LoL global and regional power rankings for Mar. 7

Welcome to another week of Upcomer’s global League of Legends power rankings. As the major regions prepare to enter the postseason, the best teams are solidifying their spots in the top of the standings and establishing themselves as playoff contenders.

This week, T1 reigns supreme as they continue their undefeated run in the League of Legends Champions Korea. The League of Legends Pro League still boasts the most representatives, but the list also welcomes not one, but two surprise additions from the League of Legends Championship Series and League of Legends European Championship.

With only a few more rankings to go before playoffs hit, here are the 10 teams that impressed us the most this week.

10. Team Liquid, LCS

Record:  9-2 | Results this week: 2-0 | Movement this week: New

OK, Team Liquid had a little for-fun game this week, but they’re also in no real danger of losing their trip to the playoffs. Winning their experimental game against Immortals Progressive is net positive, even if they did a little bit of trolling in the process.

With Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in firmly back on the starting roster, Liquid should just keep getting better and more untouchable by the rest of the LCS teams. They have a roster full of high-performance veterans who can match the other teams on this list. They’re definitely not at the top yet, but the makings of an incredible team are there. And once CoreJJ has a bit more time with his teammates, Liquid could blossom into something unstoppable.

— Parkes “parqueso” Ousley

9. Fnatic, LEC

Record: 13-5 | Results this week: 2-1 | Movement this week: —

Fnatic had a great superweek. While they did drop a game against Misfits Gaming, that happened because they tried to end too quickly. Obviously this doesn’t excuse their mistakes. However, outside of their early game, they were making good plays and showed better individual performances. Against Excel and Team BDS, they were closed things out with convincing wins.

Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov possibly had an MVP-performance level split. Paired with Elias “Upset” Lipp, who is most likely the best bot laner in the LEC, Fnatic have a very scary duo at their disposal. Yet, at the same time, you can’t discredit all their other players who are showing why they deserve to play for an organization as storied as Fnatic. It also seems the team can play several kinds of champions, with Hyllissang even mastering Renata Glasc pretty quickly.

Overall Fnatic are playing well and have incredible players for Western standards. They will remain at the ninth position for this week.

— Brieuc “LEC Wooloo” Seeger

8. Edward Gaming, LPL

Record: 8-5 (19-11) | Results this week: 1-2 (4-4) | Movement this week: -3

Last week was cause for worry when it came to Edward Gaming’s placement on the global power rankings, as the team has been trending down. Unfortunately, the trend continued with them losing two series they needed to win. One was against Royal Never Give Up, a test to see if EDG still had it against a top-level opponent. The other was against a middle-of-the-pack Anyone’s Legend team — and EDG needed to look clean against them to save face. Of course, EDG lost both 2-1.

In their match against RNG, the combo of Lee “Scout” Ye-chan and Tian “Meiko” Ye could not carry EDG, which still had to field backup top laner, Huang “Xiaoxiang” Xiangin. In Game 3, the pair went a combined 0/13/3, which sealed the team’s series with a loss.

In their match against AL, Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun finally made his return to the starting line-up. But although he played well in Games 2 and 3, Meiko and Scout were at the forefront of the team’s problems once again.

EDG are now just 1-4 in their last five games. With Flandre back in the line-up, there is still time for the team to get back on track — but it’s starting to look bleak.

— Warren Younger

7. DWG KIA, LCK

Record: 9-5 (18-14) | Results this week: 2-0 (4-0)  | Movement this week: +1

DWG KIA had a good Week 7 in the LCK, with wins against Liiv Sandbox and Hanwha Life Esports. The former League of Legends World Champions dominated both series with brilliant performances. Their series against SANDBOX was one of their best in the split so far. In both games played, they only conceded two deaths. At 22 minutes in Game 2, DK had 15 kills, three dragons and a 14,000-gold lead.

Moreover, ADC Seo “deokdam” Dae-gil is gradually becoming one of DK’s strongest points. While DK have been known for their top and mid-jungle duo in the past, their top lane troubles have forced them to switch things up a bit. Deokdam ended the series against SANDBOX deathless with a 15/0/13 (kill/death/assist) ratio. He also helped DK secure Game 1 against HLE after they fumbled in the mid game.

Even though DK ended the week strong, the teams they faced both sit at the bottom of the LCK standings. So, it is hard to rank them any higher given they still struggle against the likes of T1 and Gen.G. With four games remaining in the split, DK need to maintain the momentum and completely fix mid-game mistakes.

— Rashidat Jimoh

6. Gen.G, LCK

Record: 11-3 (22-10) | Results this week: 1-1 (2-3) | Movement this week: -2

Unfortunately, COVID-19 issues continued to plague Gen.G this past week. Mid laner Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon played against T1 alongside Baek “Ophelia” Jin-seong, who subbed for Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk. Chovy later tested positive for COVID and Lim “Quid” Hyeon-seung stepped up for the team’s win against Kwangdong Freecs.

Obviously, we hope Gen.G players recover well, but they still split their series. The team put up a good fight against the undefeated T1 and secured an important win against KDF despite the situation. Top laner Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon particularly stepped up this week, though hopefully the full roster can get game time in together before playoffs.

— Nick Ray

5. Top Esports, LPL

Record: 8-4 (17-15) | Results this week: 2-0 (4-2) | Movement this week: +5

Tenth last week and fifth this week? Indeed. TES are living up to their name and coming for the top places of the LPL. They are on fire right now with a six game win streak.

TES played extremely shaky in the early part of spring, no thanks to rotating players so much. But since Week 4, they’ve appear to have found their core five.

Needless to say, mid laner Zhuo “knight” Ding (or ‘Knight Tyson’ as LPL caster Jake “Hysterics” Osypenko affectionately dubbed him) has had several jaw-dropping performances that continue wow-ing the spectators. Bot laner Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo also stepped up with his carry pants intact, as well —though he has played Jinx nine times in the last ten games. Teams will probably ban it soon. Otherwise… you know.

But we must also give massive credit to top laner Huang “Wayward” Ren-Xing. As a rookie, he has already shown solid performances despite the pressure.

The true test for TES comes on Friday as they take on Weibo Gaming. Will they add another notch to their win streak or will they remain “Near the Top” Esports after?

— E.G. “Megalodontus” Kant

4. Victory Five, LPL

Record: 10-2 (21-10) | Results this week: 1-1 (2-2) | Movement this week: -2

Victory Five had a rough week losing to JDG. However, that doesn’t erase the fact they are one of the best teams in the LPL and the world.

Hung “Karsa” Hao-hsuan and Song “Rookie” Eui-jin remain the best mid lane and jungle duo in the world, with Ying “Photic” Qi-shen excelling in teamfights. Rookie’s champion pool flexibility enables V5 to utilize multiple compositions at a high level. His performances on mage champions remain to be the best in the world, to the point that he makes Orianna feel like an assassin.

Their challenge will be utilizing the resources they have to put themselves in advantageous situations, as they tend to lack the intricacies in macro we saw LPL teams accomplish last season. V5, however, remain the sharpest spear that can break through sturdiest defenses.

— Michael “Miko” Ahn

3. Weibo Gaming, LPL

Record: 10-2 (21-10) | Results this week: 1-1 (2-3) | Movement this week: —

For another week, we place Weibo Gaming as the third best team in the League of Legends world.

This week, Weibo won a 2-1 game against LGD Gaming and lost against RNG 0-2. The team formerly known as Suning played with backup support Luo “ON” Wen-Jun instead of Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh against RNG, which probably contributed to the scoreline.

Despite the resounding defeat against RNG, we think they are still a clear candidate to win it all, and after that stumble playing with their substitute support, they came back to win convincingly with a superb Tang “Huanfeng” Huan-Feng carrying the Chinese team on his back. Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok was a bit missing this week, but jungler Lê “SofM” Duy and the rest of the team played very well.

— Alejandro “anonimotum” Gomis

2. Royal Never Give Up, LPL

Record: 9-3 (19-11) | Results this week: 2-0 (4-1) | Movement this week: +5

Sorry Parkes, I’m in charge of spreading the propaganda of RNG once again — and boy, oh boy, they are second this week! But from seventh to second? Why such a jump? I’m glad you asked.

Before I disseminate pamphlets for the Church of the Tiger Emperor, Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao, RNG have not just defeated WBG and EDG last week — they looked very much revitalized after dropping a surprise series to Rare Atom in Week 6. Xiaohu himself, the lord and savior, went deathless in the two games versus WBG. How about that, huh?

It was another exciting week of stellar performances! Here is our Best of Week 7!

Best Rookie of Week 7:@rare_atom Strive

Best Player of Week 7:@RNG Xiaohu

Best of Week 7:
RNG Bin@JDGaming Kanavi
RNG Xiaohu@TOP_Esports_ JackeyLove
RNG Ming pic.twitter.com/4kBUkrkorG

— LPL (@lplenglish) March 7, 2022

But RNG’s success is not just Xiaohu’s cross to bear. That responsibility belongs to the jungle-support duo of Yan “Wei” Yang-Wei and Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming. I asked Wei to step up last week and he did so in a big way. The team still has inconsistencies and odd moments, but things are starting to come together.

It should be noted that RNG’s schedule is also among the easiest toward playoffs. They’ve played all the top teams already, so spectators will be keeping an eye to see if RNG can pave a golden road to first place in the regular season.

And now, as I promised, a pamphlet for you. Services are on Wednesday.

— Kant

1. T1, LCK

Record: 14-0 (28-5) | Results this week: 2-0 (4-0) | Movement this week: —

With all the top LPL teams recently cannibalizing each other, and with the strength of schedule through the rest of the season, T1 may have a fast track to remain in the first spot on our LoL Global Power Rankings for the rest of the split. Whether or not they will win the 2022 Mid Season Invitational is way too early to tell, but it would be hard to favor many teams against them in a best-of series if they faced off today.

T1 aren’t without faults, but they’re also shoring them up as they collect their wins. Their bot lane duo is nearly unmatched across the globe, and Choi “Zeus” Woo-je has been performing phenomenally in recent games. With Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok in the mid lane, there’s no real place to attack T1 right now.

HOW DID T1 TURN THIS?!?!?! #LCK pic.twitter.com/RPb66MFGgQ

— LCK (@LCK) March 6, 2022

T1 are favored so highly right now in the LCK that if you were to bet on them winning, you’d only make back 8% on top of your bet, so a $100 bet would only net you $8 if they won. The question now is not whether or not they’re the best team around, but rather if they’ll finish the LCK undefeated for the first time in modern League history.

— Ousley

Regional Rankings

LCS

1. Team Liquid (TL)
2. Cloud9 (C9)
3. 100 Thieves (100)
4. Evil Geniuses (EG)
5. FlyQuest (FLY)

LEC

1. Fnatic (FNC)
2. Rogue (RGE)
3. G2 Esports (G2)
4. Misfits (MSF)
5. Team Vitality (VIT)

LCK

1. T1 (T1)
2. Gen.G (GEN)
3. DWG KIA (DK)
4. DRX (DRX)
5. Fredit BRION (BRO)

LPL

1. Royal Never Give Up (RNG)
2. Weibo Gaming (WBG)
3. Victory Five (V5)
4. Top Esports (TES)
5. Edward Gaming (EDG)