LCS Power Rankings Spring 2020

With the League of Legends 2020 season just around the corner, it's time to start making predictions that will come back to haunt journalists and analysts alike. These are my personal Power Rankings based off of my deductions of each roster and I’ll stick by it until Summer Split comes around for the LCS.

1. Team Liquid 

Cameron:1 

Even though they might have a rough start (Visa problems with Broxah) This team has proven over the last 4 splits that they are simply the best current roster North America has produced up to this point, at home. Their goal shouldn’t even be to win Spring or Summer, just to win Worlds.

Miika: 1

Was definitely the best LCS team last year and in my eyes is now even stronger than last year. Broxah is replacing Xmithie and even if Xmithie is a very smart and experienced jungler, Broxah is a small upgrade. Broxah had difficulty last year since he was affected the most of Fnatics internal issues. New environment is just what Danish jungler needed and early game aggression is just what TL needed. So this should be a perfect fit. There is a possibility that visa issues will keep Broxah from playing in the first weeks, but even so TL will be number one at the end of the season.

2. Team SoloMid

Cameron: 3

One roster swap that looks extra interesting is TSM’s. They could easily be 3irst or worst depending on whether Dardoch finally breaks the chains. Kobbe and Biofrost in the Bot Lane could mesh really well, which could give TSM the edge over the next two teams

Miika: 2

Abysmal year 2019 is something nobody in, or around, TSM wants to remember. Team played with three different junglers during the summer season and managed to ruin them. While they suffered from synergy-issues with different junglers their bot lane was getting smacked game after game. Now they have replaced both jungler and bot-lane duo. Dardoch has a possibly longer list of previous teams than any other LCS-player, but TSM is something that was still missing from his record. Bot lane duo consist of TSM-legend Biofrost, who makes a comeback after 3 years in CLG, and european prodigy Kobbe, who previously played for Splyce. Overall upgrades for every position and we can only hope that organisation has got their stuff together during winter and we see TSM at the top again.

3. 100T

Cameron: 2

I think that the hardest choice is the top 2 and 3 spots, with so many roster changes over the last couple of months it is difficult to distinguish which teams are going to step up to the plate. A revitalized 2017 squad with a new Head Coach and Mid Laner could really do some damage here. They may not make it to the top half of the table but next to TL they have the best odds of doing so.

Miika: 4

After top-3 there is a bit of a cap and after that there are few teams very close to each other. All of them have some weaknesses which can be exploited and it’s hard to place them in the right order. After catastrophic 2019 this team has seen some major changes during winter and Ssumday is only returning players. Veteran caster and analyst PapaSmithy was hired to do this re-build and first he did complete overhaul for coaching staff. Pr0lly had to go and Zikz from TSM was hired as the new Head Coach. New roster is built with a combination of experience and talent. Meteos returns to 100T and after him Cody Sun + Stunt arrived. Pretty basic stuff so far. But basic stuff ends here, since PapaSmithy completed roster with ry0ma who has previously played in Oceanic-league. I think that is a very risky move and we can only wait and see how that works out. There is a possibility that ry0ma is a player that opponents can use to beat 100T and that’s why their 4th place is not yet secured.

4. Cloud9

Cameron: 6

At the end of the day, Cloud 9 needed to make changes. Although, less changes would have probably sufficed. Licorice and Nisqy are the new Team Leaders in theory and while we know Blaber is capable of a high ceiling, his floor is pretty low. I don’t see a world where Zven is better than Sneaky, but hey, Vulcan was a quality sign if you ignore his price.

Miika: 3

Cloud9 has been making a name as the only team bringing in new talent to LCS. This time they bring in veteran players instead of new talent from their academy. In Worlds they made clear that Blaber is their starting jungler and Svenskeren took the hint and went to Evil Geniuses. Evil Geniuses is a new home for Zeyzal, Kumo and Deftly too. While the door was open, they sent legendary franchise-player Sneaky out too. They took two veterans to fill the caps, so in bot lane they have Vulcan, who had a great year with Dignitas and Zven who had a very bad year with TSM. Biggest question mark in this roster is Zven who had a hard time in TSM and he will need to get back to his old form to help Cloud9 in their fight against TL and TSM.

5. Counter Logic Gaming 

Cameron: 5

Although I have my reservations about how good Wiggily is, the pieces surrounding him are capable of reclaiming CLG’s former glory and as long as he knows how to make use of his set pieces, CLG could easily challenge for the title, if not fall just short of it.

Miika: 5

 Almost one year ago I was amazed when CLG switched their franchise-player Darshan to Ruin, who had previously played mostly in lower leagues. That move proved to be brilliant. This time they made two changes during winter and there is possibility that they stepped one more step towards title-fight. For me PowerOfEvil was a disappointment last year and now he is replaced by Crown. Also they changed supports with TSM, so Biofrost is out and Smoothie is in. If these changes are as good as their changes last year, they have a chance to challenge 100T and even Cloud9 and TSM. Even if these changes are not upgrades, they have good standing in the middle of the pack. 

6. Evil Geniuses

Cameron: 4

Sure they came into the preseason with some spicy memes but overall they just bought Cloud9’s B team and Bang. Of course, 2019’s MVP Svenskeren is their best acquisition and could lead this team to greater heights, granted the team is able to keep up.

Miika: 6

Their roster is looking pretty solid. They started their building by acquiring Svenskeren, Zeyzal and Kumo from Cloud9. Zeyzal got a new partner from 100T in the form of legendary Bang. Last piece to the puzzle is Jiizuke, who played for Team Vitality last year. Svenskeren and Zeyzal are solid players, but there is some doubt around the other three. Bang had hard times last year and it seemed that he had difficulties adapting for NA playstyle and culture. New environment can do wonders and I still have high hopes for this World Champion. Kumo had his debut in LCS last year and now he is the first time the starting top-laner, so there is big pressure around him. Also Jiizuke has never played in major league outside Team Vitality, which was pretty much built around him last year. So we will see how the Italian Stallion will adapt to NA. Definitely playoffs-contender and if everything starts working out, they can compete with “big three”.

7.  Flyquest

Cameron: 8

This is a boom or bust team. They could replace anybody above them if they find their groove but history says that just won't be the case. POE and Ignar coming into the team is a huge boost to their overall stock but POE has looked subpar recently and WildTurtle hasn’t been considered a top 3 ADC in years.

Miika: 7

Outside those 6 teams I think FlyQuest is the most solid contender for playoffs. Last year they had a solid spring split, but things went wrong in summer. Now Wadid is replaced by IgNar, which is definitely an upgrade. Also they changed their mid-lane, casting out the last NA mid-laner. Replacing Pobelter they got PowerOfEvil. It might be a small upgrade, but in my opinion not big enough to fill the last import-slot. This is a pretty interesting roster, since now V1per is no longer rookie and WildTurtle has support he deserves. I don’t like either of the teams imports, but PowerOfEvil is solid enough to not lose his lane. My biggest concern is Santorin who (in my opinion) is not LCS-caliber jungler and definitely not someone who you should use your imports slot. When you realize that Akaadian is outside LCS and Santorin is in, it blows your mind.

8.Immortals 

Cameron: 7

I hate to say it again but the bottom half is always a double edged sword. There is some safety in knowing players’ history but when they are in a new team and a new environment all around, Immortals have to take the next spot in the power rankings. sOAZ and Xmithie have been phenomenal players in the past and the 2v2 potential the duo carry is something to be feared. Other than that though, Eika and Altec shouldn’t scare anybody, and unless Hakuho has improved his Champion Pool there’s no reason to believe he’s a threat either.

Miika: 9

Immortals is the third new addition to LCS. They bought OpTic Gaming's spot in the league and overhauled the roster. Their substitute bot-laners are the only ones moving to a new team. Joining with Xmithie, Altec and Hakuho they got sOAZ and Eika from EU. Many thought sOAZ’s career ended with last year's catastrophe in Misfits Gaming, but here he is playing in LCS. sOAZ and North American trio are all very experienced players, but maybe have lost position in many eyes in recent years. Joining them is Eika who has played in a few LEC teams with pretty mediocre results. Last 3 years in regional leagues. To be honest I didn't even consider that he could make a comeback to a major region. This team has potential to compete for playoffs, but I think Eika will be their weak point (even if NA isn’t known for great mid-lane talent) and other teams learn to use it. Probably we will see changes in this team during 2020.

9. Dignitas

Cameron: 10

This one shouldn’t surprise anybody. Another team with the means to cause a ruckus, but realistically the org imploded on itself and I don’t see this roster making it through to the Summer split. Huni is not going to be able to 1v9 every game and the group of misfits behind him aren’t a promising enough bunch to put my faith in. Huni and Thinkcard are their most valuable assets and one of those two don’t play on stage while the other one has seen a drought in talent. Their academy team looks better than their starting roster, so maybe with a full flex of muscle we will see Dignitas break the ranks of the other teams but C9 has been the only successful team to utilize a full 10 man roster.

Miika: 8

Dignitas is definitely the biggest loser of the off-season. It secured Huni for the next three years, but roster have some major downgrades in other roles. Cody Sun left for 100T, Vulcan was sold to Cloud9 and Damonte is dropped to academy roster. Only upgrade would have been for jungler, but they sent the upgrade to join Damonte in the academy. In my eyes Akaadian should be the starting jungler and Grig in academy, not other way around. Filling other roles Dignitas managed to get leftovers in the form of Froggen, Johnsun and aphromoo. Johnsun is rookie and both Froggen and aphromoo had pretty rough last year and form was far away from their prime years. After i placed Dignitas to this ranking, they announced their academy roster which includes only seasoned LCS-players. So if the main roster isn’t working, they have absolutely the best academy roster in the league to get replacements. I really hope to see Akaadian and Damonte back in LCS before summer. 

10. Golden Guardians 

Cameron: 9

I want to see this team do well, everyone wants to see this team do well, they deserve to do well as a group. Whether or not they can perform is on them at the end of the day and with the likes of Keith and Goldenglue on their side, history isn’t. Hauntzer needs to get out, one way or another, they all need to get out as soon as they can if they want to save their name in professional League of Legends

Miika: 10

The roster that became meme. If you follow LoL esports, I'm sure Golden Guardians' new roster has popped to your eyes in a less than flattering way. First of all, I am very happy that Goldenglue finally got the starting spot in LCS after fighting for that for so long. I just hoped it would have been in a team that has even some potential to fight for playoffs. GG is pretty much the only team I think is not competing for playoffs. Hauntzer and Keith are veterans and Huhi is trying to make a comeback in support position, but both Closer and FBI are not ready for LCS. Jumping from Turkish or Oceanic league to LCS is too big and I would have hoped to see them playing for the academy team this split. I hope GG doesn’t ruin these two talented rookies by placing them on a big stage too early. 

The great part about preseason Power Rankings is that they are done without any real proof one way or the other. I hope to see teams break my expectations and prove themselves to the world over the next few months. With the recent format changes we are in for an exciting year of League and I can’t think of a better time for these new orgs and rosters to show their teeth and get right to it.