League of Legends LCS power rankings: Week 5 standings
By Josh Tyler
5. Echo Fox (4-6)
Surprising that they would be at the top of the pack of teams tied at 4-6 after an 0-2 weekend, but lucky for them losing to Liquid really doesn’t drop your ranking by our metrics that much. Yes, beating Golden Guardians would have been a boon and separated them from the pack, but Echo Fox still has a lot of issues to resolve. This is a team with a lot of talent that has yet to show it.
4. FlyQuest (5-5)
When I ranked TSM ahead of FlyQuest last week there was a lot of questioning, but the numbers don’t lie. FlyQuest dropped an expected game to C9 and then lost on Sunday to TSM, firmly knocking them out of the conversation for the elite tier and putting their record in line with their ranking here.
Make no mistake, FlyQuest is a good team. Jungler Santorin and mid laner Pobelter are both ranked in the top three at their respective positions. If they can clean up some of their underperforming players, particularly ADC Wildturtle and top laner V1per, they could be dangerous.
3. TSM (6-4)
Another 2-0 weekend for TSM, including winning El Clasico and a revenge win over FlyQuest, puts them squarely above most of the pack. The hard work isn’t over yet, and they have a tough weekend coming up against Echo Fox and Cloud9, but TSM has given themselves enough breathing room, for now, to be separated from most of the rest.
2. Cloud9 (8-2)
In an interview, C9 support Zeyzal said that he thinks his team could be poised to overtake Liquid for the best team in NA. According to the numbers, he may not be wrong.
However, C9 still has to continue to take care of business and not drop easy games like they did earlier in the year against CLG. That loss will continue to haunt them (they would be ranked higher than Liquid if they had won that game, despite losing the head-to-head) so they need to make sure to take care of business this weekend.
1. Team Liquid (9-1)
Color me not shocked at all that Liquid didn’t go into a massive tailspin following their upset defeat at the hands of TSM last weekend. Instead, they went back to fundamentals and took those “gimme” wins over Echo Fox and 100 Thieves.
One thing I do want to highlight, though, is that Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen’s performance has been slipping of late. Previously, he was undisputedly the best or second-best mid in the LCS with C9’s Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer. Now, however, he’s squarely in the middle of the pack, behind Nisqy, Bjergsen, Pobelter, and Froggen, just ahead of PowerofEvil. TL’s big-time offseason acquisition needs to find his game again to keep Liquid at the top and give them a shot at international success.
Disagree with our LCS power rankings after Week 5? Let us know who you’re rooting for in the comments below!