LCS Spring Split 2020: Week 5 Team Power Rankings

5. Immortals (5-5)

Elo: 362 (-13)

The stats have consistently said that Immortals is a team on the brink of collapse. They have the worst early game rating from Oracle’s Elixir of any team not named CLG, posting a -1004 gold difference at 15 minutes. They’re also second-to-last in gold per minute and gold difference per minute. If it wasn’t for their stellar late game (second-best according to Oracle’s Elixir) this team would be dead in the water.

The elo ranking agrees with this assessment, rating Immortals closer to the 4-6 pack than to the other 5-5 team. At this point, it’s really more a question of when Immortals hits bottom than when. Still, that I ranked second-worst entering the year and predicted to win three games, splitting their first ten should be seen as a massive win.

1st half grade: B+

4. Dignitas (5-5)

Elo: 403 (-11)

I was not sold on Dignitas coming into the season, predicting they’d only win five games and finish outside the playoffs. Right now, they’re firmly at the top of that famous “soup” with an even record after ten games, but this team still has a lot of massive flaws.

In particular, their gold percent rating (a measure of what percent of available gold in a game they acquire versus their opposition) is ahead of only two teams: CLG and Immortals. Those two teams, along with 100 Thieves, are also the only ones with a worse early game rating from Oracle’s Elixir.

Now, their mid and late game rating is spectacular, which isn’t surprising given their veteran presence. Individually, there have been a few very strong players including Froggen‘s continued reign on the mid lane and the emergence of a strong bot lane in Johnsun and Aphromoo. Dignitas is definitely positioned better than they should be for a playoff run.

1st half grade: B+

3. TSM (6-4)

Elo: 425 (+34)

I thought TSM’s fate this split would be largely dependent on how Dardoch gelled with the team. So far, the answer seems to be quite well. I never thought that the biggest issue for the team would be Bjergsen.

This last weekend was refreshing for TSM fans, who saw their long-time star re-emerge to dominate and lead their team to a 2-0 Week 5. With Bjerg back to form, TSM’s roster is absolutely loaded with talent, which is great considering the team has been one of the best statistically despite their falterings.

Now, there are two big issues that TSM still needs to address: their drafts and their mid game. These two issues are related, as TSM tends to draft early game dominant teams that require snowballing and have narrow win conditions in a lot of losses. However, there have been several games where their drafts do have windows in the mid and late game but the team is fumbling in the execution.

Overall, TSM is still right around where we thought they would be at the beginning of the split, at the top of the standings. Their predicted 12-6 record is quite attainable.

1st half grade: B

2. FlyQuest (7-3)

Elo: 470 (+7)

I was bullish on FlyQuest coming into this season, predicting they’d end up going 9-9 on the season, but they have surpassed even my wildest expectations. At 7-3, they sit at the top of the pack in the LCS, firmly in that second-place spot and very much controlling their destiny to make playoffs, something a lot of pundits didn’t believe would happen.

A big reason for FlyQuest’s success this year is that the team knows what their strength is and plays to it. They don’t try to force players onto picks they’re not comfortable with, instead building their comp around their players’ pocket picks like V1per‘s Riven, PowerofEvil‘s Syndra, and Santorin‘s Rek’Sai.

The other huge reason for FlyQuest’s strong play is their mid and late game macro. According to Oracle’s Elixir, they are the best team in the LCS when it comes to late game shot-calling. With an early game that’s weak, but not terribly so, FlyQuest has emerged as a true contender in the LCS.

1st half grade: A-

1. Cloud9 (10-0)

Elo: 575 (-26)

There’s nothing more that can be said about Cloud9 except mea culpa, I was dead wrong about this team coming into the Spring Split. I didn’t think Blaber was going to be this good this quickly as a full-time starter.

I didn’t think Vulcan and Zven would suddenly become an unstoppable bot lane the likes of which we had never seen. I didn’t think Nisqy and Licorice could actually elevate their performances from last year to dominate the league.

To be fair, I said that I thought C9 had the potential to challenge for the top of the LCS, but there were too many “ifs” for my liking entering the season. There are no more “ifs” about this team, just questions of how far they can go together. I predicted them to go 10-8. Considering they’ve already matched that win total, it’s fair to say they exceeded expectations.

1st half grade: A+