League of Legends: LEC Week 8 power rankings
With only two weeks left in the LEC Summer Split, which teams look set to claim a place amongst the top six League of Legends teams in Europe and head to playoffs?
Only G2 Esports, Splyce, and Fnatic have confirmed their place in the LEC playoffs with four games left to play in the Summer Split regular season. As for the remaining three qualification playoffs, they’re still to play for, as Schalke, Vitality, Origen, and Rogue will all be battling it out in the final two weeks of the season to keep their hopes of reaching the 2019 World Championship alive.
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Week 7 was an exciting week of League of Legends, mostly overshadowed by PapaSmithy’s debut on the LEC broadcast, as well as a questionable top lane pick from G2’s Wunder. Nonetheless, last weekend’s results have set us up nicely for an interesting climax to the LEC regular season. So, all that’s left to answer is: Who is most likely to clinch playoffs, and who will miss out?
10. Misfits Gaming (4 – 10)
The new roster bounce has fizzled out for Misfits Gaming. Substituting in an entire new roster looked like the perfect solution to the team’s problems as they doubled the org’s Summer Split win tally after just two weeks on the LEC stage. However this new wave of optimism was short-lived following Week 7 defeats to Origen and SK Gaming, returning Misfits back to the foot of the table alongside SK and Excel Esports.
With fixtures against Schalke 04, G2 Esports, and Splyce on the horizon, the hopes of clinching a playoff spot are virtually dead for Misfits Gaming. Instead, it’s time for a rebuild for the historic European organisation, as they’ll undoubtedly have one eye on 2020 and what new roster they can create for success next year.
9. SK Gaming (4 – 10)
From the bottom four, SK Gaming probably have the kindest run of games heading into the conclusion of the Summer Split, which would normally mean they have the greatest chance of playing spoiler and securing the sixth place spot. That being said, SK are coming off the back of an eight-game losing streak and only scraped past Misfits Gaming in Week 7 due to some interesting picks from their opponents.
Ultimately, reaching playoffs is extremely unlikely for SK Gaming, and they probably recognise that. Introducing Janik “Jenax” Bartels for his LEC debut last weekend could be a look into the future of this SK Gaming roster in 2020 and beyond, but as for right now it was one final attempt to keep the hopes of playoffs alive.
8. Rogue (5 – 9)
Despite residing just one win below the playoff places, Rogue are in quite a rut right now. One win in their last five games and a horrible schedule in the final two weeks of the split means the top six is probably out of reach for spring’s 10th placed roster.
While there is no question that this team have improved since their abysmal start to life in the LEC, needing other teams to slip up for you to reach playoffs is never an ideal situation. It was always going to be an uphill struggle for Rogue in 2019, but with their current upwards trajectory, who knows, they could make it to Worlds next year at this rate.
7. Excel Esports (4 – 10)
Three wins in their last four, one of the most exciting teams of the last few weeks, just two wins off playoffs, and it still probably won’t be enough for this Excel roster to climb from the bottom of the table to the top six. Despite an incredible turnaround from one of the worst starts to a regular season in European history, the ceiling set by an 0-7 start to the Summer Split was just too much to surmount for Excel Esports.
Games against Fnatic and G2 Esports in the final two weeks make the challenge all the more impossible, as both look to secure their top two spots. Fortunately, opportunities have presented themselves in the form of winnable games against SK Gaming and Origen, so it is still possible! But unlikely.
Nevertheless, the encouraging improvement throughout the second half of the split, particularly from jungler Marc “Caedrel” Lamont will have the British organisation hopeful for a successful 2020.
6. Origen (6 – 10)
I don’t know about you, but I really miss the Spring Split Origen. Such a calculated, methodical roster has become a team without an identity, struggling to beat even the worst the LEC has to offer.
Splyce, Excel, Rogue, and SK Gaming lie in wait, hoping to trip up the Spring Split playoff finalists. One win should be enough to lock down a playoff position, but judging by Origen’s current form, that one win could be hard to come by.