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Welcome back to our League of Legends global power rankings. Every week, we look at each team in the five major regions and rank them according to how they are performing.
The NA LCS, EU LCS, LCK and LMS are entering Week 9 of competition. The LPL is entering Week 8. The +/- indicates the change since the previous ranking.
Nos. 1-10: World contenders
Nos. 11-20: Playoff contenders
Nos. 21-30: Middle of the pack
Nos. 31-40: Struggling
Nos. 41-50: Bottom of the barrel
World contenders
1. KT Rolster
Record: 14-3 | League: LCK | +/-: +1
The roulette game on the top of our Global League of Legends Power Rankings continues to spin, and no one knows when it's going to stop. SK Telecom T1 held the spot for most of the summer, then Samsung Galaxy took hold of the spot; last week, it was Longzhu, and now, the super-powered KT Rolster has regained its place as the best team -- at least for this moment -- in South Korea and, thus, the world. KT had its best Best of 3 of the summer, with its clinical dissection of former No.1 Longzhu earlier today, putting the club only a single match win away from clinching the regular-season crown in the LCK. The only problem? KT's last game of the season and the one it needs the most is against SKT, the team that has time and time again in 2017 been the thorn in the new No. 1's side.
2. Samsung Galaxy
Record: 13-4 | League: LCK | +/-: +1
Samsung Galaxy is on pace to create the most intriguing situation in the league. Although the team is one game behind Longzhu Gaming and KT Rolster, at best it might play spoiler for Longzhu's chances at claiming first place -- ensuring a better spot in the Summer Playoff gauntlet -- or act as a gatekeeper to SK Telecom T1, a team it has neutralized during the summer. The matchup against ROX Tigers on Aug. 1 served as a rehearsal, an experiment lab and a showcase for CuVee, who promptly earned MVP honors with engage-centric play as a tank and as a primary damage option.
3. Longzhu Gaming
Record: 13-4 | League: LCK | +/-: -2
Well, that didn't last long. It was fun to wax poetic about the last-to-first story of Incredible Miracle/Longzhu last week, but there's not much to say following a blowout loss to KT Rolster to start the week. KT zeroed in on LZ's most exploitable member, Moon "Cuzz" Woo-chan, and took advantage of the team's liability by playing around the top lane. When the series was over, Cuzz was left looking like a true rookie, with KT ripping apart the accomplishments he accrued in his first season.
4. SK Telecom T1
Record: 11-5 | League: LCK | +/-: --
The death of SKT might have been exaggerated just a bit. SKT didn't get the toughest competition thrown its way last week, yet it couldn't ask for a better week to wake up the sleeping giant and back-to-back world champion. This week will solidify how scared the rest of the teams going into the LCK playoffs should be of SKT. If the red and gold of T1 can vanquish KT for the fifth time this season, including a sweep in the spring grand finals, it doesn't matter where it starts its playoff run -- no one is safe in the best-of-five scenario against an upset and motivated SKT.
5. Afreeca Freecs
Record: 9-7 | League: LCK | +/-: --
For the umpteenth season in a row, it appears that the Freecs will finish in the fourth or fifth spot in the standings. For the past three seasons, Afreeca has fallen in the wild-card round, and as the fifth team in a stacked LCK playoff bracket with a possible date with SKT in the first round, the odds might not be in the Freecs' favor if the team locks its playoff seed next week.
6. Team WE
Record: 7-3 | League: LPL | +/-: --
Ranking sixth through 10th didn't come simply. The lower half of our Top 10 all had difficult weeks, with WE losing to Royal Never Give Up, North America's top teams fumbling with the patch, Jin Air dropping to MVP and Flash Wolves not competing due to inclement weather. With stark transgressions and no team below rising to edge them out, the panel maintained the status quo. Team WE's shortcomings might get resolved if it drops the Xayah and Rakan priority before its games this week.
7. Jin Air Green Wings
Record: 7-9 | League: LCK | +/-: --
It's not fun to be a Jin Air Green Wings fan. Longzhu, its partner in misery, will finally make the playoffs after a long drought, and now that JAG is almost assuredly out of the playoffs, all it can do is sit back and look toward the offseason, where it'll be a free-for-all to sign superstar AD carry, Park "Teddy" Jin-seong. For Jin Air's future, Teddy -- its breakout rookie this year -- leaving could mean even greater woes for the tortured club in 2018. Maybe the Green Wings can fly to North America or Europe? In South Korea, regardless of how well the team starts, by the end, it just can't keep up with the elites.
8. Flash Wolves
Record: 8-2 | League: LMS | +/-: --
Flash Wolves didn't play last week due to the typhoon weather in Taiwan and thus remain steadfast at eighth place. However, the Wolves will have to face a true test of endurance in the concluding week of the LMS as it plays four Best of 3s in five days. Flash Wolves are on top in Taiwan, but it will need convincing wins against ahq eSports Club and Raise Gaming to stay in the Global Power Rankings Top 10.
9. Immortals
Record: 12-4 | League: NA LCS | +/-: --
IMT can sometimes fall asleep at the wheel to start a series and make some silly mistakes, but that wasn't necessarily the case in its close series with surging Team Dignitas. Lee "Flame" Hojong was properly punished for being forward in lane this week, and IMT wasn't able to quite match Dignitas in the late game due to some composition disadvantages.
10. Team SoloMid
Record: 12-4 | League: NA LCS | +/-: --
Team SoloMid's victory over NV felt more like a loss than a win. Limping through openings NV left, TSM had trouble keeping vision between bottom and mid; the team seemed to be in the experimentation phase of drafting for the patch, and it only narrowly snuck in objectives between getting caught out. It felt almost as if TSM couldn't identify its own flaws, which is the most damning of problems. Even so, TSM took trades well and out-rotated the opposition. It's still one of the best macro teams outside South Korea.
Playoff contenders
11. EDward Gaming
Record: 8-3 | League: LPL | +/-: --
After a humiliating loss to Suning last week, EDG took to the stage in fighting form -- but still collided early with the pavement. In its series against LGD, Yu "Cool" Jiajun's early Cassiopeia quadrakill should have spelled doom, but EDward Gaming's resourcefulness and use of vision pulled the team back. With rookie Hu "iBoy" Xianzhao, EDG have potentially given itself an extra AD carry edge for playoffs.
12. Fnatic
Record: 9-1 | League: EU LCS | +/-: --
Fnatic's spot as the top team in Group A is nearly assured, as it would take a floundering of unmeasurable proportions for G2 to overtake them, especially given that the squad's opponents are a ROCCAT team reeling from a defeat to Ninjas in Pyjamas and an NiP squad with a losing record against teams not named ROCCAT. With the willingness of Martin "Rekkles" Larsson and Mads "Broxah" Brock-Pedersen to adjust their champion picks to accommodate the meta, their teammates might be able to keep cruising, with G2 as a sole squad to pay attention to before a potential semifinal clash against a Group B team.
13. G2 Esports
Record: 7-3 | League: EU LCS | +/-: +2
The past two weeks, G2 Esports has become Fnatic's main contender (if not outright better) in terms of macro and execution in the current patch (and potentially beyond). Although a clash between the two teams will have to wait until Aug. 10, G2 might be able to rehearse for the matchup one last time against a struggling Misfits squad that, in theory, might be unable to offer resistance -- lest G2 severely misdraft, a matter that has yet to happen since the squad's return from Rift Rivals.
14. H2K Gaming
Record: 7-3 | League: EU LCS | +/-: +1
H2K's understanding of the meta might be beyond that of G2, but its teamfight execution has shown minute weaknesses in timing, weaknesses that helped Splyce postpone the inevitable and, for a time, nearly upset H2K. The team is currently the most dangerous one in Group B and is currently holding the top spot until Aug. 11 at the very least, as its clash against the Unicorns of Love is extremely likely to decide who holds the top spot in Group B.
15. ahq
Record: 9-4 | League: LMS | +/-: +1
Ahq finally secured its playoff spot and is clearly on an upward trajectory after key meta changes following the 7.14 patch. Ahq easily dispatched both Machi and Raise on the back of strong performances from a seemingly revitalized Chou "AN" Chun-An and more secure play around side lanes. Ahq is looking good, but its match against Flash Wolves will be the big test to end the split. Can it take back the LMS crown for the first time since 2015?
16. Cloud9
Record: 10-6 | League: NA LCS | +/-: +1
Cloud9 was at times worrisome, at times brilliant -- but one thing is certain, they are experimenting as much as they can. The Twisted Fate experiment showed Cloud9's understanding of (and confidence toward the execution of) 1-3-1 pressure but also showed a lack of hindsight in a meta that relies on holding several means of engage. In the end, the squad's macro is good enough to power it through Week 9 and potentially propel it to third place.
17. Team Dignitas
Record: 10-6 | League: NA LCS | +/-: +2
Dignitas still don't look too well put together when it comes to in-game communication, but the squad's read on the new meta has been superior to that of most teams in the LCS. The proper balance of tanks and emphasis on prioritizing Tristana made for easy late-game pickings against Immortals in particular. The bot lane of Johnny "Altec" Ru and Adrian "Adrian" Ma has also really done wonders for balancing the team's pressure around the map in general and has DIG looking like a threat going into playoffs.
18. Royal Never Give Up
Record: 7-4 | League: LPL | +/-: +7
In the Tier 2 LPL shuffle, Royal Never Give Up has pulled ahead once again. Its series against WE demonstrated a glimpse of the lane-smashing powerhouse that made it to the spring finals. RNG won its first series against WE since last year, setting it in good stead to contest Oh My God in the intragroup phase. But this week, teams might not give it two of the strongest picks so easily.
19. MVP
Record: 5-11 | League: LCK | +/-: +14
MVP might have been down in the dumps to start the LCK season, struggling to nab a single win, but it's now in good position to avoid relegations. The new meta benefits another team that excels at playing in the mid game and around its playmaking support in Jeong "Max" Jongbin. Not only that but also MVP properly played spoiler against Jin Air and more than likely ended its postseason dreams.
20. Counter Logic Gaming
Record: 11-5 | League: NA LCS | +/-: -7
It seems harsh to punish CLG so severely for its hectic series against Phoenix1, but repeatedly poor decision-making makes it drop at least for the week. It's unveiling noticeable growing pains as it continues to integrate Omar "OmarGod" Amin, and if it works out well, this will be the team's lowest point on our list for the rest of the summer split.