LCS 2021: Ranking Every Single Starting LCS Mid Laner
By Josh Tyler
2. Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage (TSM)
Succeeding Bjergsen on TSM is a near-impossible test, and if you asked TSM fans they would have said there is no one out there that could possibly replace their franchise player. However, in signing PowerofEvil, I think TSM actually upgraded in the mid lane role.
PowerofEvil had a 4.54 adjusted KDA, which is the highest among all mid laners entering 2021. And it’s not just on the back of him not dying a lot (though he does only average 1.7 deaths per game, which is among the lowest). Instead, it’s due to his 4.6 kills per game, which trails only Perkz and Palafox among all mid laners.
In addition, PoE’s damage output was insane last year, as he had 552 damage per minute and 53.4 EDD. That is right around Palafox and Ablazeolive, but remember that PoE was facing LCS mid laners, not Academy competition.
And PowerofEvil is elite when it comes to his control mages. Azir, Syndra, and Orianna are all considered elite champions in his pool. However, he does not really have that many other comfort champions to go to even though he is willing to play new picks (he played 17 unique champions in 2020).
In addition, PoE had the highest gold per minute (442) of any mid laner in the LCS last year. What is most interesting is how he gets those leads.
PowerofEvil is easily the weakest laning mid laner among this top three. He posted only a 162.7 MAGXD @ 15, so he’s not running over lanes and taking over games. He’s also not massively handicapped by poor lanes, but still managing to outperform them.
Instead, it looks like he might actually have a limited champion pool with a ceiling on his laning performance. But TSM fans should not worry. Given that he still has massively high GPM and damage outputs, PoE clearly knows how to play in the mid and late games to maximize his efficiency.