LCS Spring Split 2021 - Power Rankings (Week 3)

Cloud9 has put themselves in sole possession of first place after the first half of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Spring Split continuing to distinguish themselves among the other teams. 

While the team that was tied with them in those two first weeks, 100 Thieves, has fallen to a three-way tie for second. The other two teams tied for that second-place spot are the still surging and still improving Team SoloMid and Dignitas that took everybody by surprise in the previous week. 

Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses are still pairing up when it comes to the fourth to fifth place spot, tying with each other. While the bottom half of the standings are starting to be more defined. 

With all of that in mind, here are our power rankings for the third week of the LCS Spring Split’s regular season. 

#1 Cloud9 (+1)

We doubted Cloud9 by bumping them down to #2 last week, and they proved to us why they should have not been moved. Barring them being crushed by Team Liquid in the final day of the week, this team has been great throughout the first round-robin. Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami has stepped up and no longer is a liability. He got thrown in with the wolves to start the season during Lock In as he had to face Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho and Barney “Alphari” Morris which led him to not show his best. 

Overall this team is firing on all cylinders and the remaining piece of Fudge is slowly coming into his own as well, a great sign going into the second half of the split.

#2 Team SoloMid (+1)

Continuing their jump after we placed them at last place during the first week to later putting them up a third, this team just keeps improving; this is the team many expected to see in due time. They were on a six-game winning streak until their meeting versus Dignitas. Once they faced Dignitas they didn’t particularly show a strong game. Team SoloMid kept forcing plays, and they seemingly looked like they felt they were behind, forcing their hand.

Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh has stepped up immensely — the level of play people expected — both individually and playing with his team. He is a strong reason as to why Team SoloMid are tied for second place in the standings and are #2 on our list. 

The team also has ironed out their draft issues, simplifying the pick and ban phase. They have relegated Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon to be a counter picker while putting Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage on carry duty with late-game champions. A great change comparing their drafts earlier in the season.

#3 100 Thieves (-2)

It’s difficult to tell with this team if they’ve regressed or if the other teams in the league have got better — perhaps maybe both. Throughout the season they’ve come up with wins in games that they initially blundered in the early game. The games they’ve played were not sure-fire games for them, not in the slightest. This was seen during the first week of the Spring Split, although they started 3-0, it was a shaky 3-0 with multiple come from behind games.

This team can be perfectly summed up by their coach, they’re a team that can beat anyone but can also lose to anyone. The Thieves have been aggressive and divisive with their percentage plays, but now we’re finally seeing the other side of the percentage plays. 

#4 Dignitas (+0)

A pleasant surprise by far. Dignitas are fun to watch, they are proactive and one cannot forget Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett’s A-Z jungle champion picks. This is also the only team with five North American players, and they are surpassing expectations. Their younger players in Aaron “FakeGod” Lee, Max “Soligo” Soong and Toàn "Neo" Trần have been exceptional seeing what many were thinking of them going into this season.

 But perhaps the biggest piece of this team is Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black, the rookie whisperer. Aphromoo has turned it around, individually performing well, landing hooks, and finding his patented Alistar initiations. They also had a clean win over Team SoloMid to boot.

#5 Team Liquid (+0)

This team possibly peaked a little too early, which was during Lock In. During Lock In Alphari was leading the top laners in solo kills per game while the bottom lane were getting a two versus two kill nearly every game; Team Liquid were winning heavily. That is not the case any more come Spring Split. They suffer from the same problem as 100 Thieves, it’s difficult to tell if they’ve regressed or if the competition has risen to their level. 

But to their credit, even with weak performances, they are still staying true to their playstyle. This showed during their match of the week versus first place Cloud9. Even with a downward trend going into this game, they were still extremely proactive. They gave Alphari his lane dominant top lane champion, and he went deathless. Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in was there with his initiations and that led to one of their quicker victories all season long. 

This team is also still statistically the best early game team in the league, something they can lean on going into the second half of the split.

#6 Evil Geniuses (+0)

Perhaps the only team that can be looked at to be in the expected spot in the standings looking at what everyone had them for their pre-season power rankings. But with a caveat, individually all of their players are surpassing expectations, especially mid laner, Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro. If you compare his performances this year with last year’s, they are night and day. 

Alongside Team Liquid, this team came out the gate dominantly to start the Lock In tournament but have calmed down since then.

#7 Immortals (+0)

It’s tough to talk about this team, there’s no clear carry apart from maybe David “Insanity” Challe. They are still missing a few pieces but the fact that they are ahead of some of these teams that are below is promising. 

#8 FlyQuest (+1)

Looking at the other developmental teams around them, particularly the ones below them, teams like Golden Guardians, this team has left much to be desired. You’d expect a bit more explosiveness or power from this group of players. FlyQuest could definitely benefit from playing around Eric “Licorice” Ritchie more, enabling him or putting him ahead making him the carry. 

#9 Golden Guardians (+1)

Seeing the expectation many had for this team, their performance thus far is not too terrible. As a team with two collegiate players and three academy players, one cannot ask for more. This team realistically could be winless at this stage of the game. There is one significant worry though, Aiden “Niles” Tidwell. Compared to the other top laners in the league, he’s been struggling and is a clear point that enemy teams can target.

#10 Counter Logic Gaming (-1)

Even with good early game stats, they still cannot translate to wins even after three weeks of play —  blame their terrible mid to late game. A team with LCS veterans is struggling and is relegated to last place. One could partially blame them not having their starting jungler, Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen, but he’s here now and the problems still remain.

This team is certainly better than what they show on the standings. 

 

Images via Riot Games