League of Legends global power rankings through Week 5
— -- We've altered our format a little bit to help make it easier to see the context of where each team sits in terms of strength. Each set of 10 gets its own category:
No. 1-No. 10 - World Contenders
No. 11-No. 20 - Playoff Contenders
No. 21-No. 30 - Middle of the Pack
No. 31-No. 40 - Struggling
No. 41-No. 50 - Bottom of the Barrel
We also added a +/- for each team so you can see the movement from week to week.
Note that LPL and LMS are off until Feb. 18. As such, some teams that did not play might move up or down depending on the shuffling around them.
World Contenders
1. ROX Tigers
Record: 7-0 | League: LCK | +/-: --
Another week down, another week when the ROX Tigers are the clear top team in the world. The Tigers handled e-mFire in a straightforward 2-0 victory, and they're now only two match wins from sweeping the first half of the split. They'll be tested this week with an intriguing matchup versus the surprising 5-2 Jin Air Green Wings.
2. Qiao Gu Reapers
Record: 5-0 | League: LPL | +/-: --
Did not play in Week 5.
3. SK Telecom T1
Record: 5-2 | League: LCK | +/-: +3
After starting off the season not looking like the team that decimated the 2015 World Championships, the reigning and defending Summoner's Cup champions are starting to find their groove. They put their foot down against rivals and surging KT Rolster in a 2-0 blowout that resembled their dominance from last year. Next up will be an anticipated match against the flexible roster of Longzhu Gaming.
4. AHQ
Record: 6-0-0 | League: LMS | +/-: --
Did not play in Week 5.
5. Immortals
Record: 10-0 | League: NA LCS | +/-: --
Immortals' blood-soaked win over Cloud9 wasn't clean enough to push them over idle AHQ for fourth place in the rankings, but it was the most fun game of the weekend. It feels as if the rookie juggernauts are playing with their food until one of the teams in the NA LCS has the ability to knock them down and take a game. Ten games into the season, no one has been able to do it.
6. KT Rolster
Record: 4-2 | League: LCK | +/-: -3
Week 5's clash with Telecom rival SKT was KT's chance to legitimize itself as the clear second-best team in South Korea and get revenge for last summer's sweep loss to SKT in the LCK grand finals. Things didn't go as Rolster would have hoped, as it got swept once more by SKT in a whitewash. Although a strong team in its own right, the losses to SKT and the Tigers have proved that Rolster still needs work if it wants to make it back to the LCK grand finals this split.
7. EDward Gaming
Record: 3-1 | League: LPL | +/-: +1
Did not play in Week 5.
8. Jin Air Green Wings
Record: 5-2 | League: LCK | +/-: +2
Did not play in Week 5.
9. G2 Esports
Record: 8-2 | League: EU LCS | +/-: --
G2 is still at the top of the standings, thanks to giving a Ryu-less H2K the boot this week, but overconfidence is starting to show chinks in the team's armor. It started the game against Vitality off strong, but an arrogant 2v4 dive bot lane and the subsequent loss of map control snowballed things out of its control.
10. H2k-Gaming
Record: 8-2 | League: EU LCS | +/-: -3
There has got to be a better way to approach Baron Nashor in H2K's playbook. Misplays around that single objective allowed UOL to pull a losing game into a close contender, and Nashor outright cost H2K a slow and favorable match against G2. Yet for all that, it's still tied for first.
Playoff Contenders
11. Royal Never Give Up
Record: 4-1 | League: LPL | +/-: --
Did not play in Week 5.
12. Team Vitality
Record: 7-3 | League: EU LCS | +/-: +4
The shocking turnaround versus G2 aside, Vitality has looked great lately. Origen was completely unprepared for Vitality's siege game -- the rain of spears and Tempered Fates effectively herded Origen straight into Vitality and Cabochard's hungry maw (of Malmortius).
13. Longzhu Gaming
Record: 4-3 | League: LCK | +/-: +5
It's nearly impossible to rank Longzhu because of its always-changing starting five. The two top half trios of Expession/Chaser/Coco and Flame/Crash/Frozen have their pros and cons, but the latter seems to be in a better position at the moment. The reinstatement of AD carry star Fury after his two-month suspension will add even more rotating to a superstar team that might have more talent than any team in the world but still has only five starting spots to use per game.
14. Samsung Galaxy
Record: 4-3 | League: LCK | +/-: -2
Did not play in Week 5.
15. Unicorns of Love
Record: 7-3 | League: EU LCS | +/-: -2
Rudy might play a great Kindred, but apparently that doesn't include knowing how to play against one. The Unicorns were able to scrape by against H2K only off the latter's mistakes. Against Fnatic, however, Hylissang and Vizicsacsi brilliantly found the game's key moment, setting Fox up for the snowball.
16. Flash Wolves
Record: 3-1-2 | League: LMS | +/-: -1
Did not play in Week 5.
17. Team SoloMid
Record: 7-3 | League: NA LCS | +/-: +11
TSM's been winning games up to this point, but even it was forced to admit that its prior victories were Pyrrhic at best. The only thing on fire this week, however, is CLG's hopes and dreams as TSM doused them and lit the match. Brutal, effective and one-sided.
18. Invictus Gaming
Record: 3-1 | League: LPL | +/-: -1
Did not play in Week 5.
19. Machi
Record: 3-1-2 | League: LMS | +/-: --
Did not play in Week 5.
20. Counter Logic Gaming
Record: 6-4 | League: NA LCS | +/-: -6
Not exactly their best game against TSM ever, to put it mildly. But what a game versus NRG! On the surface, it was a slow and stately affair, but the discipline and teamwork required to reduce it to a PVE match for Darshan to split push through is commendable.
Middle of the Pack
21. Cloud9
Record:6-4 | League: NA LCS | +/-: -1
The fight between Cloud9 and Team Liquid was tense and close for up to 18 minutes -- or when the Fate's Call/Pulverize combo got everybody but Jensen, allowing him to dunk on the enemy cluster with the entirety of his AOE package. Style takes the sting out of losing to Immortals (like everybody else).
22. Fnatic
Record: 6-4 | League: EU LCS | +/-: -1
Fnatic's still struggling to find its voice for 2016. The occasional glimmer of hope, like a dominant game versus Elements or Rekkles' early lead versus the Unicorns, doesn't do enough to hide a fundamental disjoint in the team's strategy. Notably, jungler Spirit's heavy farm style comes at the cost of his laners, who haven't consistently found early advantages.
23. CJ Entus
Record: 3-3 | League: LCK | +/-: +2
CJ Entus might actually be a good team? Maybe? Possibly? The little underdog that could is now .500 after a rocky start, and we are only two weeks from when Bdd can make his professional debut. It also has re-signed former CJ Entus jungler Daydream to help out the struggling Bubbling in the jungle. Playoffs are becoming more feasible by the day for CJ Entus fans.
24. Team WE
Record: 3-2 | League: LPL | +/-: -1
Did not play in Week 5.
25. Hong Kong Esports
Record: 2-3-1 | League: LMS | +/-: -2
Did not play in Week 5.
26. Snake Esports
Record: 3-2 | League: LPL | +/-: -2
Did not play in Week 5.
27. Taipei Assassins
Record: 3-2-1 | League: LMS | +/-: --
Did not play in Week 5.
28. Team Liquid
Record: 5-5 | League: NA LCS | +/-: +1
It was going so well versus Cloud9! Fate's Call and Pulverize to initiate a fight under Liquid's own turret should have been a devastating opener. But they missed Jensen, they ate a bunch of AOE, and the turret turned into a smoking crater with dead Liquid players scattered all over. Whoops.
29. Origen
Record: 5-5 | League: EU LCS | +/-: +1
2016's spring split has been a waiting game with Origen. The talent is there. The experience is there. The results leading up to the start of the split spelled out a dominant spring season victory for Origen. I guess the rest of Europe didn't get the script since Origen have been the definition of mediocrity this season, bouncing between looking slightly above average and slightly below average.
30. Vici Gaming
Record: 2-3 | League: LPL | +/-: +1
Did not play in Week 5.
Struggling
31. NRG Esports
Record: 5-5 | League: NA LCS | +/-: -5
NRG got wrecked. It had some great moves against CLG, with Impact making an impossible Baron steal, but all the mechanics and teamfighting in the world can't distract Darshan from almost single-handedly split-pushing to victory.
32. Masters 3
Record: 2-3 | League: LPL | +/-: --
Did not play in Week 5.
33. XGamers
Record: 2-1-3 | League: LMS | +/-: +3
Did not play in Week 5.
34. Team Impulse
Record: 4-6 | League: NA LCS | +/-: +3
Two Impulses showed up this week. The first was terrible: weak, reactive play against TSM that dropped turrets left and right. The second took lessons from the first and grinded away relentlessly at objectives to Dignitas' cost.
35. Echo Fox
Record: 3-7 | League: NA LCS | +/-: +13
Oh, this is much better. Having KFO and Froggen back on the roster has transformed the team into something worth watching. Those back-to-back-to-back Unstoppable Forces will probably put KFO under crosshairs for target bans.
36. Elements
Record: 4-6 | League: EU LCS | +/-: +4
Although Elements fans shouldn't start celebrating just yet, their grit and grind style could push this unsuspecting team out of the relegation zone and near a playoff spot. With Fnatic's constant changes and Origen's stagnant performances, Elements could come out of nowhere to steal a postseason berth.
37. Afreeca Freecs
Record: 1-6 | League: LCK | +/-: -4
Afreeca's chances at the playoffs likely came to an end in Week 5 when it dropped a must-win set against CJ Entus. It now sits at a lowly 1-6, and the next half of the season should be about growing as a team and prepping for summer instead of thinking about a top-five spot. There is talent on the Freecs, but it's time now for management to figure out which pieces it will need to change if it wants the team to contend for a postseason seed in the summer.
38. LGD Gaming
Record: 1-4 | League: LPL | +/-: --
Did not play in Week 5.
39. OMG
Record: 2-3 | League: LPL | +/-: --
Did not play in Week 5.
40. e-mFire
Record: 1-6 | League: LCK | +/-: -6
There is no fairy-tale season here for the thrown-together team that lost main sponsor NaJin right before the split started. It stole a game from SKT1, picked up a match victory and hasn't been outrightly terrible, yet its 1-6 record pretty much guarantees it a place outside the playoffs unless it goes on an incredible winning streak.
Bottom of the Barrel
41. Splyce
Record: 3-7 | League: EU LCS | +/-: --
Splyce is a legitimate rookie team. Unlike some other new teams that came in with big money and bought prized free agents, Splyce is a team that forged its way to the premier league through the Challenger scene. While playing in relegations is much more likely at the moment than making the playoffs, the win against Giants Gaming does at least prove this team can take care of business against the squads it needs to beat.
42. Dignitas
Record: 3-7 | League: NA LCS | +/-: -7
The good news is that Dignitas has worked out its individual mechanics issues. Even Billyboss is looking pretty solid these days, as he orients toward a tanky utility role. His Poppy did a nice job of locking people out of Magical Journeys, so the team as a whole now needs to work on integrating its strengths into a coherent strategy.
43. Energy Pacemaker.All
Record: 1-4 | League: LPL | +/-: +1
Did not play in Week 5.
44. SBENU Sonicboom
Record: 0-7 | League: LCK | +/-: -2
This season was supposed to be different for SBENU. It signed the hottest jungler prospect on the market, Flawless, and brought back its youngsters who had improved rapidly in 2015. But everything has been a mess for 0-7 Sonicboom, which has been able to take a few games off good teams such as Longzhu but not good enough to take home the match victory.
45. Midnight Sun
Record: 0-2-3 | League: LMS | +/-: -1
Did not play in Week 5.
46. Giants Gaming
Record: 1-9 | League: EU LCS | +/-: +3
Giants won a game! Giants won a game! The Spanish organization finally picked up its first game victory over the year with a win over equally hapless ROCCAT. Giants followed that up with a loss to Splyce, killing any momentum they got from their win the day before. Still, a win is a win, and, this low in the rankings, that's good enough for a bump in the standings.
47. ROCCAT
Record: 1-9 | League: EU LCS | +/-: -2
Nine straight losses for the Cats, and no loss felt worse than giving Giants Gaming its first win of the season. The Cats are equal with Giants in record, and, thanks to losing to the then-winless team, ROCCAT loses the head-to-head tiebreaker and sits last in the EU LCS. Not many would have seen this disastrous stretch of games coming after it upset Vitality on the opening day of the split.
48. Renegades
Record: 1-9 | League: NA LCS | +/-: -2
Freeze was able to hold a large farm advantage over Piglet, so it isn't as if the entire team is terrible across the board. But when Flaresz is teleporting to his death and Hakuho is dying constantly, turning Freeze's CS lead into a teamwide 4,000 gold deficit... Well, it's hard to pinpoint what flaw the team should start to fix.
49. Hyper Youth Gaming
Record: 0-5 | League: LPL | +/-: --
Did not play in Week 5.
50. COUGAR E-Sport
Record: 0-0-6 | League: LMS | +/-: --
Did not play in Week 5, still no logo in sight.