{"id":11766,"date":"2018-06-15T17:35:41","date_gmt":"2018-06-16T00:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/na-lcs-preseason-power-rankings\/"},"modified":"2024-01-24T17:19:22","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T01:19:22","slug":"na-lcs-preseason-power-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/na-lcs-preseason-power-rankings\/","title":{"rendered":"NA LCS Preseason Power Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"nv-iframe-embed\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"2018 NA LCS Summer Preview: Preseason Power Rankings | Lolesports\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YuAyqMXU7aY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The 2018 North American League Championship Series starts this Saturday, and with a relatively quiet off season from the teams and huge patch changes, a pre-split power ranking seemed necessary for what will be a chaotic first week of NA LCS.<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/d1u5p3l4wpay3k.cloudfront.net\/lolesports_gamepedia_en\/c\/c7\/Team_Liquid_Academylogo_square.png\" alt=\"Image result for team liquid\" width=\"107\" height=\"107\" \/>1. Team Liquid\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Liquid is still the favorite after\u00a0its Spring Split championship, but their below-average performance at MSI has definitely raised concerns over their strength as a team. But in the uncertainty of how teams will adapt and change to a fundamentally different meta, TL still remains king. They&#8217;ll be tested, however, in their season opener vs 100 Thieves on June 16, 4 PM CT.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/d1u5p3l4wpay3k.cloudfront.net\/lolesports_gamepedia_en\/thumb\/8\/84\/Echo_Foxlogo_square.png\/300px-Echo_Foxlogo_square.png?version=56244c08e24a8e3976cfd56dbad6bf42\" alt=\"Image result for echo fox\" width=\"119\" height=\"119\" \/>2. Echo Fox<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>In the beginning of the spring split, Echo Fox was known for its dominance in a stagnant bottom lane meta. Their focus on utilizing jungler Joshua &#8220;Dardoch&#8221; Hartnett and Kim &#8220;Fenix&#8221; Jae-hun to create jungle\/mid pressure and open up the map for top laner Heo &#8220;Huni&#8221; Seung-hoon was key to their successful top lane style play. Given this meta&#8217;s potential in mid lane and top side, Echo Fox is an intimidating threat.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/en\/a\/ab\/100_Thieves_logo.png\" alt=\"Image result for 100 thieves\" width=\"120\" height=\"95\" \/>3. 100 Thieves<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Towards the end of the last split, 100 Thieves really got the ball rolling, but were ultimately not enough to beat Liquid&#8217;s cross-map aggression in the final.\u00a0 However, this is a team full of determined veterans, and they&#8217;ll adjust and adapt to remain at the top of the standings.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/tumblr_static_6emtwu3gk3ggo0sok4kss44kk.png\" alt=\"Image result for tsm\" width=\"125\" height=\"125\" \/>4. Team SoloMid<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Though TSM was debatedly the better team against Clutch Gaming in the 2018 NA LCS, their inconsistency in pressuring from jungle and controlling side lane allowed Clutch to win in the quarterfinals. And while TSM took a long time to develop cohesiveness, once they did, they were undoubtedly one of the strongest teams in NA at the end of the split. All eyes are now on how TSM responds to the significant meta shift, as they&#8217;ve been known in the past to be slow to adapt.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/d1u5p3l4wpay3k.cloudfront.net\/lolesports_gamepedia_en\/thumb\/5\/5b\/Clutch_Gaminglogo_square.png\/300px-Clutch_Gaminglogo_square.png?version=c402462e1532dc219d45fb8084941c8d\" alt=\"Image result for clutch gaming\" width=\"108\" height=\"108\" \/>5. Clutch Gaming<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Overcoming a rocky start, Clutch Gaming hit its stride, beating lower standing teams and even earning a play off victory over TSM. But for the majority of all other matches against higher ranked teams, Clutch faltered. Yet, we should note that while the team lacks in experience, they make it up with a strong player and support staff willing to learn from mistakes. Their preparation paid off, as evident in the win over TSM.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/f\/f3\/Cloud9_Logo.jpg\/250px-Cloud9_Logo.jpg\" alt=\"Image result for cloud 9\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" \/>6. Cloud 9<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Cloud 9 definitely has the potential to win it all, but when the meta shifted, creating a more volatile bottom lane, C9 was unable to adapt. Subsequently, they were overwhelmed by TL in the spring quarterfinals. All the spotlight currently centers on C9&#8217;s shocking announcement that 3 of the team&#8217;s starters (mid laner Nicolaj &#8220;Jensen&#8221; Jensen, ADC Zachary \u201cSneaky\u201c Scuderi and support Andy \u201cSmoothie\u201c Ta) have been benched. They&#8217;ll be subbed by three C9 academy players:\u00a0Yuri &#8220;Keith&#8221; Jew, Tristan &#8220;Zeyzal&#8221; Stidam, and Greyson &#8220;Goldenglue&#8221; Gilmer.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/clgaming.net\/static\/img\/assets\/logo_darkblue_v.png\" alt=\"Image result for counter logic gaming\" width=\"112\" height=\"111\" \/>7. Counter Logic Gaming<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Another potential-filled team, CLG could make a legitimate run for the title if they resolve their issues as a team. This new meta provides a great opportunity for them to start strong \u2014 Darshan &#8220;Darshan&#8221; Upadhyaha will fit right in as a split pusher.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/d1u5p3l4wpay3k.cloudfront.net\/cod_esports_gamepedia_en\/thumb\/9\/91\/OpTic_Gaminglogo_square.png\/300px-OpTic_Gaminglogo_square.png?version=b13ddb70b6f553cb2ca4b7b7a332bf91\" alt=\"Image result for optic gaming\" width=\"121\" height=\"121\" \/>8. OpTic Gaming<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Between splits, OpTic made some major changes, replacing Derek &#8220;Zig&#8221; Shao and &#8220;LemmonNation&#8221; Hart with top laner Niship &#8220;Dhokla&#8221; Doshi and support Terry &#8220;Big&#8221; Chuong. OpTic&#8217;s problems last spring split were highlighted by their lack of coordination and failure to create side lane pressure. Some staffing additions were made to hopefully remedy this, with David &#8220;Cop&#8221; Roberson joining the coaching staff.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/C1gRLIfUkAAVZRU.0.png\" alt=\"Image result for flyquest\" width=\"129\" height=\"86\" \/>9. FlyQuest\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Song &#8220;Fly&#8221; Yong-jun&#8217;s addition to the team last split was supposed to improve their overall performance, but it didn&#8217;t seem to make any real difference. FlyQuest enters this season with a new lineup, featuring\u00a0mid laner Jang &#8220;Keane&#8221; Lae-young,\u00a0jungler Lucas &#8220;Santorin&#8221; Larsen, support Kevin &#8220;KonKwon&#8221; Kwon, and\u00a0top laner Lee &#8220;Flame&#8221; Ho-jong.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" style=\"max-width:100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/967226110147624960\/U0PEm0-K.jpg\" width=\"122\" height=\"122\" \/>10. Golden Guardians\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Last on the rankings, Golden Guardians also made huge roster changes mid-season. They dropped Hai &#8220;Hai&#8221; Du Lam for Son &#8220;Mickey&#8221; Young-min. Mickey offers a crazy, volatile playstyle, which the team hopes can perform better than Hai&#8217;s inconsistent mid-lane performances.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2018 North American League Championship Series starts this Saturday, and with a relatively quiet off season from the teams and huge patch changes, a pre-split power ranking seemed necessary for what will be a chaotic first week of NA LCS. 1. Team Liquid\u00a0 Liquid is still the favorite after\u00a0its Spring Split championship, but their&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/na-lcs-preseason-power-rankings\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">NA LCS Preseason Power Rankings<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":11767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2830,2724],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-esports","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16606,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11766\/revisions\/16606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberpowergaming.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}