League of Legends – LCS week 1 power rankings
By Josh Tyler
5. TSM (1-1)
It’s very tempting to rate TSM higher in our LCS week 1 power rankings, considering how easily they smashed 100 Thieves in the opening game and how well they looked to be doing against Clutch. If they had taken down Clutch, we could easily be talking about this team as #2 ranked after week one.
However, they failed to close out Clutch despite a great early game, leading to more questions about their shot-calling and late game macro like those they faced last season. The good news, however, is that BrokenBlade is officially a beast after bodying Ssumday and then Huni in his first two games. If TSM can get Bjergsen and Zven rolling, this team could be deadly.
4. FlyQuest (2-0)
Yes, FlyQuest is unbeaten, but they probably got the easiest schedule of any team this weekend. The good news for them, it’s going to be some more smooth sailing next weekend, as they face CLG in their first game. The bad news is that they’ll then face their first real test on Sunday when they face TSM.
FlyQuest has shown a lot of good coordination and teamwork in their first two games. Particularly, Santorin and Pobelter have popped off in both of their games, while the rest of the team has been playing solid. The question is whether those wins and stats were “cheap” performance or if FlyQuest is for real.
3. Cloud9 (1-1)
Hard to drop C9 too low, considering their only loss came against Team Liquid. They then had to face a tough second opponent in 100 Thieves, who they handled easily.
C9 had easily the toughest opening weekend of any team, and coming out of the gate 1-1 is probably their best-case scenario. Most importantly, Nisqy seems to be taking over the role Jensen vacated with ease, while Sneaky and Licorice continue their performance from last year’s World Championships. Next weekend they face Golden Guardians and CLG, so C9 fans shouldn’t even begin to panic unless they drop one of those games.
2. Clutch Gaming (2-0)
Clutch looks legit. They beat two impressive opponents in Echo Fox and TSM, both of whom won their other game on the weekend. They’ve gotten outstanding play from their stars like Huni, as well as spectacular play from guys like Damonte and Vulcan.
However, and this is a big however, they struggled in the early game against TSM and they had difficulty closing out Echo Fox. It’s early in the season and that’s a limited sample size, sure, but we can’t put them number one with those issues.
1. Team Liquid (2-0)
The juggernaut is as advertised. Liquid rolled through their first two opponents, taking down C9 and CLG without much issue. Yes, CLG is the weakest team in the LCS, but Liquid had absolutely no problems handling them.
Every part of that team looks to be firing at peak condition already like they’ve played together for years. Jensen and Doublelift are both going to be able to carry, CoreJJ and Xmithie will set up plays, and Impact will body fools with great tank play. They’re the best team and no one has done anything to make me question that belief.
Who do you think was rated too high or too low in our LCS week 1 power rankings? Let us know in the comments!