League of Legends: LEC Week 8 power rankings
5. Team Vitality (7 – 7)
Where were this Vitality team in the first half of the Summer Split? From 0-4 to 7-7, an excellent turnaround has Vitality all but locked in for playoffs with four games to go. A once explosive line-up were completely tamed earlier in the regular season, but now they’re back again with the likes of Lucas “Cabochard” Simon-Meslet and Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro firing on all cylinders.
With wins against G2 Esports and Excel Esports, Vitality were the winning streak killers in Week 7, denying their opponents their undefeated runs and securing their second 2-0 week of the split. In the final four games, Vitality face SK, Fnatic, Misfits, and Schalke, so the sky is the limit for this roster who will be hoping to snatch fourth place from right under Schalke’s noses.
4. Schalke 04 (8 – 6)
G2 Esports are going to Worlds, that goes without saying. Fnatic and Splyce will battle it out for Europe’s second seed, obviously. But just behind them lies a sneaky predator, waiting for a single mistake before pouncing and claiming a World spot of their own.
Schalke 04 are the experts of beating 5th-10th place teams, with only two losses against the teams below them in the summer so far. Schalke 04 are incapable of taking down 1st-3rd place teams, as they hold an 0-5 record against G2, Fnatic, and Splyce in the Summer Split.
While this is a fine set-up for regular season matches, it does not bode well for LEC playoffs or the regional qualifier gauntlet in September. Reaching playoffs isn’t considered success, lifting trophies and competing at Worlds is, and despite Schalke having a clean approach to League of Legends with incredible teamfighting across the board, they’re never going to be successful if they can’t defeat the teams above them.
3. Splyce (10 – 4)
You could probably place Fnatic and Splyce level in these power rankings, Splyce only miss out by virtue of their Week 7 defeat coming at the hands of Excel Esports, rather than G2.
It would come as no surprise if the Splyce players and staff are suffering from the occasional nose bleed at the moment, as the organisation has never stayed so high in the table for so long. In fact, until this split, Splyce had never secured a spot in playoffs with two weeks to go.
Only one goal remains for the joint 2nd place team for the remainder of the regular season, outdo Fnatic and book a ticket to the LEC finals in Athens. It may all boil down to the crucial grudge match between the two sides on W9D1, a game bound to excite every LEC viewer.
2. Fnatic (10 – 4)
The Fight for 2nd Part II: Electric Boogaloo.
Fnatic’s rocky Summer Split needs some stability in the final two weeks if they want to beat Splyce to the 2nd place spot going into playoffs. Randomly losing games to bottom half teams has been Fnatic’s downfall throughout the regular season, with losses to Rogue and Misfits Gaming plaguing the seven-time EU LCS champions’ title challenge against G2 Esports.
All in all, winning three of their last four should be no problem for Fnatic, and it could all come down to their clash against Splyce in Week 9 to decide who gets an instant invite to the Athens finals.
1. G2 Esports (12 – 2)
Provided there’s no more Garen drafts, G2 should comprehensively lock in 1st place with a 16-2 record at the end of the regular season. Their convincing win over Fnatic once again proved that G2 are the best team in the LEC and will undoubtedly be one of the favourites to lift the trophy at both the LEC playoffs and the 2019 World Championship.
LEC Week 8 Player Power Rankings. dark. Next
Do you agree with these rankings? Who do you think will finish in the top six? Let us know in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter!