Edward Gaming, who are at the top of the League of Legends power rankings

League of Legends global and regional power rankings for June 28

Upcomer Staff

Published: Jun 28, 2021 12:05 pm

As the major regions slowly approach the halfway point of the summer season, this week’s edition of Upcomer’s weekly League of Legends power rankings sees the most movement yet with plenty of newcomers.

10. NongShim REDFORCE, LCK

Record: 4-2 (9-7) | This week: 1-1 (2-2) | Movement: New

NongShim REDFORCE make it into our League of Legends power rankings thanks to their semi-consistent play and their strength in the jungle and bot lane. The team centers around jungler Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, who continued his generally great performances this split. Peanut now sits at a 6.6 KDA (kill/death/assist) and averages a 100-plus gold lead at the 15 minute mark, according to Games of Legends. However, this squad is more than just Peanut carrying them on Nidalee.

NS RedForce have one of the top bot laners in League of Legends Champions Korea in Seo “deokdam” Dae-gil. Deokdam, while not the best in-lane performer, is one of the league’s better teamfighting bot laners, especially when on his best champion, Ezreal. He has the second highest damage per minute in the league, just behind Gen.G bot laner Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk, at 545. He also contributes 28% of his team’s overall damage in matches, according to Oracle’s Elixir.

NS RedForce are a part of the volatile LCK mid table but have remained in the top half of the standings for the first four weeks. That being said, they did drop a game to a surging Fredit BRION this past week. They may have made our top 10 for now, but Fredit BRION and Afreeca Freecs are on their heels, both in the LCK and in our rankings.

— Declan McLaughlin

9. Rogue, LEC

Rogue after winning an LEC match — Rogue debut on the League of Legends power rankings thanks to their dominate wins over the weekend. | Provided by Riot Games

Record: 5-2 | This week: 2-0 | Movement: New

Rogue make their debut appearance at No. 9 in our rankings for several reasons, the biggest of which is their consistency in the LEC. They ended Week 3 with dominant wins over Schalke 04 and Astralis and, with only two losses in seven games, sit in third place in the LEC standings. Rogue’s famed calm and controlled play style was particularly on display in their game against Schalke. The team made it impossible for their opponents to find their footing from the beginning.

Rogue’s Steven ”Hans sama” Liv and Adrian “Trymbi” Trybus are almost unstoppable in the bot lane this summer split. They currently lead the league in 2v2 kills with seven to their names. Furthermore, when compared to other teams, Rogue’s early game has been the best so far this split. This sees them topping most of the early game statistics, according to Oracle’s Elixir.

Their ability to extend their early game lead into the mid and late game stages makes it difficult for teams to mount comebacks against them. While several in the League community have often criticized Rogue for their ‘safe’ playstyle, it cannot be denied that they have found great success with it. However, their poor performance against top fighting teams willing to take more risks leaves them stuck in ninth place for now.

— Rashidat Jimoh

8. 100 Thieves, LCS

Record: 21-9 | This week: 3-0 | Movement: New

100 Thieves started the season out strong and determined to make it to the top, and they’re doing just that. Ranking right below TSM in the LCS standings, this team isn’t afraid to stomp games while keeping it fun. With the addition of mid laner Felix “Abbedagge” Braun’s killer play and strategic ability, he’s quickly taking over the spotlight as the best mid laner this season.

For Week 4, 100 Thieves defeated one of the top three teams in the standings, Cloud9, while maintaining that momentum against Immortals. They weren’t afraid to stand up against C9, and instead worked together to initiate successful teamfights, contributing to their strong objective control. 100 Thieves bot laner Ian Victor “FBI” Huang also showed his major leadership skills as he went 5/0. Overall, 100 Thieves have shown an incredible amount of teamwork and synergy, deserving a spot on Upcomer’s weekly League of Legends power rankings.

— Carly Soba

7. Misfits Gaming, LEC

Record: 6-1 | This week: 2-0 | Movement: New

Misfits had an incredibly impressive week in the LEC, as stomping their opponents earned them a spot in Upcomer’s League of Legends power rankings. Their first game against Excel was a quick, 25-minute match, which saw them carry a 15-kill and four-dragon difference to the end. Going against S04 was a piece of cake for them, too, as they ended the match at the 30-minute mark. Misfits earned 21 kills and repeated the same control as their previous game. Misfits jungler Iván “Razork” Martín Díaz never backed down in teamfights and really helped keep his team’s focus on important objectives. The synergy between Misfits support Oskar “Vander” Bogdan and bot laner Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup also contributed to the team’s quick wins this weekend.

Excel isn’t one of the major contenders this split, and neither is Schalke 04, but Misfits keep bringing on entertaining games that prove why they’re currently the best team in the LEC. Overall, Misfits’ teamwork is apparent, and so far no Misfits player is being left behind, as everyone has each others’ backs. Misfits dominated this week’s games, and if this momentum keeps up, they’ll continue to stay at the top of the standings.

— Soba

6. DWG KIA, LCK

DWG KIA playing in the LCK arena — While their lane-shifted roster finally lost this week, DWG KIA are still one of the strongest teams in the LCK. | Provided by Riot Games

Record: 4-2 (9-6) | This week: 1-1 (3-3) | Movement: -1

DWG KIA continued with their lane-swapped roster this week and stayed in the middle of our rankings by splitting their two series.

The team recorded their first game and series losses with Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu in the mid lane and Heo “ShowMaker” Su in the bot lane in Week 3 against Fredit BRION, which showed many of their current strengths and weaknesses. While the team can still gain early leads or teamfight their way out of early deficits, when put too far behind, DWG KIA don’t have the same magic to bring a game back. Fredit BRION routed DWG KIA in their two losses and showcased what they can do with an early lead in their lone win. DWG KIA then went on to dispatch Hanwha Life Esports with just a minor hiccup in the first match.

So far, the team’s lane swap shenanigans have revived their spirits and not held them back much in-game. As time moves on, Canyon may come to master another role and maybe earn an MVP from the mid lane. While he doesn’t have the best lane statistics in the league, his roams have been instrumental in their wins and his teamfighting is almost comparable to Showmaker. But the real test for both DWG KIA and Canyon comes next week, as they take on NS RedForce and Gen.G.

— McLaughlin

5. Rare Atom, LPL

Record: 5-1 (10-5) | This week: 2-0 (4-2) | Movement: New

Rare Atom, formerly known as Vici Gaming, have had a quiet but good year so far. This week, they finally made enough noise to land themselves in our League of Legends power rankings for the first time.

In Week 3, Rare Atom went up against Top Esports and Team WE. In their series against Top Esports, RA dropped game one in 24 minutes. Game two saw RA drop TES in just as short a time frame thanks to bot lane carry Hu “iBoy” Xian-Zhao, who went 7/0/6 on Varus. Game three, meanwhile, was wild; Down 10k gold at 38 minutes, RA made the hero call to five-man backdoor the TES base and successfully stole the series.

In their final series of the week, RA traded the first two games against WE to set up another game three scenario. Unlike their game three against TES, RA dominated from start to finish on the back of iBoy’s Jinx.

RA might not have the big names and they might not have clean 2-0 sweeps, but they do have multiple impressive wins and the record to back them up. Their lone series loss of the split was to Edward Gaming, who currently look like the best team in the world. Besides that, they have not been beaten in a best of three. Their next big test comes next week against the other undefeated team in the LPL, Li-Ning Gaming.

— Warren Younger

4. Gen.G, LCK

Gen.G posing after a game — Gen.G are the best team in the LCK, though are only at No. 4 due to the strength of the LPL. | Provided by Riot Games

Record: 6-0 (12-4) | This week: 2-0 | Movement: -2

Thanks to Gen.G COO Arnold Hur’s diligence on social media, we know that Gen.G have completed yet another perfect week in South Korea’s LCK. After back-to-back 2-0 victories against Liiv SANDBOX and Afreeca Freecs, the only reason Gen.G are sitting lower in this week’s ranking is because the LPL is just that strong.

As the weeks go by, Gen.G continue to put up big numbers in the LCK. Mid laner Gwak “BDD” Bo-seong has the second highest damage per minute of all mid laners at 466. Meanwhile, star marksman Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk leads all bot laners in a jaw-dropping seven different categories: DPM (646), CS per minute (10.6), CS% after 15 minutes (34%), team damage share percentage (32%), earned gold per minute (338), wards cleared per minute (.61) and team gold share percentage (28.1%) according to Oracle’s Elixir.

Gen.G is one of the first major region teams to really settle into their spot at the top of their league, given how they’ve distinguished themselves from other top LCK teams. Soon, within the next two weeks most likely, they’ll face their biggest challenge of the summer split so far: Patch 11.13. The update introduces a slew of new changes to adapt to, including item mobility stat adjustments, significant changes to champions like Tahm Kench and two new items in Anathema’s Chains and Hullbreaker.

— Nick Ray

3. FunPlus Phoenix, LPL

Record: 5-1 (11-4) | This week: 2-0 (4-1) | Movement: +1

FunPlus Phoenix found a 2-0 week to jump back up in the rankings after their single series loss against LNG Esports in Week 2 of the LPL summer split.

FPX are fast. They start playing the game immediately upon loading up into the Rift and they don’t ever pump the brakes. They often group up early game, leaving their bot laner, Lin “Lwx” Wei-Xiang, behind to farm while they take over objectives and dive mid and top. In their series against Team WE, they got every single drake, riding on the back of Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang’s control of the jungle and the constant pressure placed by their solo laners. The team truly does move as a unit throughout almost all stages of the game.

Against RNG, they had a few more issues, but were still more than capable of securing the series win. Their one big pain point was top laner Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon, who got solo killed multiple times in the first two games against the RNG legend, Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao. But as Nuguri always does, he was able to stabilize and still contribute to late game fights. And in game three, he got the counter pick and flipped the script, dominating the lane himself.

FPX’s biggest strength that series was mid laner Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang, who consistently put Yuan “Cryin” Cheng-Wei behind by at least 100 minions and left the series with a 12.4 KDA, compared to Cryin’s measly 1.2.

The 2019 World Champions look arguably better than they did when they won that trophy, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement from them. They have a bunch of upper-middle teams in their schedule over the next few weeks, so the pressure is on to prepare well and keep up the momentum to retain their place, both in the standings and in our League of Legends power rankings.

— Parkes Ousley

2. LNG Esports, LPL

Record: 7-0 (14-4) | This week: 2-0 (4-1) | Movement: +1

LNG are still undefeated nearing the halfway point of the split. They’ve lost individual games but have won every series so far, even against multiple strong LPL opponents. They’ve taken down a ton of big names, both current and historic, including Invictus Gaming, JD Gaming, FPX and RNG. They’ve proven they’re not just pretenders, but legitimate contenders, sitting at a very comfortable 7-0 with only two of the current top LPL teams left in their schedule: Rare Atom and Edward Gaming.

However, despite sitting first in the standings, they haven’t proven that they should rank better than EDG, who sit right below them. In LNG’s series against the 1-5 TT Gaming, they lost the second game and looked pretty rough doing so. They didn’t have a super clean game three either, losing two big teamfights in the mid game that could’ve easily given them their first series loss against a bottom team. Luckily for their win streak, they turned it on before their nexus fell.

Overall, they’re a very smart team, with coordinated moves in the early game. They’ve completely turned around their performance from spring and have solidified their separation from the middling LPL teams below them. They’ve got RA on the schedule this week, and if they take them down, they’ll start to break away from all non-EDG teams as well. They just can’t play like they did against TT, or else it’ll all crumble before them.

— Ousley

1. Edward Gaming, LPL

Record: 6-0 (12-1) | This week: 2-0 (4-0) | Movement: –

Edward Gaming find themselves at the top of the League of Legends power rankings for the second straight week after another dominating display in the third week of the LPL summer split. In Week 3, EDG went up against the middle of the pack: Suning and JD Gaming. Neither series was competitive.

They dismantled both Suning JD Gaming in a pair of two game series to round out the week. Their match against JDG was a particularly dominant performance from the current top dogs of the LPL, as JDG failed to take a single tower in either game. EDG also have not lost a single game since their opening game of the split against BiliBili Gaming, when they still reverse swept to take the series. They are currently on a 12-game win streak.

Another strong point for EDG is the depth of their roster. In each of their four game wins in Week 3, a different member of the team picked up player of the game honors. The only player who didn’t was bot laner Park “Viper” Do-hyeon, who many consider to already be one of the best players in the world. With a roster as talented as theirs and a 12-game win streak that is leaving other teams lost, it’s clear that EDG are currently the best team in the world.

— Younger