NA LCS Power Rankings Week 4
Are we sure Rek’Sai is good?
I know this is a weekly space for NA LCS Power Rankings—and Week 4 did a lot to solidify them—but humor me for a moment and let’s talk about a certain jungle champion making the rounds worldwide. Ever since she was reworked in Patch 7.11, Rek’Sai has slowly tunneled into competitive play, with junglers logging hundreds of solo queue games.
Pros have seen something in the Void Burrower, but what? A strong initiation with Void Rush? New gank paths that utilize her unique tunnels? Better stat growth? Inventive pathing? More knock-arounds with Unburrow? What makes Rek’Sai a must-have now, after an entire split spent benchwarming? Was her lengthy competitive history enough to push her back into the meta the instant she received some dev love?
I don’t have those answers, but I do have numbers, and they…aren’t good. Since her Patch 7.12 buffs—the ones that made Void Rush less easy to dodge—Rek’Sai has been banned 8 times and picked 12 in NA LCS, an 80% presence that’s second-highest among junglers because Zac is still perma-banned. Only Jhin and Renekton have been picked more in NA LCS on 7.12.
Despite that presence, Rek’Sai is 3-9 (25% winrate) on 7.12, a win percentage next to dead last among all NA LCS champions. At 2.7, her KDA is lowest among junglers that have been picked more than three times, and her DPM is a middling 268.
This isn’t just an NA problem. As of 6/26, Rek’Sai has a 23% winrate among the major regions (LCK, LPL, LMS, NA, EU). No one has figured out how she works, if at all, and yet some teams are drafting her with the first pick. A small AD-ratio increase for Void Rush in 7.13 probably won’t turn her fortunes around. Am I missing something here?
Good luck trying to make Rek’Sai happen.
1. Immortals (7-1, 14-6) (+2)
Immortals answered all questions after an impressive week that saw them knock off rivals CLG and Team Dignitas to take sole possession of first place. Led by Xmithie and some truly otherworldly play from Flame in the top lane, Immortals have amassed wins against all top five teams in NA LCS, an unimpeachable résumé built on strong individual performances and excellent macro.
Xmithie continues to make his case for MVP of the split, finally settling who won the CLG/Immortals jungler swap by completing outclassing his aggressive counterpart. But Xmithie isn’t the only new acquisition impacting the team. Coach SSONG has brought direction and confidence to a team that had been bereft of both. You can see his influence in how Flame—a fellow Longzhu Gaming ex-pat—has dramatically improved from last split.
Taking the throne is one thing; keeping it is another. Immortal’s first defense will come Saturday afternoon against…
2. Team SoloMid (6-2, 13-5) (Even)
Did Team SoloMid even break a sweat this week? Quick 2-0s over FlyQuest and Echo Fox were finished before they began. Bjerg and Co. were too savvy to slip up against dysfunctional teams, especially when Bjergsen is allowed to play Syndra. Note to NA LCS teams: Before drafting against TSM, read the manga first.
My heart skipped a few beats when Doublelift locked in Tristana twice. The little yordle cannoneer terrorized WildTurtle for two consecutive games, proving that the energizer build is perhaps over-tuned. Svenskeren was useful in the jungle, dying only once against Echo Fox in his most complete series of the split. When TSM gets that kind of game from Sven, there aren’t too many teams in the region that can stay with them.
TSM 's Week 5 is so packed, Jensen and C9 quest for revenge is an undercard to the bout with Immortals tomorrow. If Sven shows up to both series, my money’s on TSM to board a plane to Berlin securely atop the NA LCS standings.
3. Cloud 9 (5-3, 12-7) (+2)
Cloud 9 will have a tough time losing games when Jensen plays like the best mid laner in the world. An absurd 16.7 Week 4 KDA was more than enough to secure his team wins against Teams Liquid and Dignitas, further propelling C9’s recent trend upward. I’d like to see more from Contractz and Impact, whose inconsistent play is troubling. Then again, it’s easy to overlook small errors when Jensen is attracting attention like the gravitational well of a star.
Truthfully, I thought C9 would slip up against Dignitas even with Jensen on perpetual fire, but the team was able to follow Immortal’s lead and shut down Dig by subduing Ssumday. It turns out that an experienced team that rarely loses lanes is hard to beat.
Jensen will have his chance to snatch the “Best Mid NA” belt from Bjergsen today in what should be an excellent competitive tune-up for Rift Rivals next week. Bring the popcorn, hold the NA LCS nachos.
4. Counter Logic Gaming (6-2, 13-9) (-3)
It’s odd to see a trash-talking, highly motivated, highly competitive team completely fail to show up in a series billed beforehand as Week 4’s best, but that’s exactly what happened when Counter Logic Gaming took the Rift against Immortals. For all their boasting, CLG were badly swept by Immortals and struggled to close out Team EnVyUs the following afternoon.
Let’s talk for a moment about Dardoch, who decided to play Rek’Sai and Kha’Zix for the first time this split—against his old team no less—and failed miserably, finishing 6-6-8. Immortals’ success stemmed from their vision advantage generated by Dardoch building Stalker’s Blade over Tracker’s Knife twice (he finally admitted his mistake midway through Game 2 by reluctantly purchasing a Sightstone). Chilling Smite it a great dueling tool, but at this level the kills must be game-breaking to overcome your team’s vision disadvantage. For Dardoch, the kills didn’t materialize, Immortals had complete map control from the early game onwards, and here we are.
CLG have a chance to rebound with Team Liquid and Cloud 9 to play this weekend, with summer playoff implications abound in the latter matchup. If CLG can rein in Jensen and Darshan can return to form, they have an excellent chance of beating C9 and a realistic shot at a bye into the semifinals
5. Team Dignitas (5-3, 13-10) (-1)
If they can’t win through top lane, Team Dignitas can’t win at all.
That was the logic Immortals and Cloud 9 proved correct this weekend, resulting in two reverse-sweeps that saw Ssumday unable to meaningfully contribute. Dignitas couldn’t adapt, revealing the weakness built into the heart of the team: Without Ssumday, they cease to be elite. LOD, BIG and Keane are serviceable at their positions but rarely take over games. Shrimp has been excellent as Chaser’s replacement, but the way he served himself up to Xmithie and Flame during an ill-executed gank top in Game 3 was astonishing. Who was responsible for that call, and why is he still in LCS?
Luckily, Dignitas have a chance to refine their early game and rebuild confidence against Team EnVyUs and FlyQuest for Week 5. I doubt Ssumday stays slumping for long, but it’s time that Dignitas find other ways to win.
6. Team EnVyUs (4-4, 10-11) (+1)
Nisqy made his North American debut at mid lane for Team EnVyUs, to mixed results. Fresh off promoting Fnatic Academy to the EU LCS (though not really), Nisqy did a job and nothing more. The Cassiopeia that relegated Giants didn’t make much an impression against FlyQuest or CLG, especially when faced with Huhi’s punishing Aurelion Sol. Some internal politics might favor Nisqy over Pirean at the moment, but by my eye the two don’t look dissimilar.
Lira continues to do Lira things, but the real catalyst for Envy’s improved Summer Split has been Apollo and Hakuho. They were excellent in a favorable Ashe/Braum matchup (vs. Caitlyn/Morgana), finishing a combined 5-0-18, but were lackluster otherwise. Remember, Envy’s bot lane resurgence had come in large part to Lira’s freedom from babysitting Ninja mid. Now, with uncertainty in the middle of the map, Lira doesn’t have as much freedom top snowball bot lane with both mid laners and Seraph struggling recently.
Envy have a legitimate shot at playoffs a split after they were nearly relegated, but if the team can’t rediscover the balance they had to begin Summer, I can’t see them making the trip to Boston in September. Week 5 delivers two winnable series against down-trending teams (Dignitas and Phoenix 1), but Envy will struggle if bot lane can’t get help.
7. Echo Fox (3-5, 8-10) (-1)
Another week, another egregious throw. It’s all in a weekend’s work for Echo Fox, a team that has all the pieces to be great, yet cannot put the puzzle together.
After a week in which they were roundly roasted for leashing Baron for the other team, they did it again in Game 2 against Phoenix 1. It wasn’t enough for Echo Fox to leave a half-health Baron to the oncoming P1 Curtain Call, no no, Akaadian had to literally feed himself to Zig via the most unfortunate ward hop I’ve ever witnessed live. Against TSM, a team that will take a mile if you give them an inch, Echo Fox supplied yards of rope to hang themselves, losing objective after objective despite another excellent early game.
Call them Dark C9 if you like, the similarity is uncanny. Echo Fox rely on an outstanding European mid laner to win games surrounded by an above-average supporting cast. The difference is that C9 have the synergy to convert their mid laner’s atomic performances into late game wins; Echo Fox haven’t figured out that part yet. If they ever do, watch out, but as the season rolls on I increasingly doubt they will.
A reprieve comes in the form of Week 5: Charmin-soft Team Liquid and FlyQuest are just what the doctor ordered.
8. Phoenix 1 (1-7, 7-14) (+1)
Peaks and valleys for Phoenix 1 in Week 4. The Rift Rivals attendees found their first series win of Summer, but it wasn’t against the team we expected them to beat.
MikeYeung and P1 turned in two excellent games against Echo Fox, taking advantage of Fox’s Baron throw in Game 2 while surviving their own in Game 1. Arrow looked like his old self on Jhin, sniping off squishy carries and finishing 10-1-18 across both games. At the time, it seemed like P1 were poised for a full recovery.
Then, the Liquid series happened, and all optimism flew out the window. Arrow was back to his brittle Summer form, Zig didn't get any traction against Lourlo in the deciding Game 3, and MikeYeung couldn’t replicate his surprising Game 2 Rek’Sai performance. Normally a 2-1 loss to cap an otherwise hopeful weekend would be easier to take. But, it was Liquid, so...
Immortals and Team EnVyUs will provide us a better sense of P1’s progression halfway through the split, but the four-week hole they’ve dug themselves makes playoffs unlikely even with a successful Week 5. The P1 that showed up against Echo Fox could take games off these opponents. I’m not counting on it.
9. Team Liquid (2-6, 5-14) (+1)
In a scramble to find something, anything that works, Team Liquid threw three subs to the wolves this week with varied results.
Slooshi took over for Goldenglue mid and held his own against Jensen and Ryu. KonKwon was an outstanding 0-2-20 in the deciding Game 3 against P1, and Inori…didn’t warrant another start after an ineffective debut for Liquid against Cloud 9. It was almost cruel to Inori; while still on Phoenix 1, he was permanently subbed out for Meteos after Contractz destroyed him, and in his first game back on the LCS stage, Contractz and C9 were waiting for him. At least Inori’s paid well.
The victory over Phoenix 1 was well earned—their Game 3 demolition was a high point—but Liquid are playing for next season, and no combination of current players is going to change that. Echo Fox and CLG will find little resistance when Liquid bumps up against them this weekend.
10. FlyQuest eSports (1-7, 5-14) (-2)
There will be no magical run to the playoffs this year. After a 1-5 week where little went right, FlyQuest continue to regress, barely putting up a fight against TSM despite the WildTurtle/Doublelift beef and nearly got swept by Team EnVyUs (losing 1-2 instead).
For all his experience and skill, Hai has underwhelmed in the mid lane and his team suffers for it. Coordination in team fights is lacking, with the players often splitting damage between targets instead of focusing, and focusing when they should be splitting. Constant pressure in the mid lane that needs to be addressed by Moon leaves the side lanes out to dry, further compounding Balls’ sub-par play.
Hopefully the Edens family doesn’t reconsider their investment when the bill for franchising comes due, because in the old system, this team would be relegation fodder. Echo Fox and Team Dignitas will not drop games to FlyQuest in Week 5.