LCS Summer 2020 Week 8 Power Rankings: It Comes Down to This

LCS Summer 2020 Week 8 is in the books, here is where the teams sit in our LCS power rankings.

8. CLG (5-11)

Elo: 300 (-9)

Remaining schedule: FlyQuest, Cloud9
Average elo of remaining opponents: 429

Another 0-2 week that included probably their most winnable game down the stretch against Golden Guardians puts CLG in a terrible spot entering the last week of Summer 2020. Their two opponents are both in a dogfight for a first-round playoff bye and should be licking their chops to take on a CLG team that’s lost six straight games and seven out of their last eight.

The only advantage they have on making the playoffs is the game in hand over Dignitas and Immortals. CLG split the series with both teams so if they tie in record they will have a chance to make the playoffs in a final play-in game. Both teams also have tough schedules, so it’s unlikely that either will win both their games and the most-likely outcome is actually that both teams go 0-2, letting CLG back into the playoffs no matter what.

Playoff chances: 20%

7. 100 Thieves (6-10)

Elo: 328 (+3)

Remaining schedule: Dignitas, Evil Geniuses
Average elo of remaining opponents: 314

100 Thieves took care of business by taking down Immortals on Sunday, guaranteeing themselves a spot in the playoffs (okay, not mathematically, but they would need to lose to Dignitas, have DIG beat Cloud9, have CLG finally win a game, lose to Evil Geniuses, and then lose to Dignitas and CLG in a tiebreaker to not make playoffs). With one of the easier remaining schedules in Week 9, 100 Thieves can start to get a little greedy and try to assure themselves a spot in the upper bracket.

If they can beat Dignitas and/or Golden Guardians take down Evil Geniuses in the first games of the week, it would set the table for a final match-up where a win could put the Thieves into the upper bracket. Even if EG managed to take down Golden Guardians, a 2-0 100 Thieves week would still force another head-to-head with EG in a tiebreaker for the final upper bracket spot. The only way 100 Thieves would be locked into the loser’s bracket is if they lose to DIG and EG beats Golden Guardians, both of which seem unlikely.

Playoff chances: 95%
Upper bracket chances: 50%

6. Evil Geniuses (7-9)

Elo: 355 (-16)

Remaining schedule: Golden Guardians, 100 Thieves
Average elo of remaining opponents: 358

The good news for EG is that their 0-2 week came against the tougher half of their remaining schedule. They have two very winnable games next week against teams right around them in the standings (Golden Guardians right ahead of them, 100 Thieves right behind) and thus an excellent chance to lock themselves into that upper bracket.

The bad news, though, is that EG has now lost three of their last four games and six of their last eight. With only one week remaining, they have to figure out a way to fix the flaws of their team as it becomes more and more apparent that their mid-season roster swap has not paid dividends.

Playoff chances: CLINCHED
Upper bracket chances: 50%