Edward Gaming remain at the top of our LoL power rankings

LoL global and regional power rankings for July 20

Upcomer Staff

Published: Jul 20, 2021 10:00 am

This week’s LoL power rankings brought back a few familiar faces who spent some time in the depths of “ranked 11th and lower,” Royal Never Give Up, PSG Talon, and T1.

10. T1, LCK

Record: 7-5 (16-12) | This week: 2-0 (4-1) | Movement: New

After a full month off our LoL power rankings, T1 have barely scraped back in with their 4-1 week. After taking down Gen.G in Week 5 of the League of Legends Champions Korea, T1 proved they had the potential to be a top team, but they hadn’t been consistently good long enough for us to fully buy into T1 stock. But then in Week 6, T1 took out DWG KIA as well and won convincingly against KT Rolster.

T1 still needs to solve some issues — most notably regarding their coaching staff. T1 have been utilizing a 10 man roster, which is, at best, difficult to manage, and, at worst, catastrophic for overall growth and team synergy. But just hours before their match against KT, T1 released both of their coaches and promoted former assistant coach Son “Stardust” Seok-hee to be their interim head coach.

Either the team truly is strong and the new coaches are already working well or T1 overperformed and will soon come crashing down. For now, we’re excited about the team’s performance. If they look shaky this week, however, they’ll likely be back off the list for a while.

— Parkes Ousley

9. Rare Atom, LPL

Record: 7-4 (17-11) | This week: 0-2 (2-4) | Movement: -5

The so-called enigma of the LPL had an unexpected week. After rising all the way to No 2. in the region, Rare Atom turned around and dropped both of their matches last week. Their loss to FunPlus Phoenix was a slugfest which further demonstrated that RA can hang with the top teams. But their other loss was inexcusable.

Looking to get back on track with the bottom feeding Rogue Warriors, RA randomly dropped Game 1 of the series. In a match that was an afterthought to many fans, RA struggled. In 38 minutes, RW took out an RA squad they had caught off guard. Game 2 saw RA get the expected comeback win to tie the series up at one a piece. However, RA needed a whole 44 minutes to beat a scrappy RW squad that wouldn’t go down. At the same time, for a majority of the mid-to-late game, RW had a gold lead. It wasn’t until a fight around Elder Dragon 40 minutes into the game that RA were able to win a clean fight and end the game.

Game 3 was a methodical stomp, but not from RA. Rogue Warriors swung a mid game teamfight into a snowbally 33 minute win to get the 2-1 upset. RA are now 7-4 and sit at 5th in the standings. In one week they showed they can play well against top teams but can also play down to weaker competition. No one really knows which RA will show up when playoffs come around.

— Warren Younger

8. PSG Talon, PCS

Record: 8-0 | This week: 3-0 | Movement: New

PSG Talon is currently undefeated in the PCS, and this top-tier team deserves a spot in our LoL power rankings as a result. Not only are they showing unity and great communication throughout their games, but they’re also showcasing strength and confidence. Their match against Liyab Esports included a 21-minute baron, 5K gold difference and plenty of objective control. Not only that, but top laner Su “Hanabi” Chia-Hsiang’s mechanics earned him six kills. Next to Hanabi is PSG bot laner Wong “Unified” Chun Kit, who has established himself as a star with his kills and skills throughout this season.

The team’s only real struggles occurred during their recent match against Impunity Esports. The early game was a bit tough for PSG, but they gained strength toward mid-game. Although they didn’t have as much objective control as IMP, they dominated in teamfights with the help of Huang “Maple” Yi-tang and Unified. The overall wins helped them push toward the Nexus and end the game.

So far it seems PSG began at the top and will gatekeep everyone else from there. It’ll take a dedicated, focused team to topple them in the PCS.

— Carolynn Soba

7. DWG KIA, LCK

DWG KIA Canyon — DWG KIA went 0-2 for the first time this season, causing them to plummet down our power rankings. | Provided by Riot Games

Record: 7-5 (18-12) | This week: 0-2 (2-4) | Movement: -4

DWG KIA took a bit of a tumble thanks to back-to-back 2-1 series losses. NongShim REDFORCE and a resurgent T1 gave DWG KIA their first 0-2 week of the season. They did take a convincing game off of each squad, but their performance in the losses was questionable.

Against NS, they let Kim “Gori” Tae-woo in Game 1 and Seo “deokdam” Dae-gil in Game 3 scale quickly on their late game carries, which put DWG KIA in unwinnable scenarios. In their losses against T1, they let the Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok-led squad take a slow-and-steady 47-minute win in Game 2 and gave up an embarrassing 23 minute Game 3 filled with errors.

DWG KIA had a particularly rough week and did not look good in their losses, especially against T1. However, they have a light week ahead of them to build their resume back up.

— Declan McLaughlin

6. Royal Never Give Up, LPL

Record: 5-5 (14-10) | This week: 2-0 (4-0) | Movement: New

Fans of Royal Never Give Up are finally getting rewarded for their faith, as the MSI champions are starting to look like their old selves. After an abysmal 1-5 start to their summer split campaign, RNG have slowly been riding a win streak into Week 6 of the LPL season. But with no major tests up to that point, no one really knew if RNG were really back. After their marquee matchup with top dogs, Edward Gaming, that question has been answered.

In one of the cleanest 2-0 series seen in the LPL so far this year, RNG showed why they were 2-0 against EDG heading into the match and why they are still undefeated after. In both games, RNG dominated in every lane. Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao and Yan “Wei” Yang-Wei in particular posted incredible performances. The two picked up player of the game awards. The first team all-LPL jungler suffocated the map away from EDG’s jungler Zhao “JieJie” Li-Jie and made him a non-factor.

The once 1-5 team is now 5-5, but with RNG being the same team that won MSI and seemingly returning to form by dismantling the current number one ranked team in the world, perhaps they should have the benefit of the doubt that their first half of the summer split was a fluke. From here on out, this RNG team could be a threat to win back-to-back splits in the LPL for the first time since 2018.

— Younger

5. Gen.G, LCK

Record: 9-2 (18-10) | This week: 1-0 (2-1) | Movement: +2

Gen.G had a relatively quiet week as they took down a middling Hanwha Life Esports squad. The benefactor of this week’s chaos, they’ve climbed our LoL power rankings by virtue of consistency and having only one game in Week 6. As the current top team in the LCK standings, Gen.G took their wins against Hanwha Life with ease, fighting 3v5 at times in Game 1, and almost ended the series early in Game 2.

Gen.G are still bottom lane focused, prioritizing safe or playmaking picks for Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk. However, series like this prove that each laner on this team can win their matchups and stomp their opponents if necessary to win games.

— McLaughlin

4. NongShim REDFORCE, LCK

NongShim posing — Peanut is excelling alongside the rest of his team, partially thanks to a favorable meta. | Provided by Riot Games

Record: 9-3 (20-11) | This week: 2-0 (4-1) | Movement: +5

NongShim REDFORCE are steadily climbing our LoL power rankings and the LCK standings as they put together more consistent play as the season goes along. They took out both DWG KIA and KT Rolster this week to vault themselves to second in the regular season standings with the best game score in the league at 20-11. The team has extended its win streak to four series and looks on point with Gori and deokdam setting into their roles as carries nicely. The current meta also favors their jungler, Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, who can engage on Diana and Xin Zhao or run around as a tank on Trundle and Volibear.

NongShim are riding high now and have a chance to solidify their spot among the rankings and LCK table in the coming weeks as their hardest matchup, Gen.G is their last game of the season.

— McLaughlin

3. Top Esports, LPL

Record: 6-4 (14-9) | This week: 1-1 (2-2) | Movement: +2

Top Esports have a lot to work on, but it turns out that most teams across the world do, too. Coincidentally enough, Top Esports is still figuring out their top lane, with Yu “Qingtian” Zi-Han remaining as the starter over the ever-dominant Bai “369” Jia-Hao previously. Qingtian has the second lowest damage share of all top laners, whereas 369 sat near the top of the list last spring. Qingtian also has the lowest kill participation out of all top laners who have played more than a few series, though that problem existed previously for the team as well.

It’s clear that the main core of Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan, Zhuo “knight” Ding and Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo are strong. Each are in the top of their positions across many recorded stats. But they each drop off in kill participation numbers, highlighting an issue in teamplay. League of Legends isn’t a three-player game, so if TES want to contend for the World Championship in the same way they did in 2020, they will need to bolster their teamwork and figure out how to incorporate their top laner a bit more.

— Ousley

2. FunPlus Phoenix, LPL

FPX Tian — Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang relaxing during the last week of the LPL. | Provided by FPX via Twitter

Record: 8-3 (18-9) | This week: 2-0 (4-1) | Movement: —

FPX showed a great deal of preparation in their most recent game against Top Esports. The team was set up for success early on with a major gold lead, four dragons and nine towers in Game 1. FPX Mid laner Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang showed great engagement and shot calling when it came to teamfights and objectives. At the same time, top laner Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon ended with the highest damage on the team. The game showed that FPX have their eyes on effective trade-offs and were focused on pushing to end as soon as possible.

In Game 2, FPX once again bullied TES in the early game, as they dove lanes to scare their opponent off. Unfortunately for TES, JackeyLove and Karsa showed major weakness throughout both games, giving FPX a focal point when they engaged in game-changing fights. Overall, FPX did a great job in disengaging when TES tried to take over and they found success by dominating in almost every situation.

— Soba

1. Edward Gaming, LPL

Record: 10-2 (20-5) | This week: 1-1 (2-2) | Movement: —

Edward Gaming started Week 6 of the LPL summer split with one of the most dominating performances in the history of League of Legends when they 2-0’d middle-of-the-pack LGD Gaming. In Game 2 of that series, EDG only needed 18 minutes to destroy LGD’s nexus, which is one of the fastest victories ever in the history of professional play. However, their second series of the week against the MSI champions, Royal Never Give Up was more newsworthy.

Throughout the summer split, EDG have been nearly untouchable. Outside of Week 1 and their one loss to Top Esports back in Week 4, EDG have 2-0’d every single team they have played. Coming into their match against RNG, they sat at an impressive 20-3 game record to go along with their 10-1 match record. That made losing 0-2 all the more painful for their record.

RNG simply dominated from start to finish in every lane. EDG top laner Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun, who has been one of the top performing top laners all split, folded against RNG’s Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao. In Game 1, Flandre only managed to deal 2,400 damage to enemy champions on Sett. RNG’s support Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming managed to deal more on Rakan.

Game 2 didn’t go much better. RNG again dominated from start to finish. The game only lasted 31 minutes and ended with a 13-1 kill score line. It wasn’t all on Flandre, though. Every player on EDG struggled.

The LPL’s best was humbled, as the current gods of the LPL showed that not only can they bleed, they can get knocked out cold. But with their nearly spotless track record so far this split and them bouncing back from their first loss with a vengeance, it’s going to take more than one loss to dethrone EDG from the top of Upcomer’s LoL power rankings.

— Younger