The eighth week of the North American League Championship Series (NA LCS) has come to a close, and with it comes an updated edition of GAMURS’s power rankings.
The points for these power rankings will be calculated based on the rankings submitted by any of the GAMURS staff members. These staff members were asked to rank the 10 teams in order from best to worst, with No. 1 being the best and No. 10 being the worst. Points will be rewarded to mirror a team’s ranking; for example, the first place team will receive 10 points, while the 10th place team will receive one point.
After every week of action, we will be releasing another power rankings article where the teams will either move up or down based on how they perform in their matches, so don’t forget to check back here each week for the latest power rankings.
Now, without ado, here are the power rankings for the ninth week of the NA LCS.
NA LCS Power Rankings – Week 9 (Summer Split 2016)
1. Team SoloMid (70 total points – 7 first place votes): No change
- Top – Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell
- Jungle – Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen
- Mid – Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg
- ADC – Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng
- Support – Vincent “Biofrost” Wang
- Coach – Parth “Parthenaan” Naidu
Alright, so, it happened. TSM finally lost, but they are still the best team in the NA LCS.
No one expected the 14-0 TSM squad to lose to either of their relatively weak opponents last week, but it happened. Phoenix1, the team that did not win a series in the first half of the split, handed TSM its first loss 2-1. Whether the players were too cocky, not prepared enough on the new patch, or any other excuse, TSM lost and bounced back the next day to cleanly beat Team EnVyUs 2-0. Now, their showdown this week with Immortals is truly a fight for first.
2. Immortals (63 total points): No change
- Top – Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon
- Jungle – Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin
- Mid – Eugene “Pobelter” Park
- ADC – Jason “WildTurtle” Tran
- Support – Adrian “Adrian” Ma
- Coach – Dylan Falco
A 2-0 week with TSM dropping a series was not enough for Immortals to move up in our rankings and take the top spot, but the squad has its chance to prove us wrong this week.
Last week was a little too easy for Immortals. Apex Gaming and NRG eSports are two squads that almost anyone in the league can beat, so it came as no surprise when Immortals defeated both of them 2-0. This week, the team finally has a shot at redemption and the crown when it takes on TSM.
3. Cloud9 (53 total points): +2
- Top – Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong
- Jungle – William “Meteos” Hartman
- Mid – Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen
- ADC – Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi
- Support – Andy “Smoothie” Ta
- Coach – Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu
Moving up two spots after beating Phoenix1 and EnVyUs may seem a bit much, and frankly, it might be.
Just two weeks ago, this Cloud9 squad lost to CLG, so why do we have them ranked higher? Well, a few reasons. The main reason, really, is obvious when you look at the point totals in our ranks. The difference between these two squads is one point, one vote. It is safe to say that the staff was a little divided on this one. Regardless, the loss two weeks ago was relatively close, and Cloud9’s performance last week was impressive. This week, the team has good preparation for playoffs as they take on Team Liquid.
4. Counter Logic Gaming (52 total points): No change
- Top – Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaha
- Jungle – Jake “Xmithie” Puchero
- Mid – Choi “Huhi” Jae-hyun
- ADC – Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes
- Support – Zaqueri “aphromoo” Black
- Coach – Tony “Zikzlol” Gray
After beating Liquid, most people would assume CLG would be moving up in our rankings. As explained above, that did not happen.
Is there a good explanation for it? Not really. It was a close one, and both teams look very strong. Cloud9 won the vote, and it is higher in the real standings, but it is certainly safe to say that these teams are practically equal. CLG closes the season out against two relatively weak squads in NRG and Apex, but look for them to show up in the playoffs.
5. Team Liquid (42 total points): -2
- Top – Samson “Lourlo” Jackson
- Jungle – Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett
- Mid – Kim “Fenix” Jae-hoon
- ADC – Jovani “fabbbyyy” Guillen
- Support – Matthew “Matt” Elento
- Coach – Choi “Locodoco” Yoon-sub
Dropping a series 2-1 to CLG really does not deserve this much of a drop in the rankings, but that is simply what happened.
The series was pretty close, but something about Liquid just did not look like a team ready to compete when it matters most. CLG and C9 seem to have that quality, so Liquid was bumped down. There is no denying this team’s talent, but the players need to perform under pressure. All of them. They have the opportunity this week against Cloud9.
6. Pheonix1 (31 total points): +1
- Top – Derek “zig” Shao
- Jungle – Rami “Inori” Charagh
- Mid – Choi “Pirean” Jun-sik
- ADC – Brandon “Mash” Phan
- Support – Austin “Gate” Yu
- Coach – Charlie “Charlie” Lipsie
PhoenixWon. Dyrus is bald.
The team which previously failed to win against some of the worst in the league, Phoenix1 took down the formerly undefeated TSM last week 2-1. The series started as expected, with TSM completely dominating an obviously weaker Phoenix1 side, but the team seemingly rose from the ashes and took the series, ending TSM’s bid for a perfect split. The next day, the squad was swept by Cloud9 and eliminated from playoff contention. It is, by a very slim margin, possible that Phoenix1 avoids the promotion tournament if it defeats both EnVyUs and Immortals this week and Apex loses both of its games, but it is highly unlikely. Still, I would not want to be the squad fighting against Phoenix1 in the promotion tournament.
7. Team EnVyUs (28 total points): -1
- Top – Shin “Seraph” Woo-yeong
- Jungle – Kim “Procxin” Se-young
- Mid – Noh “Ninja” Geon-woo
- ADC – Benjamin “LOD” deMunck
- Support – Nickolas “Hakuho” Surgent
- Coach – Lee “Miracle” Hyeon-beom
Out of the seven series that EnVyUs has won, five were in the first three weeks of the split and five were against teams that will not qualify for the playoffs. This team started hot, but only because most others started cold.
Everyone wanted to believe in the underdogs after they had a few above average performances early on in the split, but it quickly became clear that this EnVyUs squad just does not have what it takes. Still, the team looks likely to qualify for playoffs if it can win at least one series this week against Phoenix1 and Echo Fox. The redemption story is possible, but an exit in the first round is more than likely.
8. NRG eSports (21 total points): No change
- Top – Diego “Quas” Ruiz
- Jungle – Lucas “Santorin” Tao Kilmer Larsen
- Mid – Lee “GBM” Chang-seok
- ADC – Oh “Ohq” Gyu-min
- Support – Alan “KiWiKiD” Nguyen
- Coach – Tadayoshi “Hermit” Littleton
It was another 0-2 week, which was not surprising going against Immortals and Liquid.
Already out of playoff contention, NRG’s only hope to avoid the promotion tournament is to defeat both CLG and TSM and hope Apex loses both of its series. Not likely overall. The promotion tournament is likely where this squad is heading, and do not be surprised if some of these veterans decide to retire or find a new home. This squad had potential, but it just never meshed.
9. Apex Gaming (17 total points): No change
- Top – Jeon “Ray” Ji-won
- Jungle – Lee “Shrimp” Byeong-hoon
- Mid – Jang “Keane” Lae-young
- ADC – Apollo “Apollo” Price
- Support – Alex “Xpecial” Chu
- Coach – Brandon “Saintvicious” DiMarco
Apex pulled out another win over Echo Fox to go 1-1 on the week, but the team stays No. 9 in our rankings.
Apex began the split at No. 9 in our rankings, and the team ends the split in the same spot. Looking relatively not-terrible in Week 1, Apex has looked pretty bad since then. Ray’s apparent dominance as a carry in the top lane faded quickly, and no one else has really stepped up. Apex is no stranger to the promotion tournament, though, as the squad only just qualified for the LCS from the CS this split. This team knows the challenges that lie ahead, and they are ready, probably.
10. Echo Fox (7 total points): No change
- Top – Park “kfo” Jeong-hun
- Jungle – Anthony “Hard” Barkhovtsev
- Mid – Henrik “Froggen” Hansen
- ADC – Yuri “KEITH” Jew
- Support – Terry “BIG” Chuong
- Coach – Simon “heavenTime” Jeon
One win. That is all Echo Fox has. One, single win.
The biggest disappointment of the split for me was this Echo Fox squad. I expected playoff contention, maybe even a semifinal appearance if the team continued improving like it did in the Spring Split. Boy was I wrong.
What do you think about our Power Rankings for this week? Are there any teams that you would rank higher or lower? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting us @GAMURScom.
Spencer Hester is an editor for GAMURS can be contacted by email at Hester.esports@gmail.com or on Twitter – @SpenceGAMURS.
