A mixed-bag week from the Kings of North America. One moment you’re raising a championship banner, then suddenly you’re blinded by a sheet. Classic TSM, looking like world-beaters just until their scheduled pratfall. No other team better encapsulates the identity of NA, a team that constantly wins while never failing to disappoint their demanding fans.
TSM swept an out-of-form Cloud 9 but then got swept themselves by an in-form Immortals, so did we really learn anything? Of course TSM will need time to fully adjust to 7.10, but that doesn’t fully explain their lack of coordination in team fights or inability to execute strategies determined by the draft. If Bjergsen is going to play a supportive champion like Galio and leave the carrying duty to Doublelift, the team cannot allow Doublelift to get picked off before fights, nor engage in split fights while Bjergsen attacks a different target than the DPS. Immortals exploited this mistake several times during their sweep, denying TSM the comeback fight they needed.
I like the flexibility Doublelift brings to TSM’s drafting, and his ability to win the bot lane with minimal assistance, but TSM doesn’t know how to take advantage of him yet. For now, they remain great team with issues time and practice will solve. Expect to see them rebound next week and remain near the top of these rankings for the foreseeable future.
4. Cloud 9 (0-2, 1-4) (-2)
Don’t count out Cloud 9 yet. The Spring Runner’s Up faced TSM and CLG to kick off the Summer—two teams I projected to finish inside the top three—a managed to win only a single game. Their much-anticipated rematch with TSM failed to be competitive, and the series with CLG had a very “monkeys throwing feces” feel that could have gone either way. This is the same team that came within one 5v5 of representing North America at MSI this year. They’ve got arguably the best bot lane in the league and a talented jungler who is only going to get better. One rough week does not a season make.
C9 will come back, yet their midgame objective control needs serious work. The TSM series hinged on Barons C9 should have taken but didn’t, and against top flight opposition those mistakes will lose games by themselves. Impact’s return from holiday might be the missing ingredient, but Ray wasn’t the issue. He frequently getting the better of Hauntzer in the early game, but his team couldn’t capitalize off that advantage as the game wore on. After weeks of playing against them in solo queue, C9 shouldn’t be as unfamiliar with Xayah and Rakan as they were in Week 1. Not only did Aphromoo constantly catch C9 off-guard with his long-range initiations, but then Sneaky and Smoothie couldn’t in turn punish TSM’s lack of familiarity with the duo the following day.
The schedule doesn’t ease up for C9 this week; they face an undefeated Echo Fox side brimming with energy and pocket picks, and a wounded Phoenix 1 eager to rediscover their winning ways. The C9 of spring would be favored against both, but when will we see those guys again?
5. Echo Fox (2-0, 4-0) (+4)
The surprise of the first weekend, Echo Fox went 4-0 against Flyquest and Team Liquid, proving that sometimes an incredible mid-jungle duo can trump everything else. Froggen and Akaadian were unstoppable, with the European mid laner accounting for 43% of his team’s damage over all four games. Akaadian displayed versatility in the jungle, able to shift from playmaking fighters to roaming supports like Ivern to close out the Flyquest series.
Gate continues to throw a wrench into the ban phase by drafting top lane supports. He was famous last split for winning on Camille support; now he adds the revamped Sejuani to that list. The pick looked good after a rough laning phase, but more to the point it makes teams account for additional strategies when drafting against Echo Fox. That unpredictability combined with their intention to only scrim against Delta Fox this season give Echo Fox an unmatched ability to succeed with unorthodox drafts. Opponents literally will not know what’s coming, allowing Echo Fox to cheese out wins they otherwise couldn’t earn. Those wins could be the difference between sitting at home or flying to Boston in September.
If Froggen and Akaadian can continue playing at an elite level, Echo Fox are a legitimate playoff threat. If they can’t, the organization will own two Meme Teams instead of just one.
6. Team Dignitas (2-0, 4-1) (+1)
The Ssumday show continues for Team Dignitas, but the split didn’t begin that way. Dignitas eked out a 2-1 win over Team EnVyUs with Ssumday sidelined on tanky champions like Shen and Rumble. Things changed against Flyquest, when Dignitas asked their top laner to carry. Ssumday was utterly unplayable on Fiora and Lucian, going 13-2-11 over two games, accounting for 34% of the team’s damage dealt and recording 69% kill participation. Dignitas are a different side when they let Ssumday off the chain, so look for teams to start prioritizing him in the first ban phase going forward.
When Ssumday smashes lane, the rest of Dignitas need only hold on until the midgame. Chaser desperately wants Rengar to still be meta but I’m afraid that time has passed. Dignitas seems to be happy with BIG as starting support, and he looked confident on four different champions this weekend. Having a skilled Thresh player makes bot lane that much easier, opening up more aggressive drafts for Ssumday if he’s got a lantern to ride.
Dignitas hasn’t beaten anyone yet, and there’s a lot of room to improve, but they should be satisfied with a job done so far.
7. Team EnVyUs (1-1, 4-2) (+2)
Feisty and resilient, Team EnVyUs is the squad no one wants to play. They look completely revitalized after a split in which they came within one game of relegation, and you need only look to their midseason moves to find the reason why.
Lira continues to make his case for the best jungler in North America, but the real improvements have come in the mid lane. Pirean has replaced Ninja over the break, and the results have been instantaneous. His ability to hold mid without constantly being babysat by Lira allows Envy’s best player to roam and snowball other lanes. The bot duo of Apollo and Hakuho benefited tremendously from the help, outplaying Arrow and Shady in a 2-1 series win over Phoenix 1. And if the matchup calls for a snowball mid, Pirean can do that too. His Game 1 performance on Taliyah against Ryu’s Orianna was absolutely disgusting, ending 7-0-5 and up 85 CS.
Will this be the split Envy finally puts enough pieces around Lira to contend for playoffs? We’ll know more when they face Immortals on Friday.
8. Phoenix 1 (0-2, 2-4) (-4)
Expectations were high for Phoenix 1 coming into Summer Split. The third-place team of Spring were projected as legitimate threats to the TSM/C9 hegemony, and with solo laners like Ryu and Zig—plus the reigning NA LCS MVP in Arrow—who could argue otherwise?
The sky shouldn’t be falling after an 0-2 start to the split (see: Cloud 9), but the way P1 lost series to Immortals and Team EnVyUs is cause for concern. Arrow has been a non-factor so far, and the amount of blame you want to put on Shady varies between observer. P1 spent all of Spring trying to settle on a support; are we sure Shady is the right choice? (Sidebar: Was Inori?) Still, it wasn’t entirely Shady’s fault that Arrow was getting picked off before fights could even start. A support can only do so much.
Zig and Ryu haven’t covered themselves in glory either, but at this point the issues are at a team level. P1 ranks next to last in gold differential per minute (-197) and are on average down nearly 2k at the 15-minute mark. For having such talented solo laners, P1 aren’t winning lanes, something that needs to change if they intend to rebound. The organization put their faith in Inori over Meteos, and now Inori needs to make good on that belief. Circle Friday’s clash between P1 and C9 for a better idea where both teams stand.
9. FlyQuest (0-2, 0-4) (-4)
FlyQuest haven’t won game in the Summer Split, losing in straight sets to Dignitas and Echo Fox, two teams you would think the fourth-place team of Spring could at least play evenly. Instead, an experienced squad helmed by Hai came up well short, displaying little cohesion both in their macro decision-making and in team fights. Echo Fox’s game-winning juke around the mid lane should have never been allowed to happen, but with three inhibitors already down you could forgive FlyQuest for being distracted.
Picking up WildTurtle over the break was a fantastic move for a team in need of an experienced AD carry, but as Turtle proved during his stint at TSM, he cannot singlehandedly make a good team great. Hai and Balls looked second best in matchups against Froggen and Ssumday, creating a lower ceiling than last split’s performance would suggest.
It doesn’t get any easier for FlyQuest this week. Dates with Immortals and Phoenix 1 will likely leave them 0-4 to start the split and searching for answers.
10. Team Liquid (0-2, 0-4) (Even)
I might write a longer article about Team Liquid, but until then, there’s nothing much to say. If you’re going to run back the same roster that would have been relegated if not for Doublelift’s contribution, should anyone be surprised it isn’t working?
They might not win a series all year. Just…look at the flowers, Liquid. So pretty…