We are nearing the playoffs for the 2019 Spring Split and that means every game in the upcoming weeks matters. In the LEC, eight teams are still alive for the postseason, with only a game separating eighth-place Fnatic from fifth.
To try to figure out where the teams stand as the gap in the rankings gets closer, our voters ranked each squad from one point (worst) to 10 points (best). For another week, there wasn’t much change, but with things getting closer in the middle of the rankings, even small changes could flip things a lot.
Rank | Team | Points |
1) | G2 | 20 |
2) | Team Vitality | 18 |
3) | FC Schalke 04 | 15 |
3) | Splyce | 15 |
5) | Misfits | 11 |
6) | SK Gaming | 10 |
7) | Origen | 9 |
8) | Fnatic | 6 |
9) | Excel Esports | 4 |
10) | Rogue | 2 |
A breakdown of each tier is as follows:
Here again: Excel, Rogue
There is a lot of excitement for the playoffs, but none of it resides in here. Once again, the only victory one of these two teams earned was when Rogue beat Excel. That’s nothing to write home about.
Getting interesting: Misfits, Origen, SK, Fnatic
Just one game separates all of these teams. Just when we thought Origen looked like they were getting better, they dropped two straight last week and now head into tough matchups with Splyce and Vitality. Fnatic are getting their stuff back together and a successful Sivir game helped.
SK continue to punch above their weight and are one team that would be fun to see in the playoffs. And Misfits, left for dead a few weeks ago, are finally figuring out how to convert their early leads. There are still issues in their execution but it’s a lot improved form the early portions of the split.
Treading water: Schalke, Splyce, Vitality
These three teams continue to hover just above the others. Schalke actually lost both games last week, though one was against G2. We were worried about mid priority for them heading into the second half of the split, and that’s one problem they have yet to fully solve.
Splyce dropped a game to Vitality in which they had a strong early game—a bit of a surprise—before getting outscaled. Their jungle Sylas didn’t help as they basically closed the game playing four-vs-five.
Then Vitality turned around and lost to Fnatic. We’ve written before how we have to yet see Vitality bot laner Amadeu “Attila” Carvalho play consistently on crit ADCs, and after that loss, the jury is still out. He eventually became a factor in that game on Ashe, but then Vitality whiffed on a backdoor attempt as Fnatic stole the game.
Vitality has interesting matches coming up against Misfits and Origen to maintain their place above the fray. It won’t be until the week after, when they play G2, that we’ll see if they can ascend up a tier altogether.
Alone at the top: G2
G2 is once again lonely at the top as the rest of the region shows inconsistency around them. They may yet lose this split, but we may not see a serious challenge to them until the playoffs.
All photos via Riot Games.
Published: Feb 27, 2019 10:00 am