LCS Summer 2020: Rating and Ranking Every Starting LCS Player

We continue our LCS player power ratings and rankings ahead of Summer 2020!

5. Bae “Bang” Jun-sik (Evil Geniuses, ADC) – 86 OVR (+5)

If it wasn’t for Zven’s incredible performance last split, we would all be raving at Bang’s performance that helped carry Evil Geniuses deep into the playoffs. He actually out-damaged Zven (682 to 601) and given how little help Bang had (he did 36.4% of his team’s damage compared to Zven’s 29.7%) he did a jaw-dropping 729.5 aDPM. That is 100 more adjusted DPM than the next-highest player in the LCS, which was PowerofEvil at 626.5 (Zven was third at 602.5).

Bang carried the load for Evil Geniuses in terms of damage despite the fact that he wasn’t even fed resources that heavily in the late game. Although he had the highest early-game jungle proximity, he had the second-lowest percentage of his team’s CS after 15 minutes and overall gold shares for his role. As much as Jiizuke (deservedly) gets credit for popping off to carry EG, without Bang this team wouldn’t have a chance.

4. Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen (Cloud9, ADC) – 86 OVR (+5)

Speaking of Zven, here’s another guy I massively underrated coming into Cloud9 who absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. It’s not just that he was top-three in adjusted DPM, number one in gold per minute (and adjusted GPM), number one in adjusted KDA, and in deaths per game for all LCS players. Zven was a part of maybe the most dominant laning duo we have ever seen alongside Vulcan, averaging over 1000 gold and 15 CS advantages while also getting below-average jungle proximity.

I’ll be honest, I was concerned that Zven’s time in North America might have sapped the last bit of drive and good League of Legends play out of him before the spring. Now, it’s very fair to say he’s one of the elite ADCs not just in North America but perhaps internationally. The Talent Suppression Machine has freed another victim from its clutches.

3. Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng (TSM, ADC) – 87 OVR (-4)

You might think I’m mad, rating Doublelift ahead of Zven after the splits each of the two had. But you must realize that going into the spring these two’s rating (based on their career performances) were separated by 10 points. Now they are separated by a measly one. After one split.

Even though Zven has the history of strong international play, his last two years with TSM were unquestionably stinkers. Before joining C9, there were legitimate questions if he was a top-three ADC against the likes of Doublelift, Bang, Kobbe, and maybe even Cody Sun. On the other hand, I don’t think we have ever seen Doublelift play as poorly a split as he did last split.

And, let’s not mince words, Doublelift was awful in the early part of the split, only saved from being absolute crap by picking up his play after the benching. I can’t completely kill him based on one bad split, but certainly, the title of the best player in the LCS that he’s worn consistently for the last two years is up for grabs now. We’ll have to see if Doublelift can reclaim it in Summer 2020.

2. Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in (Team Liquid, Support) – 87 OVR (-2)

Similar to Doublelift, CoreJJ’s mediocre play in the Spring Split won’t hurt him too much given his resume. That said, if I was to choose the member of this broken-up duo that is more likely to rebound in Summer 2020, I’d go with Core over Doublelift.

CoreJJ was, in my opinion, Liquid’s second-best player behind Jensen. While he wasn’t near the form that could have won him MVP in 2019 Summer, he was still incredibly reliable in terms of laning (he averaged gold and XP advantages despite playing with Doublelift), had the highest kill participation of any support, and had the fewest unforced deaths. CoreJJ is still an incredibly solid player and I trust he can mold Tactical into a strong duo.

1. Eric “Licorice” Ritchie (Cloud9, Top) – 87 OVR (+4)

In my opinion, this is the player on C9 who doesn’t get nearly the love he deserves and has supplanted Impact for the clear best weakside top laner in the LCS. Despite getting the third-lowest jungle proximity among top laners, Licorice still managed to be the best laner of the bunch, leading the way in gold, CS, and experience differences at 15.

He outdamaged every other top laner and had higher gold per minute despite having a below-average gold share. Yes, those are products of him playing with Cloud9 (the team did more damage and got more gold overall so Licorice benefitted), but here is the kicker. Licorice had the most solo kills (11) in the league (tied with Jiizuke) while also having the second-fewest unforced deaths (18) for his role.

Licorice has an incredibly diverse champion pool, he’s great in weakside situations, and he doesn’t die. There’s not more that you can ask for from a top laner and that’s why he is the highest-rated player on this list.