The final week of our League of Legends global power rankings is upon us. It's been a wild split for a variety of reasons, and for the first time this year, we get to rank all four major regions in a single power ranking.
How we rank: We had our panelists and writers submit a ranking of No. 1 through 10 for each team, with 10 being the strongest and 1 being the weakest. We then averaged the scores to create our initial list and looked at the teams' schedules, wins, losses and overall performance for the week.
1. FunPlus Phoenix
Region: LPL | Record: 8-2 | Change: +2
Kings stay kings. Cloud9 can go 17-1 in a comedy of a region, G2 Esports can reign over Europe, and Gen.G along with T1 can impress in South Korea, but when it comes down to it, there's only one reigning world champion. After starting the season with a few losses and trying to fit new top laner Kim "Khan" Dong-ha into the picture, FunPLus realized if it isn't broken, don't fix it. They did that with their style of play at last year's world championship, and how did that turn out? A Summoner's Cup in their trophy case.
It's the same with their starting five. While Kim "Gimgoon" Han-saem doesn't bring the same glamour in his play as Khan in the top lane, he knows what his job is in the FunPlus Phoenix lineup and does it better than anyone else in the world could. On a team that loves to leave its top laner exposed and without much in the way of resources, Gimgoon is the true MVP, sacrificing his own chance at personal accolades and fame for the betterment of the team. With Khan, FunPlus attempted to change the way they played, but that's not how this team flew to the top of the League of Legends hierarchy.
Since switching back to Gimgoon, FPX are undefeated in LPL play and are rolling toward another deep run in the League of Legends Proleague (LPL) postseason. A team of oddballs with an eccentric style, FPX are better together than they are apart. Maybe in the future Khan will acclimate to the team and give them a different edge to their play, but for now, don't try to fix what isn't broken.
*This does not pertain to when FPX plays Victory5. I'm pretty sure Khan could play all five positions at one time for FPX and still beat V5.
-- Tyler Erzberger
ESPN Daily: Sign up here!
2. Gen.G
Region: LCK | Record: 11-1 | Change: --
Gen.G has historically been criticized for playing a one-dimensional, slow-paced game focusing on building up their bot laner, but this is a stale story for the 2020 spring split. "Yeah, the narrative might be a bit of a prejudice at this point," bot laner Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk said when asked about the community still referring to the team as a "slow Gen.G."
Gen.G currently hold an average of 32:49 game time, the second fastest out of any LCK teams, snowballing their games in a terrifying velocity based on the superior mechanical prowess of the individual players. Gen.G jungler Kim "Clid" Tae-min seems to have found his soulmate in mid laner Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong. In a meta where mid-jungle skirmishes are critical, Clid and Bdd consistently and reliably outperform any other duo to secure the early game lead. Top laner Kim "Rascal" Kwang-hee has been flexing his versatile champion pool and playing a variety of meta-relevant picks, from a tankier Ornn and Sett to carry-oriented Irelia and Akali depending on the team's needs.
Gen.G finished Week 6 with a dominant 2-0 victory over Afreeca Freecs, continuing their 12-game winning streak. The golden roster next faces T1, the only opponent that has managed to defeat it during the spring split so far.
-- Ashley Kang
3. G2 Esports
Region: LEC | Record: 15-3 | Change: -2
An easy schedule down the stretch was all it took for G2 Esports to return to their chaotic fun tendencies, with Fabian "GrabbZ" Lohmann's drafts tending toward the semi-unconventional. And with their first place in the regular split assured, they unleashed calamity upon Misfits Gaming with obscure hits such as bot lane Aatrox, top lane Bard and AP Jungle Shyvana -- the latter allowing Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski to experience fun gameplay for a change.
Considering their schedule, there was little between G2 Esports and first place, as Rogue, Excel Esports and Schalke 04 Esports discovered. As they secured it, they were able to choose their playoff opponents, with the young MAD Lions lying in their sights for a less treacherous road toward a top-three finish at least. Considering their play as of late, there are few reasons to doubt them, although one would wish they would resume their pushups-per-death ritual in the gaming house.
-- Adel Chouadria
4. T1
Region: LCK | Record: 10-2 | Change: --
Six weeks into the spring split and T1 unsurprisingly remain one of the LCK's top teams, posting a 3-0 week with wins over APK Prince, DragonX and Hanwha Life Esports. They did so with a new jungler; after the loss to Afreeca Freecs, former T1 trainee Choi "Ellim" El-lim was promoted to the starting lineup over Moon "Cuzz" Woo-chan. The 19-year-old acquitted himself well in all three wins, particularly in the DragonX series, where two games of steady Trundle play were all T1 needed to secure victory. Ellim seemed most effective as a supportive frontliner during his first five matches, creating space for mid laner Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok and bot laner Park "Teddy" Jin-seong to carry late.
Although Ellim faltered on Kindred in Game 2 of the Hanwha Life series (Cuzz took over in Game 3), there were enough positives and stylistic synergy in his debut to warrant further looks with the first team. If Ellim starts in T1's massive top-of-the-table bout with Gen.G on Wednesday, it'll be a sign that the youngster's inclusion was more than just a momentary change of pace.
-- Miles Yim
5. Fnatic
Region: LEC | Record: 13-5 | Change: --
It's difficult to quantify how Fnatic have improved as a team since last year, but 2020 Fnatic, despite making only one roster change from 2019 Fnatic, are a more flexible and formidable team. They have all of the traditional Fnatic hallmarks -- the ability to heavily focus on the bot side to either free up Zdravets "Hylissang" Iliev Galabov to roam, pour resources into Martin "Rekkles" Larsson, or both. Yet, they also are better about flexing between Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau in the top lane and Rekkles bot. Last year it felt like the team was torn between these two options, while this year they complement each other, tied together through the addition of Oskar "Selfmade" Boderek while keeping mid laner Tim "Nemesis" Lipovšek on his slightly-off-meta comfort picks.
-- Emily Rand
6. Cloud9
Region: LCS | Record: 17-1 | Change: +1
Cloud 9 entered this week with little to play for but their own pride and potentially tying the LCS regular-season win rate record with 2016 Team SoloMid. Being the best team in a region by a significant margin can, and has with teams in the past, led to complacency or no small amount of errors while experimenting with different compositions and playstyles (past Team Liquid and Invictus Gaming teams immediately come to mind). Yet, C9 have shown that above all else, even while admittedly trying out a variety of different things, they want to win. Their final game against Team Liquid may not have been pretty, but ultimately they claimed the win with a decisive call, something that many LCS teams lack. The only unfortunate thing about this C9 team is that we'll likely have to wait a longer amount of time than usual to see if their dominion over the LCS means that they can stand up to teams from stronger regions.
-- Rand
7. eStar
Region: LPL | Record: 9-1 | Change: -3
Maybe it's time to take eStar seriously?
Liu "PDD" Mou's collection of debutants and overlooked spare parts has been the unexpected success story of Season 10 -- not to mention a needed bright spot in the Wuhan Tourism Development and Investment Group's portfolio -- topping the world's strongest region with win after quality win. This week was business as usual for eStar, thumping LNG Esports and Dominus Esports with trademark aggression that has already staggered two world champions. Mid laner Yuan "Cryin" Cheng-Wei and support Liu "ShiauC" Chia-Hao continue to impress, with the latter justifiably drawing Thresh bans due to his pinpoint hooks. It seems PDD still has an eye for talent; much of eStar's current lineup was produced by the same PDD-owned Young Miracles developmental pipeline that discovered current LPL superstars mid laner Zhuo "knight" Ding and support Shi "Ming" Sen-Ming (among several others).
Win or lose, eStar always manage to entertain, their decisive hivemind always eager to all-in at the first sign of weakness. It's a mentality that thrives in the LPL's light-speed, kill-a-minute meta that leaves no room for half measures. eStar's matchup with Royal Never Give Up later this week will be a worthy barometer as the team continues to roll toward the playoffs.
-- Yim
8. Invictus Gaming
Region: LPL | Record: 6-1 | Change: -6
Invictus Gaming's fourth week was all about recovery from a monumental setback. Indeed, following a loss to the methodical eStar, their coordination was left wanting, and their structures exploitable. However, by the time they faced Suning, they showcased a more focused side: Positive results in skirmishes led to objective takedowns in a way that outpaced their opponents, and kill scores became mostly meaningless.
Invictus Gaming showed slightly more restraint, but their solo laners shined when called upon, with Kang "TheShy" Seung-leok's Ornn taking over teamfights in Game 1 and Song "Rookie" Eui-jin's Jayce dismantling Suning throughout roams and skirmishes in Game 2.
Whenever either of them faltered, their bot lane pairing, former 2019 ViCi Gaming players Ding "Puff" Wang and Su "Southwind" Zhi-Lin, stepped up, further aligning iG as a threat, be it with Lu "Leyan" Jue or Gao "Ning" Zhen-Ning on the lineup. As their team play progresses throughout the year, be sure to keep tabs on them as they ramp up in strength, possibly derailing FunPlus Phoenix's attempts at returning to the LPL throne.
--Chouadria
9. Origen
Region: LEC | Record: 13-5 | Change: -1
Throughout the split, Origen has perfected the winning formula that saw the squad topple Fnatic at Week 1 of the LEC. Origen play through their individual lanes, activated by aggressive and skillful Andrei "Xerxe" Dragomir roaming around the map, executing their macro in a meticulous, disciplined manner.
Origen's tendency to stick to their proven win condition would bite them back in their last game of the regular split, however. The opponent MAD Lions surprised Origen during the drafting phase, rotating Renekton to mid lane and pulling out a Syndra-Sett bot lane. Origen could not adapt to the unexpected strategy fast enough as Syndra and Sett effectively shut down bot laner Elias "Upset" Lipp and snowballed the game against Origen's favor.
This Origen squad is projected to look much more deadly in the playoffs within a best-of-five scenario, where consistency becomes more important than the ability to surprise the opponent with a one-off radical strategy. Origen next plays Fnatic in the first round of the LEC playoffs, as the squad looks to repeat the upset of the first week of the LEC spring split.
-- Kang
10. DragonX
Region: LCK | Record: 8-4 | Change: -1
It was a bumpy week for the Dragons, who took an easy victory over woeful rival Griffin but lost a pair of matches to Hanwha Life Esports and T1. The season thus far has been a gigantic test for the team's 19-year-old top laner Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon, who is trying to fill shoes that might be too big for him at the moment. When he was picked up and personally scouted by DRX head coach Kim "cvMax" Dae-ho, Doran was supposed to follow in the footsteps of cvMax's crown jewel student, Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon, and become one of the premier tops in South Korea.
His first year as a pro has been far rockier than Chovy's, as Doran rotates from being a dependable and promising young talent to looking like DRX's weakest link. And to add insult to injury, teams know this, regularly sending consistent pressure into the top lane to try to get Doran off his game, attacking DRX where they're the shakiest. Although Chovy could be on the road to another league MVP, DragonX needs Doran to be steadier if they want to be a threat to either T1 or Gen.G come playoff time.
-- Erzberger
11. Top Esports
12. KT Rolster
13. Evil Geniuses
14. Royal Never Give Up
15. OMG
16. JD Gaming
17. Mad Lions
18. Afreeca Freecs
19. Team SoloMid
20. EDG
21. 100 Thieves
22. FlyQuest
23. Rogue
24. Misfits
25. Team WE
26. DAMWON Gaming
27. Suning
28. LNG
29. Golden Guardians
30. Immortals
31. Dignitas
32. Vici Gaming
33. FC Schalke 04
34. Hanwha Life
35. Bilibili
36. Team Liquid
37. SANDBOX Gaming
38. LGD
39. Rogue Warriors
40. Excel Esports
41. APK Prince
42. Dominus
43. Counter Logic Gaming
44. Griffin
45. SK Gaming
46. Team Vitality