After weeks of regional competition, South Korea’s League of Legends Champions Korea, China’s League of Legends Pro League, Europe’s League of Legends European Championship and North America’s League Championship Series have kicked off their respective regular seasons. Even with weekly matches in full swing, however, Upcomer’s power rankings will look a lot different this week.
Since both the LCK and LPL are on break until Feb. 9 and Feb. 10 respectively, only LCS and LEC matches happened over the past week. That makes now the only chance we’ll have to sneak multiple NA teams in the top 10 without getting flamed, so of course, we aren’t letting it go to waste. With our usual power rankings still on hold, say hello to Upcomer’s first-ever “Pity Rankings.”
10. Dignitas QNTMPAY, LCS
Record: 2-0 | Results this week: 2-0
DIG fans no longer have a reason to feel blue about their team in the LCS… All jokes aside, Dignitas have come out to start the season, and the Lock In tournament, with a bang. Both of their import players, Kim “River” Dong-woo and Ersin “Blue” Gören, have played well and they’ve seemingly bypassed the awkward “getting to know each other” phase that new teams sometimes have at the start of the season.
With an impressive win over TSM, and a match against Evil Geniuses in Week 2, DIG have a chance to boost themselves into top team conversations. All their competition can do is pray they don’t, or figure out where Jarvan IV is in champion select and ban him.
— Declan McLaughlin
One thumb up for every #DIGWIN pic.twitter.com/ah2rI4IbTE
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) February 6, 2022
9. MAD Lions, LEC
Record: 5-4 | Results this week: 1-1
The young and messy pride of lions claw their way up into ninth place in our rankings this week and some might say they’re still chilling. After all, lions spend most of the day lazily sleeping. It’s those wee hours when they’re awake that you should fear them.
The Lions are doing what they typically do best at this point in the season: being themselves. Inconsistent, messy and very brawly to deliver fans some of the best heart attacks known in LoL esports. Doctors hate them, truly. MAD have had two rookies come in while still slowly ramping up towards playoffs, and they still managed to pull off some very interesting victories.
Jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades Batalla in particular has proven to be the alpha lion with his playmaking, while rookie bot laner William “UNF0RGIVEN” Nieminen has adapted brilliantly to life in the big leagues thus far. Once the weeks continue rolling in, fans will probably start seeing the magic of the MAD Lions and their ridiculous comebacks from gargantuan deficits…but hunting big game is not on the menu just yet. For now, they nap. Typical cats.
— E.G. Kant
8. G2 Esports, LEC
Record: 6-3 | Results this week: 1-1
G2 Esports are back! Sort of.
Anyways, losing to the absolute “OP no nerf gg” powerhouse that is Rogue right now last week should not be that huge of a stain on their performances thus far. Under the leadership of their “old man” jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, who often speaks like he’s 99 years old, this new G2 roster is slowly coming together. Replacing three members of their team has not steered them into calm waters yet, but while it’s not smooth sailing, the G2 ship can still journey further.
Their bot lane duo of Victor “Flakked” Lirola and Raphaël “Targamas” Crabbé have come under some scrutiny despite Targamas linking up well with Jankos so far. Maybe they’re considered ‘underrated’ for now, but we’ll see in time. After all, with Flakked’s pet duck Tetoncito, G2 can say “duck the haters and duck you too!” Or maybe “quack quack motherduckers” is more up their alley…
— Kant
300th win for @G2Jankos 👑 pic.twitter.com/WEn9K2uZKn
— LEC (@LEC) February 4, 2022
7. Evil Geniuses, LCS
Record: 1-1 | Results this week: 1-1
The Lock In finalists went 1-1 in their first week, as Cloud9 threw the ultimate curveball their way and matched EG’s mechanically gifted and touted mid laner against Soraka… While the team is still reeling from getting bananas thrown in their face, this roster has three of the best domestic talents in the league and has stolen one of Europe’s own young talents to create a hyperactive squad with sky-high promise.
They still need to learn how to deal with cheese picks, but will be fighting for international play this year to prove that they can beat the teams that are ranked below them (if G2 and MAD can even qualify).
— McLaughlin
6. Cloud9, LCS
Record: 2-0 | Results this week: 2-0
With the amount of offseasons that Cloud9 has “lost” over the years, they’re without a doubt one of the most controversial teams to track in the preseason and one of the most interesting to watch at the start of the split. This year is no different; with 60% of the roster consisting of talented players imported from South Korea and Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami swapping from top to mid lane, Cloud9 were expected to have a very rough start to spring.
Apparently, language barriers, role swaps and limited practice time aren’t big enough obstacles to stop Cloud9. Not only did the team pull off an impressive 2-0 on opening weekend, but they also showcased a new strategic look full of unique champion picks with coach Nick “LS” De Cesare at the helm. Now that Cloud9 have validated their proof of concept coming into the season, we’ll have to see if they can maintain consistency over the coming weeks.
— Nick Ray
5. 100 Thieves, LCS
Record: 2-0 | Results this week: 2-0
Off the back of an upsetting Lock In quarterfinals, where they lost 0-2 to an underrated Dignitas, 100 Thieves came into the LCS regular season with something to prove. They absolutely walloped Team Liquid – who just won the Lock In – in the season opener, and reminded fans of why they won the LCS Championship last summer.
100T definitely still have issues to work through, and they need to get a bit more consistent, but in at least four roles they’re contending for top three best in the LCS. They’re in a spot where they could beat any NA team if they really wanted to, but whether or not they stay at the top is up to each team’s effort in improving.
— Parkes “parqueso” Ousley
4. Fnatic, LEC
Record: 6-3 | Results this week: 1-1
Fnatic logo is cool. I like orange.
Oh wait this isn’t a logo ranking.
To be honest, Fnatic are a top team right now in the most European competition of League of Legends in the world: the LEC.
However, in the past two weeks they’re holding a record of 1-3 and are lacking some consistency. Hopefully, they become a real contender towards playoffs, but right now this is not the case.
To their credit though, they average a gold lead of plus-1208, which is enough to buy six Poké Balls. It’s also the second best in the league behind Rogue. This isn’t surprising looking at the caliber of players they have, but they need to fix some of their mid-game mistakes.
— Brieuc “LEC Wooloo” Seeger
3. Team Vitality, LEC
Record: | Results this week:
Let’s talk about the super team! Oh but wait, they’re not at the top of the west (yet).
If we want to speak clearly, Vitality is a great team. If we look at each position, probably one of the best rosters in the west. Also, they seem to have found their way to play as a team. After a somewhat bumpy superweek, Vitality has a 5-1 record in the last six games, making it clear that they’re here to dominate the Summoner’s Rift.
Ah, why aren’t they higher? Well, there are simply two better teams, one of which defeated Vitality earlier this split and is still undefeated in the competition. But other than these two teams, Vitality is the best without a doubt.
— Alejandro Gomis
2. Team Liquid, LCS
Record: 1-1 | Results this week: 1-1
Liquid may not be at the top of the LCS standings thanks to some punishment from 100 Thieves, but they’re still Lock In champions and only starting four of their intended five LCS players. Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau has been perhaps the single most entertaining player to watch this year, and the rest of the roster has proven to be formidable in their role – even Bill “Eyla” Nguyen, who is subbing in from Academy.
The two biggest things that make this team scary are Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg’s quick return to form and the fact that the best player in the entire league is sitting on the sidelines, presumably waiting to join later this split. We’ve already seen them win a tournament this year, and once Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in returns, they should easily contend for the spring trophy.
— Ousley
The #LCS Lock In champs bounce back in their second game of the split! #TLWIN pic.twitter.com/0oaKXS1vzM
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) February 7, 2022
1. Rogue, LEC
Record: 9-0 | Results this week: 2-0
How can five rogues be better than one hundred thieves? That doesn’t make sense. UNLESS you give them some Damwon blood and a Jinx hitting every Super Mega Death Rocket.
Rogue aren’t just better than 100T, in fact they’re better than anyone in the West right now. They have beaten every single LEC team now, with a 9-0 record through the first round-robin. Their five players are doing incredibly well individually and they’re all on the same page.
Can any LCS team claim to be as consistent as Rogue when they’ve all dropped games this year? Maybe, but we all know that EU>NA anyways ever since LCS finals aren’t even in NA LUL.
— Seeger
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