Here are ESTNN's power rankings for the 2020 LEC Summer Split.
The League of Legends European Championship (LEC) is set to return this week. With a little time left, its time to look at all ten teams and predict who's hot, who's not, and how the Summer Split may unfold!
10. Team Vitality
Vitality had a pretty terrible Spring Split, they’ve decided to do something about that by changing… not enough in our opinion. Vitality can do nothing but improve on its disaster in Spring, and while the team looked to move past former mid-laner Jiizuke, they’ve truly not looked the same since the side with Jiizuke in the mid lane and YamatoCannon coaching.
The side will finally feature mid-laner Aljoša “Milica” Kovandžić, and Academy jungler Cantoursna “Nji” An moves to the starting roster. With top and bot lane remaining the same, and fierce competition in the mid and jungle roles in Europe, the season could be a coinflip for Vitality, and may well depend on how well and how quickly the team gell.
9. SK Gaming
Back in Spring, we thought SK Gaming went into the split as the worst side. We got that one wrong, they came ninth and that’s what we think will happen again this time. So with our track record, they might just make 8th. All joking aside, SK Gaming hasn’t looked to make any major changes coming into Summer, as it looks like they’ll continue to work with what they’ve got.
The notable addition to the LEC side is mid laner Dirk “ZaZee” Mallner, who most recently played at EU Masters with BIG and certainly looks to be someone who can do the business. Much like Milica at Vitality, however, he has a lot of competition in the LEC mid lane. The chance to play his first split in the LEC will be a great place to prove his worth.
8. Schalke 04
Though Schalke didn’t have a great start to hte Spring Split, the team picked up in the second half when they signed ADC Nihat “Innaxe” Aliev and they started to look like a solid side. While we suspect the side will improve, and its win against G2 showed the side had potential, the team still has work to do ahead of becoming a force in the LEC.
Fans will be Forg1ven for forgetting about the start of the year, and hopefully, Schalke can improve as the season goes on, make changes in the preseason as required, and become a force in 2021.
7. Misfits Gaming
Top 7 is where it gets real in the LEC, honestly, Misfits Gaming could easily be 5th as they are 7th. The addition of Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup in the ADC role makes the team legitimately terrifying, however, they have their issues and those might just cost them in the long run.
One key issue that needs to be sorted for Misfiits Gaming is mid lane. The mid lane combination of Ronaldooo/Febiven could make or break the side. Febiven is one of the most storied players in the EU League of Legends but he hasn’t been himself since joining Misfits. Then comes his fellow mid laner, Ronaldooo. If he can push for the starting spot ahead of 2021, Misfits Gaming might just make playoffs in Summer.
6. Excel Esports
I’ll be honest, I have a soft spot of Excel. Is it because they’re the underdog, and secretly as a British lad I just have to support them? Possibly, dear reader, possibly. Excel has the potential to be something special, they’re trying to create something Special, and with YoungBuck as head coach you just have to believe.
Excel goes into Summer having brought in top laner Felix “Kryze” Hellström and promoting mid laner Joran “Special” Scheffer to the starting roster. Kryze certainly has his fans, and he’s a name to look out for in Summer Split. Special is the key here, however. He tore up the UKLC and looked more than comfortable in the EU Masters. Now, as he returns to the LEC he needs to step up and prove his worth. If he does that, Excel could easily make playoffs, and who knows, even Worlds.
5. Rogue
Rogue is one of the sides who have not changed their roster as they go into Summer Split. The side had a decent showing in Spring, finishing 5th place and losing out to Origen in playoffs. With an unchanged roster, Rogue has one advantage on teams below them in this ranking, synergy. If they can utilize that to the full effect they could shine in Summer.
Rogue is unlikely to break into the top 4 as we go into Summer, however, if Emil “Larssen” Larsson can continue to improve on what he showed in Spring Split then Rogue might just have the makeup of a top 4 place in the LEC.
4. Mad Lions
How we got Mad Lions so wrong at the start of the year. Formally known as Splyce, Mad Lions came in with a fresh look in Spring, the Spanish underdog started out rocky but ended the split in playoffs, even knocking G2 into the lower bracket in the process. While ultimately they couldn’t beat G2 the second time, they put their stamp on the LEC and showed that they mean business.
The two key players for Mad Lions, if we had to pick two would be jungler Zhiqiang “Shad0w” Zhao and Matyáš “Carzzy” Orság. The latter of which has put his mark on the bot lane with his aggressiveness and has quickly become one of the players to fear in the LEC.
3. Origen
It’s attempt number four for Origen in Summer Split. It’s hard to deny that when Origen announced it would be returning to LoL it was greeted with considerable hype. With EU legends xPeke and Deficio involved in the organization and a stacked roster to boot, Origen looked set to dominate.
It really hasn’t quite gone to plan, 2019 started well, ended the Spring split in second having lost to G2 Esports in the Playoff Finals, it all sort of fell apart in the Summer, however. A regular-season 8th place left fans disappointed. They somewhat clawed it back in Spring, finishing third. The team looks strong, as it did in Spring, and maybe, just maybe it’s time for Origen to show what they’re made of.
2. Fnatic
The loss of Broxah at the start of the split had fans worried. While it meant the team that lost out in 2019 had changed, it was probably doing some in the one role fans didn’t feel needed changing. It looked like Fnatic was putting its trust in Rekkles, and Spring looked like it had played off, Rekkles looked like a much better player after a rough end to 2019 and going into Summer Rekkles, now in his 5th year with Fnatic needs to prove once again why he’s become the face of Fnatic League of Legends.
Whilst no longer rookies, Selfmade and Nemesis will look to strike this split and prove they can compete with the very best. The big questions that Fnatic will need to answer is, are any of their rosters the best in the league in their role? Top laner Bwipo hasn’t looked his best, Selfmade in the jungle took time to get going whilst Nemesis still looks a little way off the top spot. Rekkles and Hylissang are a standout pair for Fnatic, and with the meta “slightly” shifting back to ADC the bot lane pair could be extremely important.
1. G2 Esports
There really isn’t much you can say about G2 Esports that hasn’t been said 100 times before. They’ve moved their MVP mid laner Perkz to ADC so they could sign another MVP mid laner in Caps. A year later, two LEC titles an MSI title and World’s final appearance in the bag and they move Perkz back to mid lane and put Caps to ADC.
G2 Esports is ridiculous. When they lose, it almost looks like they did it on purpose, or to give others false hope. People talk about how ‘well, they’ve beaten G2 so they must be good,” we’ve done it twice in this article… but yet G2 soldier on, crushing everyone in their wake. Sure, they’ve not won Worlds yet, but honestly, with an MSI title already, Worlds just seems like a matter of time for G2.
G2 will likely get another LEC title, they’ll be unbeaten in the LEC times, 7th European title in a row, and will cement the roster as one of the greatest of all times.
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Images via Riot Games.
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