With the League of Legends Championship Series 2022 Lock In tournament officially over, North America is ready to join the other three major regions in kicking off regular season competition. Despite the late start, Lock In showed off the best possible preview of North America’s strongest teams heading into the start of spring.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world has been duking it out for the past few weeks as teams prepare for the middle of the season. While the League of Legends Pro League and League of Legends Champions Korea are looking fairly close with clear frontrunners like Edward Gaming, LNG Esports, T1 and Gen.G, the League of Legends European Championship has been ruled by Rogue, who boast a seven-game win-streak.
With things still uncertain so early into the season, here’s Upcomer’s latest list of the most impressive looking teams around the world right now.
10. KT Rolster, LCK
Record: 3-3 (8-6) | Results this week: 1-1 (3-2) | Movement this week: New
Oh hey, it looks like KT fans can once again get excited and buy tickets to board the KT Rolster hype train! Only $2.95, exclusively at Upcomer (happy results of said hype train not guaranteed).
Much like the meme, KT Rolster are on a bit of a rollercoaster of results at the moment. They win and lose when you usually don’t expect them to, like in their recent match against Gen.G. Easy sweep for the Church of Chovy? Not for the unbelievers in KT, no.
Top laner Kim “Rascal” Kwang-hee has looked like the team’s strong point in some of their games while former League of Legends Japan League superstar Lee “Aria” Ga-eul looks like he’s slowly but surely coming into his own despite a quieter start.
And the ride never ends, because when the LCK returns after the break, KT will take on fellow 3-3’ers DRX in a match to see who will pull away from that tie. Will KT win only to lose their next match and go 4-4? KT fans bite their nails in dreaded anticipation.
— E.G “Megalodontus” Kant
9. DWG KIA, LCK
Record: 3-3 (9-6) | Results this week: 1-1 (3-2) | Movement this week: -2
DK had a decent Week 3 with a win over Hanwha Life Esports and an exciting series against T1 that ended in a 2-1 victory for their opponents. However, the 2022 League of Legends World Championship finalists are still going through growing pains in the roster and have been splitting series week after week to the start of the LCK.
While their bot lane, jungle and mid lane all seem to perform alright individually, they haven’t been able to come together consistently. Also, their top side is still in development and inconsistent, as Noh “Burdol” Tae-yoon and Yoon “Hoya” Yong-ho continue to split time.
The LCK looks like a deep league this spring split and as the bottom team continue to improve (DRX are on the rise), DK may find themselves off this list if they don’t sting together a 2-0 week with their upcoming, light schedule.
— Declan McLaughlin
8. Rogue, LEC
Record: 7-0 | Results this week: 2-0 | Movement this week: New
Rogue are the kings of best-of-ones, as evidenced by their first place finish in the LEC Summer 2021 regular season and elimination of FunPlus Phoenix from Worlds. A lot of fans had lost faith after the offseason changes, but they are currently the biggest surprise in the LEC for maintaining their status. The addition of jungler Kim “Malrang” Geun-seong and bot laner Markos “Comp” Stamkopoulos worked out perfect.
In addition to a bot lane duo of Comp and Adrian “Trymbi” Trybus finding its footing, Malrang plays very well around his solo laners Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu and Emil “Larssen” Larsson who, are among the best in the LEC. Not only is their team dynamic really good but all of the players are performing exceptionally on an individual level.
Right now, Rogue are undefeated and have proven themselves against both Fnatic and Team Vitality. Each year there’s at least one European team in the top 8 of Worlds, so it’s only fair to have Rogue eighth in this ranking — at least until they drop a game.
— Brieuc “LEC Wooloo” Seeger
7. Weibo Gaming, LPL
Record: 4-1 (9-4) | Results this week: 1-0 (2-1) | Movement this week: New
Weibo Gaming is a new one for the power rankings and professional League of Legends in general. The giant social media corporation bought Suning’s slot in the LPL this off season, transferring nearly their entire roster while signing former world champion Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok for top lane.
Just two years ago, the majority of this roster was in the Worlds finals, but last year they struggled to even make it to the LPL playoffs. At the start of 2022, however, they seem to have more life in their play.
TheShy still has his volatile highs and lows, remaining an occasional liability, but he’s also reminded fans why he was considered the best top in the world a few years ago. Lê “SofM” Quang Duy has continued to play a good variety of champions, including assassins and tanky assassins.
The team has some things they need to clean up, and if they do, they could be en route to Worlds 2020 form, which would be a treat to watch.
— Parkes “parqueso” Ousley
6. Bilibili Gaming, LPL
Record: 3-1 (7-4) | Results this week: 1-1 (3-2) | Movement this week: +4
Even though they are undefeated no more, Bilibili Gaming rise in this week’s global power rankings due to their continued consistency against the LPL’s best. In Week 2, BLG put a stop to Oh My God’s undefeated streak with a 2-1 win that showcased the strength of their new super-carry, bot laner Chiu “Doggo” Tzu-Chuan, who came over from Beyond Gaming in the off-season.
Carrying an undefeated streak of their own heading into Week 3, BLG defeated Rare Atom in a 2-0 sweep before falling in three games to Royal Never Give Up, a team that are now winners of their last five series.
All in all, BLG have quality wins, and their lone loss was a close one against one of the world’s best. BLG get another test against one of the best teams in the world after their Chinese New Years’ break as they take on LNG Gaming in Week 4.
— Warren Younger
5. Gen.G, LCK
Record: 5-1 (10-4) | Results this week: 1-1 (2-2) | Movement this week: -2
With the star-studded lineup the org threw together for 2022, Gen.G have been labeled as one of the hottest teams to watch in the LCK this season. The team came out swinging from the start of 2022 spring split with a five-game win-streak. Unfortunately, that streak came to a halt after Gen.G’s 0-2 loss against KT Rolster on Jan. 29.
At the end of the day, it’s still early in the season and one loss is nothing to sound the alarms about, especially since Gen.G have yet to face every team in the League. It was undoubtedly a surprising loss as KT, who outplayed Gen.G in a few late game scenarios. Thankfully, fans of the black and gold can hold onto Gen.G’s convincing win against Kwangdong Freecs as a saving grace from last week.
One slip up isn’t enough to stop all the hype around Gen.G, but they’ll need a strong showing against Liiv Sandbox and T1 in their upcoming matches.
— Nick Ray
4. Royal Never Give Up, LPL
Record: 5-1 (11-5) | Results this week: 1-0 (2-1) | Movement this week: +2
It’s that part of the power rankings again — the part where Royal Never Give Up make an appearance.
RNG have been on almost every global power ranking we’ve published, and for great reason. Three weeks into the 2022 LPL spring split, RNG are 5-1, losing their very first series 1-2 against FunPlus Phoenix and winning the next five straight.
Last year, the team was incredibly coordinated but had a big weakness in the mid lane. This year, however, their very own Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao returned to mid as they picked up Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin in the top lane. According to Oracles Elixir, Bin has the second-highest Kill/Death/Assist ratio of top laners who’ve played the whole split so far, but he also doesn’t get involved in many of his team’s kills.
RNG definitely still have room to grow, but they are off to a hot start this year and have the roster to contend for another Mid Season Invitational appearance this spring.
— Ousley
3. T1, LCK
Record: 6-0 (12-3) | Results this week: 2-0 (4-2) | Movement this week: +1
T1 ended Week 3 of the LCK as the best team in the region. The team remained undefeated after facing their toughest opponents so far in the form of Nongshim Redforce and DWG KIA. Even though T1 dropped a game in each series, they looked like the better team overall.
Despite losing Game 1 against DK, T1 showed they had changed since the two last met at the Worlds semifinals. They completely controlled Game 2, ending with just two towers lost and a 13,00 gold lead.
Moreover, in the last game, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok brought out his famed Leblanc and showed everyone he is still the mid lane king. He ended the game with a 6/3/9 KDA ratio and helped T1 secure the victory over DK.
Their late game macro, as well the performance of their incredible bot lane duo, makes them the team to beat in Korea. With 70 kills, T1’s Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong leads the rankings for the most kills in the league.
Compared to the others, it seems T1 have found their perfect rhythm to stay one step ahead.
— Rashidat Jimoh
2. LNG Esports, LPL
Record: 5-0 (10-2) | Results this week: 1-0 (2-1) | Movement this week: —
Why did we put LNG at No. 2? We believe no one can deny the high level of this team.
The Chinese team has five wins in a row without losing a single best of three the whole split. In addition to this feat, they have only lost two individual games along the way.
The key to this success comes from maintaining the core of players who helped the team reach the 2021 League of Legends World Championship, as LNG only made two changes during this off season. The most notable one was in the mid lane, where they traded Xie “icon” Tian-Yu for 2021 LPL summer split regular season MVP and 2019 Worlds winner Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang.
With such a big upgrade clearly working out, and with LNG only dropping games to FunPlus Phoenix and against Rare Atom, their clean and forceful play has earned them a well-deserved spot near the top of the table.
— Alejandro Gomis
1. Edward Gaming, LPL
Record: 4-0 (8-1) | Results this week: — | Movement this week: —
Edward Gaming got an extra week added to their Chinese New Year break, as they did not have a match to play during Week 3 of the LPL 2022 spring split. However, their Week 2 was certainly eventful. EDG continued their undefeated streak after a 2-0 Week 2 with wins over Ultra Prime and an upstart Oh My God team.
Week 2 did end EDG’s undefeated game streak, as they dropped a single game to Ultra Prime, who have admittedly been a lot better than their record indicates. But the most interesting thing to come out of EDG’s recent games has been the emergence of their rookie back-up top laner, Huang “Xiaoxiang” Xiang. Since he began filling in for Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun as he recovers from an illness, EDG have not missed a beat with the rookie top laner. The team is 4-0 in games with Xiaoxiang starting.
Imagine what this already dominant team will look like when Flandre returns to 100%. That’s certainly enough to cement them as No. 1 in the world.
— Younger
Regional Rankings
LCS
- Team Liquid
- Evil Geniuses
- Dignitas
- Cloud9
- 100 Thieves
LEC
- Rogue
- Fnatic
- Vitality
- G2 Esports
- MAD Lions
LCK
- T1
- Gen.G
- DWG KIA
- KT Rolster
- DRX
LPL
- Edward Gaming
- LNG Esports
- Royal Never Give Up
- Bilibili Gaming
- Weibo Gaming
