LCS Summer 2020 Week 9 Power Rankings: On To the Playoffs

LCS Summer 2020 Week 9 is in the books, here is where the teams sit in our LCS power rankings ahead of the playoffs.

5. Golden Guardians (9-9)

Elo: 366

First-round match: TSM

Golden Guardians were one of the hottest teams in the LCS coming into Week 9. They’d gone 5-1 in the previous four weeks and were looking like a team that was going to be a tough out in the playoffs. They did manage to secure the upper-bracket spot this week, but it was due to rough losses to Evil Geniuses and their coming opponent, TSM.

While Golden Guardians had some strong moments in that match, including having a 4,000 gold lead at 20 minutes, they were ultimately overpowered by TSM’s raw talent and macro ability. They lost the season series against TSM 0-2 this split, so it’s going to be a rough match-up for this underdog team.

4. FlyQuest (12-6)

Elo: 426

First-round match: Evil Geniuses

They’re ahead of TSM by virtue of the tiebreaker (they won the season series against TSM 2-0) but the elo ratings say that FlyQuest is the weaker of the two teams. They “backed into” the top spot in the first round of the playoffs by beating the two teams who missed the playoffs, CLG and Immortals to cap off their 7-1 run to close out the Summer Split.

That run included some high-quality wins over TSM and Team Liquid, as well as a win over their future opponents Evil Geniuses. FlyQuest swept the season series over EG, so they should be the heavy favorites to win the series. From there, unfortunately, they’ll likely face Team Liquid.

On the plus side, they’re one of only three teams that have beaten TL this split, so they’re in the best position of anyone for an upset. FlyQuest could be a fantastic candidate to play spoiler, despite their low elo rating.