ggChronicle’s Worldwide Power Rankings: Post-DreamHack/GeSL/Stars War 7

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Welcome to the newest edition of ggChronicle’s Worldwide Power Rankings, where we take into consideration events since our last installment following the MLG Spring Championship in Anaheim.

These rankings are compiled by polling members of the ggChronicle staff and outside contributors, who submit their weighted lists using a point-based system.  Our newest contributors include Studio, Panky, and qu1ksh0t, and you can find brief bios of all contributors at the bottom of the article.

There is no set number of teams in the ggC Worldwide Power Rankings, as we prefer to use a cut-off point to dictate who ends up on the list. Depending on how competitive the League of Legends eSports field is at any given time, you may see five teams or twenty.

Our Power Rankings for now are:

Rank	Team	Trend	Comments
1	Team SoloMid	– (No change)	Another victory from Team SoloMid at the Gigabyte eSports LAN cements their place in the pole position of the ggChronicle Power Rankings.  With four consecutive victories at offline events, TSM stands atop the League of Legends scene.  No team has looked so singularly dominant since the era of CLG Prime in 2011.  Fans will not have another chance to see TSM compete at a LAN until August, and barring some catastrophe they will remain the team to beat.
2	Counter Logic Gaming EU	2 (Previously #4)	The European division of Counter Logic Gaming finally found their rhythm at DreamHack Summer, and managed to win the tournament without dropping a single game.  CLG.EU succeeded in taking down the powerhouse of Moscow Five, the undisputed top team of early 2012.  While the matches were close, CLG.EU displayed an extraordinary knowledge of champion strategy and match-ups to take home the DreamHack trophy.  While their performance at the MLG Spring Championship disappointed many fans, CLG.EU has reconciled the difference between online and offline play and is an intimidating opponent to teams worldwide.
3	Counter Logic Gaming	– (No change)	Another loss to TSM does not affect CLG Prime’s position in the power rankings, considering that no one in the North American scene seems capable of stopping the baylife bros.  CLG qualified for The Champions League in Korea with their full line up, now that Voyboy has graduated from high school and joined his teammates full time.  Their performance and training on the other side of the Pacific will reveal just how competitive this team can be, and fans will see what they’re made of without substitute player xHazzard.
4	Moscow Five	2 (Previously #2)	While undoubtedly one of the top teams in the world, Moscow Five drop a couple slots on the power rankings due to their performance at DreamHack.  The Russian squad certainly played well in Sweden, but lacked some of the teamplay and innovative strategies that fans saw in Kiev and Hanover.  Until they can shore up some of the deficiencies in their play-calling, they will have a difficult time returning to the number one spot on the rankings.
5	Taipei Assassins	1 (Previously #6)	A big win over World Elite in the finals of Stars War 7 in China moves the Assassins up a position, as they continue to dominate in the Asian scene.  While European and North American teams have not competed with the Assassins in a tournament in quite some time, the upcoming ggClassic should give fans a good first look at TPA’s skill.  The Assassins first North American LAN should be IPL 5, so look for them to compete for a major offline win in August or September.
6	Dignitas	1 (Previously #5)	Dignitas loses ground chiefly because of their lack of results since the MLG Spring Championship and due to TPA’s victory at Stars War 7.  Like their North American brethren in CLG Prime, Dignitas has a lot to prove in Korea this summer.  It has been a long time since Dignitas has beaten the other two big NA teams, TSM and CLG, and they will maintain their position in the middle of the pack until they take a trophy from their continental peers.
7	Team Dynamic	– (No change)	Team Dynamic proved that they remain an up-and-comer in the North American scene by achieving another fourth place finish at a major LAN event.  In spite of a defeat at the hands of the newly-formed CLG Black at the GeSL, Team Dynamic is looking to become an institution along the lines of TSM, CLG Prime, and Dignitas.  Their high level of play should continue throughout the summer, especially as their high-school-age members have more time to practice while on vacation.
8	Azubu Blaze	1 (Previously #9)	Azubu Blaze (formerly MiG Blaze) remains atop the Korean scene for the moment as the reigning victors of The Champions.  While the Korean League of Legends scene suffered from quite a few shake-ups between OGN’s spring and summer seasons, Blaze’s championship roster has remained stable and strong.  While fans hoped to see them compete at Stars War 7, visa issues prevented us from seeing Korea’s best against the Taipei Assassins and World Elite.
9	Curse EU	3 (Previously #12)	While Curse EU may not have lived up to expectations at the Reign of Gaming International Invitational or at the MLG Spring Championship, they roared back at DreamHack with the return of Angush to Top Lane.  While they barely squeaked above fnatic in the power rankings, they appear to be a team on the rise after a troubling couple of weeks.  If they can translate their incredible online play to future offline events, expect them to rise higher.
10	fnatic	2 (Previously #8)	Fnatic shocked the scene with their explosive play at the MLG Spring Championship, looking stronger than they had for over six months.  At DreamHack they maintained their solid play, but looked discombobulated and indecisive in teamfights.  A bit more practice with new Top Laner player sOAZ may result in a return to form to make them contenders as Season Two winds down.
11	World Elite	1 (Previously #10)	Still the kings of China, World Elite lost a close set to the Taipei Assassins at Stars War 7.  While their ability to compete against North American and European teams remains in question, WE’s presence in this summer’s The Champions should answer questions about their potential.  Expect to see World Elite in the coming months, as they have already qualified for both IPL 5 and the Season Two Championship.

Possible Contenders:

Both the Singapore Sentinels and Azubu Frost might deserve slots on the power rankings, but we don’t have sufficient data to know their current strength.  The Sentinels remain the obvious number two team in the Garena Premier League, but we need to see them against international competition to truly gauge their power.  Azubu Frost lost Locodoco to Startale and needs to be evaluated in the summer season of The Champions before they re-enter the power rankings.

On the Hunt:

Our expanded pool of contributors decided to drop TSM EVO from the rankings, since we felt that they were not in the upper echelon of League of Legends teams worldwide.  With practice and more convincing results, EVO might make a reappearance, but they have a lot of work to do in their new gaming house.

Orbit and CLG Black join TSM EVO in trying to break into the most competitive levels of the North American scene.  CLG Black took a surprising second place finish at the GeSL, and another trip to the podium will certainly see them listed in the power rankings.  Orbit was the dark horse of the MLG Spring Championship, knocking out TSM EVO and proving a tough opponent for even seasoned squads.

Curse NA and mTw.NA round out the list of cusp teams, as they yield inconsistent results.  While both are capable of eliminating top teams from tournaments, both are also capable of a total meltdown in a LAN setting.

Power Rankings Contributors:

Christopher “Panky” Pankhurst is the resident shoutcaster for the upcoming Curse Gaming house in Germany. He has watched competitive League since the epic climax to Season One and decided it was time to give something back. Notable events 4PL, Hear to Win, TSM Invitational, i45.

Trevor “qu1ksh0t” Henry is the resident shout caster at in2LOL.com. Having already casted and covered several events including 4PL, Dreamhack Qualifiers, in2LOL Kickoff Tournaments and the on-going IPL5 Qualifiers, qu1ksh0t is currently working towards his first big LAN appearance as a shout caster.

Christopher “Studio” Grant is a shoutcaster and analyst, known for producing a daily League of Legends Web Series at LeagueOfStudio.com.

Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles is an interviewer, analyst, editorialist, and shoutcaster for ggChronicle.

Adam “pwnophobia” Cogswell is the host of the Trinity Force Podcast and has a constant battle with sleep and staying up to play one more game of League of Legends.

Tristan Dumas “Shade00A00″ Bonnier is the Editor-in-Chief and Audio Engineer for ggChronicle, and has inherited Ranhert Syndrome as towerdiver extraordinaire.

Ken “JadentheBroker” Ward is a long time tournament admin with eight years of eSports experience.

John “Sotere” Frank  is a 2100 Elo LoL player, caster, streamer, and columnist for ggChronicle.

Tom “Optimus Tom” Searfoss is a League of Legends caster for ggC, IPL and CSN as well as host of the shows “In The Zone” and “I See What You Did There” aimed at making players a better summoner.

James “Obscurica” Chen is a columnist and reviewer for ggChronicle.  He washed up upon the northern Taiwanese shore one day, not totally sure as to how he ended up there. He’s since set up shop with a Garena account, dodging literal monsoons in an effort to translate the South-East Asian scene into something comprehensible in the English language.

Brian “ZeroCardinality” Kim is a writer and caster for ggChronicle, as well as the host of the new LoL show Meta Musings.

Andrew “HornetAJC” Carson is a host of the Trinity Force Podcast and frequent contributor to ggChronicle.

Category: Power Rankings