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Every week, we look at each team in the five major regions and rank the teams according to how they are performing. With the leagues hitting, or about to hit,
the playoffs, we take one last look at the global field in the spring split.
World contenders
1. Kingzone DragonX
Record: 16-2 | League: LCK | +/-: --
Between the team's series against the ROX Tigers last week and KSV eSports this week, Kingzone DragonX aren't infallible. This team will drop games, especially against teams that do manage to get early advantages. Will it drop a series? That remains to be seen and this is the last time that we'll be seeing Kingzone until the LCK finals on April 14. Kingzone didn't lose its sharpness the last time the team had a lengthy wait for the LCK finals. With so many different points of attack that opponents must take into consideration before even entering Champion Select, we don't expect them to lose that edge this time around, especially with a stronger jungler in Han "Peanut" Wang-ho who is in a favorable meta for his aggressive, invade-heavy style.
2. Invictus Gaming
Record: 14-1 | League: LPL | +/-: +1
No one in South Korea can stop Kingzone DragonX and no one in China can stop Invictus Gaming. The problem for iG's opponents starts in draft with who to target. iG has carry threats in every lane, from mid laner Song "Rookie" Eui-jin to AD carry Yu "JackeyLove" Wen-Bo to top laner Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok. Yet one of the players that had the most impact against Royal Never Give Up was jungler Gao "Ning" Zhen-Ning, who was tasked with shutting down RNG's Hung "Karsa" Hau-Hsuan and succeeded with Olaf. iG smashed the East Region's third-best team in 50 minutes of total game time between the two games.
3. Afreeca Freecs
Record: 13-5 | League: LCK | +/-: -1
Despite falling to KT Rolster in its final series of the regular season, the Afreeca Freecs have been the more consistent team overall, especially in series that matter. Giving KT a springboard to try out the more aggressive Lee "Rush" Yoon-jae/Son "Ucal" Woo-hyeon mid/jungle duo isn't how the Freecs would have like to end the split, but they've been a more reliable team and also managed to slightly crack Kingzone's armor this split, something that KT have failed to do both times the two teams have met. Now begins the true test for this Afreeca team. The Freecs have fallen out of the playoff gauntlet in the first round every time they've made it, regardless of roster. Fortunately, this is the most versatile and flexible team the organization has ever had, and they're seeded all the way in the third round with ample time to prepare.
4. KT Rolster
Record: 13-5 | League: LCK | +/-: --
We saw something different from KT Rolster to close out the season: a high-pressure early game from the new jungle/mid duo of Lee "Rush" Yoon-jae and Son "Ucal" Woo-hyeon. Although it was in a game that ultimately didn't matter for standings or playoff seeding - arguably where KT excels - a perfect game against Afreeca is still a perfect game against the second-best team in the league. It's a good confidence boost for KT going into the playoff gauntlet, and showcased a slightly different style than how the team plays around jungler Go "Score" Dong-bin and especially Heo "PawN" Won-seok. Now with more playing time on champions that aren't Azir against better teams, Ucal is looking like exactly what the team needed to establish pushing pressure in the mid lane, regardless of which jungler starts.
5. KSV
Record: 9-9 | League: LCK | +/-: +3
Against Kingzone DragonX, KSV showed glimpses of what made them such a strong team before, but their season-long issues were also on display. When Lee "Crown" Min-ho is able to establish a push in mid lane like he did in Game 2 with Taliyah, the team has a lot more to work with, especially coming from the jungle position where Kang "Ambition" Chan-yong was able to create early pressure in his lanes. Now in the playoffs thanks to the good graces of the Jin Air Green Wings, KSV desperately need to find more picks for Crown, and avoid picking scaling lanes that will be pushed in early, to facilitate their junglers. This week, KSV moves up due to a long-overdue Rogue Warriors loss, but a lot needs to change if they want any semblance of a playoff run.
6. ROX Tigers
Record: 9-9 | League: LCK | +/-: +1
It was another rough week for the ROX Tigers which, despite being in control of its own playoff destiny, weren't able to get a victory over the Jin Air Green Wings. Kongdoo Monster did not do it the same favor against SK Telecom T1 that Jin Air did for KSV against ROX themselves. Throughout the split, the Tigers were consistent in how they played around individual talent, especially mid laner Kim "Lava" Tae-hoon who wasn't even expected to start over Lee "Kuzan" Seong-hyeok. The most impressive individual improvement came from jungler Yoon "SeongHwan" Seong-hwan who helped control the Tigers' early game. Unfortunately, ROX made one too many mistakes, especially when it came to base sieging. If they learn when to go forward for a fight, and when to lay off, ROX could make playoffs next split.
7. Rogue Warriors
Record: 13-2 | League: LPL | +/-: -2
Rogue Warriors cruised through Week 7 with sweeps over LGD Gaming and Topsports Gaming. Despite some odd choices around where and when to teamfight their opponents that went unpunished, it seemed like ROG would also cruise through Suning, who haven't had consistent mid-to-late game execution or late 5v5 teamfighting. Instead, Sung "Flawless" Yeon-jun was targeted by the mid/jungle duo of Suning and Suning bowled over ROG in Game 1, splitting them on the map. ROG have previously excelled when they can build team compositions supporting Flawless and AD carry Han "Smlz" Jin, but Suning showed what happens when ROG aren't allowed to facilitate their carries in large-scale fights. Going forward, it will be up to ROG to finally adjust their strategy a bit and work towards becoming more flexible.
8. Royal Never Give Up
Record: 9-6 | League: LPL | +/-: -2
Royal Never Give Up are a strong team, but they're not quite where they need to be in order to contend for top in the East Region, especially with Invictus Gaming and Rogue Warriors. Against JD Gaming, RNG faltered and we once again saw the volatility of jungler Liu "Mlxg" Shi-Yu in Game 2. With Hung "Karsa" Hau-Hsuan starting in an all-important match against iG, RNG were undone by the multiple carry threats, jungler Gao "Ning" Zhen-Ning, and top laner Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok from iG, especially when iG split the map against RNG's protect-the-Kog'Maw composition. RNG still look stronger than their top three West Region compatriots in Snake Esports, EDward Gaming, and Team WE, but will have to improve more if they want to make an LPL title run.
9. SK Telecom T1
Record: 9-9 | League: LCK | +/-: -1
A 2017 World Championship rematch in the best-of-three wildcard series is not what SKT nor KSV expected going into this split, yet this will be our first match of the 2018 LCK Spring playoffs on Saturday. After seemingly committing to developing rookie jungle talent Park "Blossom" Beom-chan, SKT shuffled its roster once more, settling on Kang "Blank" Sun-gu in the jungle and rookie support Lee "Effort" Sang-ho over veteran Lee "Wolf" Jae-wan. In a season that began with Wolf in the jungle, this isn't close to the most outlandish lineup that SKT has run, but the team's lack of commitment to a set starting lineup with so many new and relatively inexperienced players (including top laner Park "Thal" Kwon-hyuk whose only starting experience was in the European Challenger Series) doesn't consistently cover the team's weaknesses, no matter how much mid lane pressure Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok has. SKT's series against Kongdoo was more of a Kongdoo loss than an SKT win, which should set off alarm bells for the SKT faithful.
10. Fnatic
Record: 14-4 | League: EU LCS | +/-: --
Did not play this week.
Playoff contenders
11. 100 Thieves
Record: 12-6 | League: NA LCS | +/-: --
Did not play this week.
12. Snake Esports
Record: 11-4 | League: LPL | +/-: +1
Snake Esports further made its case as the best team in the West Region this past week, with their victory over EDward Gaming and stylish stomp of Vici Gaming that included AD carry Yang "kRYST4L" Fan's signature Draven pick. What used to be one of the best teams in the Unsealed Spellbook meta experienced an expected dip once 8.4 hit China and hasn't fully recovered since. Although jungler Lê "SofM" Quang Duy and top laner Li "Flandre" Xuan-Jun are fairly consistent in their respective playstyles, Flandre's more aggressive tendencies still put him at risk, especially if the rest of the team can't collapse as easily after his initiation. Snake's other weak point is their bot lane. While Liu "Hudie" Yan-Zhu is a strong support for the team, kRYST4L's laning issues persist, allowing opponents to push them in and take advantage of that bot side pressure.
13. Splyce
Record: 11-8 | League: EU LCS | +/-: -+3
Splyce proved its class in its first playoff set against Roccat last weekend. The team's usage of strong bot lane picks made it easy to develop early game leads that were never let go. Splyce also showed ingenuity with a jungle Trundle pick, especially useful against Sion, the most important top laner in this meta.
14. Suning Gaming
Record: 9-7 | League: LPL | +/-: +4
We've spoken of the proactive push that jungler Yang "H4cker" Zhi-Hao gives Suning Gaming previously when the team chose H4cker as its starter over Gao "Tian" Tian-Liang. It can't be understated how important it is for H4cker and mid laner Zhuo "Knight" Ding to get ahead in the early game because Suning know how to snowball intelligently. Most recently, this was showcased against Rogue Warriors where H4cker stalked Sung "Flawless" Yeon-jun in his own jungle, setting up a 4-1 with Knight's comfort pick of Ekko. Suning also attacked ROG's bot side in Game 2 and despite stalling out in the mid game, were able to take advantage of an ROG baron rush to clinch the sweep.
15. Jin Air Green Wings
Record: 7-11 | League: LCK | +/-: -1
Following the Jin Air Green Wings' victory over the ROX Tigers - a match that meant nothing to them but everything to KSV eSports and ROX - support Kwon "Wraith" Ji-min said that it may have meant nothing in the standings for them, but they wanted to carry this momentum into the next season if possible. The Green Wings' problems stemmed from a lack of reliability in the jungle position from Eom "UmTi" Seong-hyeon and a lack of mid lane pressure from both Lee "Grace" Chan-ju and Yoon "Justice" Seok-joon to help UmTi on his more aggressive invades. Arguably, the pieces are all in place for Jin Air, especially with one of the league's best AD carries in Park "Teddy" Jin-seong. They just need more consistent play and better decision-making.
16. EDward Gaming
Record: 11-5 | League: LPL | +/-: -4
The more series EDward Gaming play, the more the team's strengths and weaknesses are repeatedly on display. Chen "Haro" Wen-Lin's recent gaffes have spurred requests for Ming "Clearlove" Kai to return to the Rift, and EDG still doesn't seem to know what exactly they want to do with top laner Jeon "Ray" Ji-won, whose split pushing prowess hasn't really been used by EDG. All that being said, EDG still seem to be aware of how they want to win - through bot lane - and also how to execute this, even if the in-game execution is off. Snake Esports' victory over EDG mid-week seemed more like an EDG loss than a Snake win, and EDG's execution remained inconsistent against Oh My God, one of the worst teams in the West Region. EDG only have two more weeks to improve their cohesion and decision-making before the end of the split.
17. Team WE
Record: 8-7 | League: LPL | +/-: --
Regardless of roster, Team WE still seem too addicted to drafting scaling compositions that lose early, putting a greater burden not only on rookie jungler Zhou "Magic" Jun-Xuan (who already trying to fill the big shoes of Xiang "Condi" Ren-Jie) but on mid laner Su "xiye" Han-Wei. Additionally, without Condi, WE has lost not only its early game spark, but has also suffered from a lack of teamfight coordination, making some of these drafts even more questionable. Against Bili Bili Gaming, WE looked a bit better both in terms of teamfighting and coordination between Magic and the rest of his team - with a classic WE composition around Xiye's Galio and AD carry Jin "Mystic" Seong-jun on Kog'Maw - but they still have a lot of work to do if they want to contend with EDward Gaming or Snake Esports at the top of the West Region.
18. bbq Olivers
Record: 6-12 | League: LCK | +/-: +2
bbq Olivers have once again ended up in about the same spot as their predecessors ESC Ever often did, just outside of relegation. It's not where the team wanted to be, especially after acquiring Kim "Trick" Gang-yun and Lee "IgNar" Dong-geun in the 2017-18 offseason. There are a lot of ifs around the middle-to-bottom LCK teams. If ROX tighten up how to close a game. If Jin Air can have stronger mid/jungle priority. If bbq Olivers hang on to the same roster and can shore up their fundamentals, they too could content for a playoff position in summer. Also mid laner Kang "Tempt" Myung-gu might want to practice with the team a bit more on Azir. It was his weakest champion with the team despite having an otherwise career split.
19. Clutch Gaming
Record: 11-7 | League: NA LCS | +/-: +14
Clutch Gaming is the first team to ever knock Team SoloMid out of the domestic playoffs before the final, denying a final appearance from the North American titan for the first time. A superior draft approach, combined with a focus on mid-game teamfighting led the team to a win over TSM and the nineteenth spot on power rankings. Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten especially impressed, along with support Nickolas "Hakuho" Surgent, amassing a KDA of 38.
20. FunPlus Phoenix
Record: 6-8 | League: LPL | +/-:+4
This is FunPlus Phoenix's top 20 debut, thanks a bit to some of the playoff games that happened in North America and Europe, but primarily thanks to legacy Chinese mid laner Yu "Cool" Jia-Jun. While it's too early to say, "Cool is the answer," Cool is looking an awful lot like the answer for FPX, whose former starting mid laner, Feng "bing" Jin-Wei struggled to have strong mid pressure for jungler Hu "Pepper" Zhi-Wei. With Cool, the team already looks a bit more cohesive, and doesn't have to make up for the lack of a mid lane push. Maybe it's a bit too soon, and FPX will falter in a tough, three-game Week 9 that ends with a match against top West Region team, Snake Esports, but for now, they've earned the 20 spot.