NA LCS Week 6 Power Rankings

North American LCS earned bragging rights and a bit of confidence with their dominant showing over EU LCS at Rift Rivals, but little changed once play resumed back in the States. Phoenix 1 couldn’t keep the momentum going, Immortals rebounded, Team Liquid showed Echo Fox what throwing really means, and Counter Logic Gaming were their usual enigmatic selves. Another day at the office.

Still, there were some surprises. Team Dignitas rose from the dead, Team EnVyUs continued their inexplicable run into playoff contention, and Echo Fox sat Froggen because they didn’t like winning, or whatever. I guess he had non-refundable plane tickets to EVO?

Patch 7.14 will make its debut at NA LCS this weekend, tossing the meta into a blender yet again. Lethality, once nerfed nearly out of existence, is back with the vengeance. Expect Duskblades to be brandished, Cinderhulks to tick, and perhaps a Cho’Gath sighting (or two). If there was something League was truly lacking, it was more unavoidable burst damage. I can’t wait.  

Oh, and Kayn might make an appearance. You never know. With Week 7 upon us, let’s check in on the Power Rankings through Week 6.

Doublelift’s return has changed the complexion of Team SoloMid, allowing Bjergsen and Hauntzer more flexibility in draft while he carries. Ban Caitlyn and Doublelift will happily champion Tristana, boasting an unmatched 7-0 record on the Yordle Gunner this split. When TSM can trust their ADC to farm well, position correctly and consistently out-DPS the opposition, Hauntzer and Bjergsen can play more supportive, tanky champions that dictate engagements, something they couldn’t do successfully with WildTurtle.

Week 6 sweeps over Phoenix 1 and Team Liquid were prime examples of Doublelift’s ability to turn games by himself, highlighted by his spectacular 11-4-3 Game 2 against Liquid. Come for the 1v2 outplay against Goldenglue and Matt, stay for the delayed Quadra that enabled a free Baron, sealing the comeback victory. Pretty good for a B-tier ADC.

It won’t be long before TSM claim sole possession of first place in NA LCS, but a rematch with Team Dignitas this weekend could be tricky. Dignitas took the series 2-1 when they met in Week 2, and both teams have improved since then. Echo Fox balances out the weekend in a lopsided matchup no matter who they choose to start.

Immortals didn’t attend Rift Rivals, instead using the break to regroup after a pair of difficult loses to TSM and Phoenix 1. The extra rest paid off with a 2-0 week, highlighted by a 2-1 victory over a disjointed and jet-lagged Cloud 9. Credit Pobelter with handling Jensen in the mid lane, and acting as a de facto carry when it became clear C9 were committed to killing Cody Sun first in fights. Pobelter’s Corki survived laning stage and hid behind the beefy Xmithie/Flame frontline to finish 18-4-14 through their two wins. When Pobelter can play at this level, Immortals are hard to scheme against.

Xmithie seems to have found his grove again. The veteran jungler took a leaf out of young MikeYeung’s book and tried his hand at Nidalee, finishing 4-2-13 in a closeout game against Echo Fox. It was the first time Xmithie played the champion since Season 6, but with Cinderhulk now dominating the meta, I doubt he’ll make a habit of it.

Week 7 features an exciting rivalry reprise: Immortals vs Counter Logic Gaming. Xmithie and IMT swept CLG last time, but you’d better believe the mercurial Dardoch has been itching for Round 2. A favorable matchup with FlyQuest rounds out the week.

With Aurelion Sol constantly banned against him, Huhi needed a new wonky control mage to pilot. Enter Vel’Koz, the Eye of the Void, a champion so off-meta that no one in the world had played it this split until Huhi’s selection against FlyQuest. You can see the parallels; spammable magic damage from range, significant wave clear, choke point control. Vel’Koz is Aurelion Sol lite, with an ultimate that can’t be blocked by tanks. In two Vek’Koz games against FlyQuest, Huhi finished 11-0-19 and Counter Logic Gaming swept the series.

Vel’Koz was the 13th different champion Huhi has played this Summer, most of any mid laner. The same can be said of his teammate Darshan in the top lane. This versatility is a drafting asset for CLG, making them difficult to predict and demanding bans other teams do not draw. Dignitas banned out Aurelion Sol and Vel’Koz twice in their sweep of CLG; where else does that happen?

A deep champion pool is nice, but amidst that variety there’s been a noticeable downside: mediocre early games and erratic play. Per Oracle’s Elixir, CLG ranks next to last in the league in GD@15 (-567) and has the worst Early-Game rating (43.0) of all ten teams. Of their nine series wins, only three of them were sweeps, and of those three, two came at Team Liquid’s expense (for comparison, TSM has eight sweeps). You never know which CLG will take the Rift, and it will cost them against strong teams.

CLG face Echo Fox and Immortals this weekend. OmarGod will find his reps against Echo Fox; I doubt Dardoch will want to be subbed at any point during the Immortals series.

Team EnVyUs continue to surprise, completing their rise from relegation fodder to serious playoff contenders. Envy took advantage of a fatigued Cloud 9 2-0 and then held on to beat a Froggen-less Echo Fox 2-1, securing the kind of wins they were incapable of just a split ago.

Gone are the days of throwing games after the clock struck 20 minutes. Envy can win with leads now thanks to a dramatically improved mid lane that has allowed the side lanes to flourish. Sure, Seraph has a dodgy game every so often, but Apollo and Hakuho have become a bot lane to be reckoned with. Lira remains a world-class jungler whose influence on the team extends beyond the rift.

Against Jensen Cloud 9, Nisqy’s aggressive laning was preferred over Pirean’s more supportive play and the selection paid off. The import held Jensen to a 0-0-0 Game 1 line in a matchup that slightly favored Jensen’s Corki over Nisqy’s Syndra. His comfort Cassiopeia didn’t bottle up Jensen’s Taliyah the same way (4-2-9 to 5-1-3), but when Lira decides to hard carry as Nidalee, the best a mid laner can do is not feed.

Nisqy and Pirean have helped guide Envy to the best early game in NA LCS with an average GD@15 of 1,024, a staggering number when you consider the next team on the list has a GD@15 of 344 (Immortals). Even more incredible is usually that gold comes purely from CS. Envy has only secured First Blood or First Turret 50% of the time, but Apollo, Pirean, and Nisqy all average higher than 9 CSM. Lira is first among junglers with 5.1 CSM; Seraph is third among top laners at 8.7 CSM (the highest is 8.8).

With that kind of strong, consistent farm, Envy puts themselves in position to beat anyone, but it comes down to their late game execution as to whether they’re successful or not. An easy Week 7 against FlyQuest and Team Liquid should strengthen their case for playoffs.

It’s easy to forget that before their two-week slump, Team Dignitas might have been the best team in NA LCS, sprinting out to a 5-1 record that included wins over TSM and Team EnVyUs. Ssumday looked unstoppable on Fiora, Shrimp’s aggressive carry jungling caught most teams flat-footed, and the other two lanes were serviceable enough.

Then, teams adapted. Fiora and Kennen dropped out of the meta, forcing Ssumday on to tanks that had difficulty laning, and that was before opposing junglers began repeatedly pathing top to hinder him. The rest of NA LCS challenged Dignitas to win through other lanes, and for two weeks they had no answer.

Enter Altec and Adrian. Dignitas were in desperate need a bot lane that could take advantage of space and carry games, and so far this new duo has done just that, providing the edge LOD and BIG lacked. Together, Altec and Adrian won their lanes handily against CLG and P1. Altec finished a full CSM over Arrow and Stixxay, while Adrian’s 5-2-13 performance on in Game 2 against CLG help close out the series. The Kalista/Thresh bot lane has proved particularly potent in NA LCS; add Altec and Adrian’s undefeated record with that combination as evidence why.

Dignitas will be put to the test this weekend with TSM and Cloud 9. I doubt they’ll be able to pull off another 2-0 week, but if they do, expect to see Dignitas in Boston.

When Jensen finishes a game 0-0-0—as he did against a substitute mid during the Team EnVyUs series—something is terribly wrong. Cloud 9 can’t consistently win games when Jensen pops off; how are they supposed to win when he doesn’t show up?

C9 returned from a mediocre Rift Rivals fatigued, sick, and off their game, getting swept by Team EnVyUs and barely putting up a fight against Immortals. There’s only so much Jensen can do when his side lanes consistently lose their lanes. To be fair, Sneaky was under the weather for most of the week, but even so his combination with Smoothie was poor at best. Neither Ray nor Impact can find success in the top lane, and C9’s insistence on switching between the two must be straining their confidence, to say nothing of establishing a rhythm.

History tells us that C9 will be there at the end; after all, they’re one of only three teams that have ever lifted the NA LCS trophy. But at 6-6 with 6 games left, a bye into the semifinals is all but out of reach. C9 were excellent in their 2-1 over TSM, but have looked average against everyone else recently. Time is running out. 

Hopefully rest will help Cloud 9 regain their form, but with Phoenix 1 and Team Dignitas this weekend, they had better find that form soon.

After such a strong showing at Rift Rivals, it was disappointing to see Phoenix 1 unable to take a series upon their triumphant return to domestic play. Second best in the West to 9th place in NA LCS is a long way to fall.

Still, consider the opposition. TSM were eager to make a statement and had the players to do so, and Dignitas surprised everyone with how well their bot lane played. The P1/Dig series was probably the most exciting series of the weekend; both teams trading stomps as games were decided by incredibly narrow margins. P1 didn’t embarrass themselves, but they simply didn’t execute well enough to win.

MikeYeung continues to show skill beyond his years, but the meta might be shifting against him. Much like Shrimp, who burst on the NA LCS stage rocking carry junglers, MikeYeung made his name with crowd favorites like Nidalee and Lee Sin. Unfortunately, carry junglers can’t take advantage of Cinderhulk, the jungler enchantment de jour, and with the meta favoring tanky junglers because of this, Magic Mike will need to learn new tricks fast. On bursty, carry-oriented junglers (Elise, Lee Sin, Nidalee), Mike is 8-9 (5.8 KDA). On Cinderhulk tanks, he’s 1-4 (2.9 KDA). Can the kid adjust, or is P1’s fate already sealed?

At Rift Rivals, P1 proved they can beat and compete with the best, but at this point it might be too late to affect their NA LCS chances. Winning out can only get them to .500, and with C9, CLG and TSM still left to play, I doubt they’ll achieve even that. Week 7 brings series against C9 and Team Liquid, and while P1 can sweep the week, I predict a 1-1 split.

There isn’t much more room to rise or fall for FlyQuest, who settled into their middle class spot after beating a woeful Team Liquid yet suffering a sweep at the hands of CLG. Floor, meet ceiling.

Hai favors his assassins mid, Balls occasionally plays as strong as his biceps suggest, and WildTurtle does his best to farm well and position accordingly. With the changes to Lethality sure to bring Jhin firmly back into the meta, Turtle will have comfort to choose from, but will it make a difference? Tied for 7th place, FlyQuest have a puncher’s chance at making playoffs, yet have shown little sign that they’ll do anything once there.

Shot calling has improved since Hai returned to a more vocal role, but it hasn't been enough. FlyQuest find themselves near the bottom of the league in GDM (-117) and K:D (.75), and it’s difficult to win games when you’re unable to farm efficiently or win fights. It’s no longer a question of macro or shot calling; at this point the skill gap is too large.

Immortals and Team EnVyUs are on the schedule this weekend, and unless I’m very much mistaken, FlyQuest will end the weekend 0-2.  

In basketball, the frequent use of substitutions is part of the game. Shooters go cold, guys need a blow, bench players play hard in practice and earn themselves more playing time. Lineups are fluid, and the starting five know their status isn’t guaranteed if they play poorly over a long period. Teams regularly boast of being eight or ten guys deep, with different weapons to beat different teams in different ways.

But League of Legends isn’t basketball, as much as Rick Fox and Jared Jeffries would like it to be. Success in League comes not from a deep bench but a starting five that synergizes so well it borders on symbiosis. Knowing tendencies, strategy, strengths and weaknesses at an instinctual level is a must when a split-second choice can decide an entire game. Chemistry matters, and constantly rotating through lineups or resting players during crucial series diminishes their ability to succeed together, ultimately costing wins.

Echo Fox have taken substitutions to another level this split, subbing every role except Support (they do not have an official Support substitute). Brandini, Damonte, Grig and Mash all saw time in Week 6 against Immortals and Team EnVyUs, while Froggen—arguably one of the best mid laners in the West—did not play at all. No other team has been so loose with their lineups, but then again, no other team claims to go 10 players deep or refuses to scrim outside their own players.

Speaking of scrims: if these subs are getting playing time because they need experience against NA LCS completion, you know a great way to build experience? Scrimming other NA LCS teams! Maybe a winning lineup would emerge, but instead Echo Fox perform trial and error on stage where losing matters. In a league where teams miss playoffs by one or two losses, throwing away series like they did in Week 6 is going to cost Echo Fox a shot at playoffs.

TSM and CLG will not show any mercy to this team in Week 7, no matter who logs in for Echo Fox.

If the injury of being worst in the league wasn’t severe enough, TSM added insult to Team Liquid’s horrid Summer Split, erasing a 6k gold lead and completing a sweep during a Game 2 they almost assuredly trolled for 25 minutes. Sven on Sejuani jungle? A cheesy Level 1 invade after completely reading the Liquid draft? Come on.

You can draw a straight line from that embarrassment to Liquid’s opening game of the season against CLG, where Liquid were handed a handful of pre-5 minute kills and couldn’t snowball. Liquid simply do not know how to win, putting resources into Piglet only to watch him get consistently caught out and killed at the start of team fights again and again. The talent difference is just too steep, and no amount of subbing is going to change this.

Liquid face Team EnVyUs and Phoenix 1 in Week 7, and I’d be genuinely surprised if they take a game off either of them, or anyone else from here on out.