LEC Summer 2022 Power Rankings

LEC Summer is just around the corner. It’s time we took a look at how we expect the split to pan out.

10. Astralis

“Started at the bottom now we here” doesn’t seem so impressive when “here” means “still at the bottom,” but it’s the expected position for Astralis. Admittedly, this team has undergone significant changes since Spring, but the steps feel more sideways than forwards. Vizicsasci and Xerxe are familiar names, but both are coming from less than stellar points in their careers. The former comes from a stint on Gamers Origin that saw the team eliminated in round one of LFL play-offs. The latter is joining off the back of a last place finish in the LCS.

The third and final piece in the puzzle is the relatively unknown Korean player JeongHoon. While finishing middle of the table Korean challenger is arguably more prestigious than last place in the LCS, JeongHoon remains unproven. Maybe he’ll be the answer to Astralis’ woes, but it seems unlikely. Look out for his Seraphine, though.

All in all, Astralis has a lot of problems and overhauling the roster so dramatically – and with such unimpressive names – doesn’t feel like the answer to any of them.

9. BDS

I know, I know. Bold of me to pick the bottom two teams from spring to be bottom in summer, too. I’ll mix things up eventually, I swear, but nothing BDS did in the off season makes me think they will improve their standing. Swapping two academy players into the starting line-up is nice for the European talent factory, but since we’re talking about the academy of one of the worst teams in the LEC it’s hard to get excited.

In truth, there’s not much more to say about BDS. They finished 9th in spring, swapped in two academy players, and will likely finish 9th again. If anything, they will be looking over their shoulders at Astralis, in case Xerxe and Vizicsacsi can recover their old Splyce form.

8. SK Gaming

Look, if BDS swaps a couple of players and gets ranked in the same place as last split, what am I supposed to do when SK changes no players whatsoever? The teams below SK in spring are about as good as they were before while the team above them got a significant upgrade.

It’s hard to get excited about SK. It’s hard to even get interested in them, frankly. This is a squad that has lower mid-table written all over it, just like it did before spring split. When a team finishes 8th and holds onto the same roster, it means one of two things. Either they trust in that team to progress and improve or they have no ambition (or funding) to do so. Since SK looked so mediocre last split, I can only assume SK is fine with things the way they are.

7. Misfits

Alright, here we go. The third place team from spring dropping four places? Really? Really. A lot of people considered Misfits to be a solved equation after an ignominious spring play-offs. Losing to G2 has since been proven to be understandable, but going 1-6 overall after a third place finish was a disappointment. Since then, they lost Hirit and replaced him with their academy top laner, Irrelevant. Now, Misfits Premier isn’t a bad team, and they did have a positive record in the highly competitive LFL last split, but this is hardly an exciting replacement.

Realistically, Misfits is still a solid team, but with many of the teams around them improving over the break, they will struggle to replicate their spring form. Surely Vitality can’t be as bad as they were previously, Excel look to be heading in the right direction since adding Mikyx and G2 showed signs of former glories during MSI.

6. MAD Lions

From back-to-back split champions and a top eight finish at Worlds last year, how the mighty have fallen. MAD Lions finished seventh in spring 2022 with an 8-10 record, missing out on play-offs for the first time since they joined the league. Yikes. Apparently, losing one of the best mid-laners in the LEC is kind of a big deal. Does it explain such a catastrophic fall from grace, though? Well, with Nisqy at the helm we might just find out.

If Nisqy and his new team hit the ground running, I can see them pushing for a much higher spot than this. The reason I have them in sixth is because I expect there to be at least some teething problems. Both parties need to adapt to each other and MAD Lions must surely have some confidence issues after such a poor spring split. Still, they did only miss out on play-offs by one spot, and I’d be shocked if they failed to make it again.

5. Excel

I’d love to put my home team even higher than this, but Summer is often where the cream truly rises to the top and I can’t see XL cracking top four. They’re genuinely a decent team now, especially since the addition of Mikyx, but the rest of the squad doesn’t quite match up as favourably with the competition. It’s awkward, because I expect Excel to push on and be even better than they were in spring, it’s just that I also expect the teams above them to push on even more.

That said, I don’t think XL should be too unhappy with securing a second play-offs berth in a row. After years without any, this is a good time to consolidate the organisation as regular top half finishers. And who knows, if Vitality don’t get their shit together, XL could crack top four.

4. Vitality

This is a difficult one. Expectations going into summer were very high for this team. In reality, they were exactly average, finishing 6th with nine wins and nine losses. They narrowly squeaked past XL in round one of the play-offs, only to immediately lose 3-0 in round two. Over and over, people gave Vitality the benefit of the doubt and claimed it was a matter of time until they came good. Well, it’s summer split now and we’re still waiting.

To make this even more complicated, their only roster changed saw their best performing player in Spring benched. Admittedly, his replacement is a big name with true veteran status, but it’s a big name whose best years seem to be behind him. Haru’s last season in the LCK saw his HLE team finish 2-16, and he’s been in lesser league wilderness ever since.

And yet I still have Vitality in fourth. I just think that if all the pieces come together, the talent on this team is too much for it to struggle forever. Too big to fail is a dangerous mind set, but I’m giving them one more chance. Summer is a dangerous split, though, and if they don’t pull together quickly they could end up struggling to even make play-offs in such a competitive environment.

3. Rogue

Ah, Rogue. The perennial nearly men. They’ve won three regular splits at this point, and not a single one of them has turned into a play-offs success. Call them chokers, call them best-of-one specialists, the result is the same.

They come into summer split with no changes, raring to go again and make summer 2022 the split they finally turn first place into first place. Naturally, then, I dropped them two places. Maybe this is an overreaction to G2’s miracle run; maybe I just felt I had to put something a little controversial into my ranking. Either way, G2 seems to be singing from the same hymn sheet at last, and I just think Fnatic is a better team than Rogue. This is the ranking I’m least confident in, so don’t be surprised if the best-of-one masters take home yet another top of the table finish.

2. Fnatic

Fnatic fell apart in the play-offs of spring split and the fact that they are running back the exact same roster says to me that they are confident they can fix whatever caused that. They had a good regular split with a few unexpected hiccups. The shock they got from losing 3-0 to G2 should have cured those, though, and I expect this team to be pushing for top spot.

The only reason I don’t think they’ll make it is because G2 looked like world beaters during parts of MSI. Indeed, one of Fnatic’s best hope for pushing their way into first place is if G2 are struck by the infamous post-MSI downturn. If that’s the case, they will be battling it out with Rogue, which is problematic. After splitting the regular season games, Rogue reverse swept Fnatic in play-offs. Whether or not that gives them a mental edge, we’ll find out on opening day. Either way, Fnatic feels like the second best team in the league right now. The question is, who will be above them?

1. G2

I know G2’s MSI run ended ignominiously. I know post-MSI slump is a thing that affects many teams, but hear me out. G2 looked like its 2019 self during for a few glorious days in May.

I said in the section about Rogue that they were the hardest team to rank, but part of that is because G2 could finish almost anywhere. I have them at first, because at their peak – at Caps’ peak in particular – they look unbeatable. However, it took a miracle run for them to win spring split after an okay regular season and we all saw what happened in the knockout stages of MSI. G2 finishing first is dependent on which of their two personalities show up. If the good Doctor Jekyll makes an appearance, they are favourites to win it all. G2 fans should pray Mr Hyde stays home for the summer.