LCS 2022 Summer Split Tier List
The 2022 League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Summer Split is nearly here. Standings have been reset, slates have been cleaned, and teams have made the necessary changes—the North American region is in for a treat.
As always with every Summer Split, this is the part of the season that’s for all the marbles. Not only will teams compete to claim championship gold but they will also look to accompany the eventual LCS winner into the biggest international tournament of the year, the World Championship.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s dial back and look at what the LCS teams have to offer for the Summer Split by measuring their strength going into the Friday of matches. Here's our LCS 2022 Sumer Split tier list.
LCS 2022 Summer Split Tier List
D Tier - Immortals, Team SoloMid, Counter Logic Gaming
Similar to them bunching up together to end the LCS 2022 Spring Split regular season, we have these teams bunching up in our tier list.
It is worth noting that all of these three teams have made roster changes, with Immortals making the most, replacing three of its members. They brought in jungler Shane “Kenvi” Espinoza, ADC Lawrence “Lost” Sze Yuy Hui, and support Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun to help better their last-place finish, and we expect them to. As for Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming, their sole roster changes, in particular, Team SoloMid’s with the signing of LMS legend, Juang “Maple” Yi-Tang most likely won’t cut it.
C Tier - Dignitas, FlyQuest
This tier is our “middle of the pack” tier, this means that teams below and above could fall well into it depending on their performances. However, to kick off the Summer Split, we have just two in it—Dignitas and FlyQuest.
During the LCS 2022 Spring Split, both of these teams were surprising in their own right. At one point, FlyQuest secured themselves a first-place in the standings in Week 2, thanks to the impressive overall play. While a Kim “River" Dong-woo led Dignitas were able to show they weren’t a team to take lightly.
Unfortunately, this success early on in the split didn’t quite translate towards the end, Dignitas failed to make the playoffs while FlyQuest got bounced out early. But this isn’t to say that they won’t come back better than ever.
B Tier - Cloud9, Golden Guardians
This part of our list houses two teams that were more than impressive throughout the Spring Split and now, with some roster improvements and changes, could make even bigger waves.
On Golden Guardians’ side, this team showed some light in what otherwise has been a dark timeline for them, apart from their roster that eventually migrated to 100 Thieves to start the 2021 season. Now that we’ve had an extra split to warm up, we expect them to perform well once again.
When it comes to Cloud9, however, this team was just absolutely stellar. In the Spring Split, they dominated everyone they came across with their top lane focus, leading to Park “Summit” Woo-tae capturing an MVP. But that very strategy turned into their downfall, and eventually, opened up the way for a roster shake up. The squad now has Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami back in the top lane, Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen in for support, and has welcomed back stellar mid-laner Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen.
Out of all of the teams in this tier list, this Cloud9 squad is perhaps the one with the most potential. With the right set of plays, and the right set of synergy, they could very well hit above their current placing.
A Tier - Team Liquid, 100 Thieves
To say that Team Liquid and 100 Thieves belong in this tier is an understatement. Throughout the whole year, both of these teams showed excellence, one that had Team Liquid capture their second Lock In tournament victory in a row and a first-place finish in the regular season, while 100 Thieves made it to their second LCS finals in a row.
If it wasn’t for the team in the tier above, both Team Liquid and the Thieves would very well sit atop of the LCS all things considered. Both of these teams have done what many of the others on the tier list have not— they’ve figured out what to do early on. They were able to implement planning, strategy, and synergy in the Spring Split, and have been able to keep it for the Summer Split.
These two teams have tremendously high ceilings for the LCS, with Team Liquid showcasing more potential, and we expect them to flaunt it to end the LCS season.
S Tier - Evil Geniuses
We’d be remiss if we didn’t place Evil Geniuses alone at the top. There’s just so much to say about this team. Yes, they struggled during the Spring Split regular season after a surprising second place in the Lock In tournament but that clearly didn’t matter. What they were able to put forth and implement in the Spring playoffs was otherworldly.
Click to enlargeThe Geniuses did start with a hiccup that was a Winner’s Bracket Round 1 loss to Team Liquid but even then that was in a 3-2 fashion. Following that, they proceeded to utterly dominate everyone in their path. They defeated FlyQuest 3-1, crushed Cloud9 3-0, and enacted revenge on Team Liquid up until the finals, whereupon they absolutely dominated 100 Thieves before they could even know what hit them.
Add the fact that, some of their younger players in Joseph “Jojopyun” Pyun and Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki now have gained international experience thanks to playing at the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), the rest of the LCS has a lot of work to do.