The LEC Spring 2022 Playoffs will start in the upcoming weekend and here is our power rankings going into the tournament.
It is almost time for the LEC playoffs to start so that we can know who will be Europe’s MSI representative. Six teams are in the hunt for the trophy and anyone can still win it. Fnatic is going in as favorites while the odds for G2 and Rogue are not that far behind. With that said, we have created a power ranking list for the LEC Playoffs going into this upcoming weekend.
Power Rankings
As mentioned earlier, Fnatic are the favorites going into the playoffs. That is reflected in our power rankings as Fnatic slots in at #1. Then we have the rest of the 3 upper bracket teams in G2, Rogue, and Misfits in that order from 2nd-4th. The two lower bracket teams, Vitality, and Excel, land in 5th and 6th respectively.
We factored in the bracket placement into account as there is a massive difference between upper and lower brackets. There can be only one winner as that team heads to MSI to compete for an international trophy. Let’s talk about the teams and go into more detail as to why our rankings ended up like this.
1. Fnatic
While they did not get the best record in the regular season, anyone who has watched the LEC this split knows that Fnatic is the best team in the LEC. The team has combined top-tier talent with a great coaching staff and an identity on how they play the game.
The team is so versatile that it kind of reminds most people of MAD Lions from last year barring the bot lane extravaganza of Upset and Hylissang. They have arguably the best mid laner in the league in Humanoid, the best bot lane in the LEC as mentioned, a top three top laner in Wunder, and lastly, a solid jungler in Razork.
Many would point to Razork being the weakness of this team but as long as he does what is required of him, Fnatic can run off to the races. The only thing that can frankly stop Fnatic from winning the LEC is either them choking or inting at this point. This team is way too talented to not win the split. However, anything can happen and we can’t wait to see how Fnatic plays in the playoffs.
2. G2 Esports
Despite G2’s first-round opponent being Fnatic unfortunately, G2 is still the 2nd best team in our books. They have the best top side in the LEC and that is nothing to scoff at. The combination of Broken Blade, Jankos, and Caps has worked well. However, they have a few chinks in the armors.
Their biggest weakness would be the inconsistency of their performances, particularly in the bot lane. While Flakked does his job really well in team fights and all that, his laning phase leaves much to be desired and the same can be said about Targamas. Although Targamas is more hit and miss, he is still a very impactful player if he plays well in a game. The team as a whole is very inconsistent at times with them just throwing gold leads for no reason really.
The other weakness is actually outside the rift which is in terms of drafting. G2 has not played any kind of tank/weak side top laners yet and that makes drafting against them easier. If you know that Broken Blade only plays carries, it’s easier to draft in that lane. So, G2 has to make it more unpredictable so that the drafts are not as easy to maneuver for the opponents.
Despite that, G2 is a pretty strong team and a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs.
3. Rogue
Yet another split where Rogue is at the top of the league once more. Let’s hope the plotline does not continue once more as we have seen this movie before. Every time, it ends in disappointment for the team as they just can’t get over the line. With new players, they hope that it will be a different outcome this time around.
What Rogue does really well is that they draft simple and easy to execute comps and play for team fights. Their early game is still very good and they have improved as a mid-late game team from last time. However, the problem with this roster is that they lack an X-factor.
Malrang is an excellent jungler who is very unpredictable, but in the second half of the split, people started to get a read on him and can predict his pathing shifts. Odoamne is still one of the best top laners and it will fall onto him or Larssen to will this team to win the playoffs. Their track record in that is not great and this is a stigma they have to fight until they prove everyone wrong.
Other than that, they are a very solid team and that wins you are a lot of games. This is a similar style compared to the previous iterations of the team and now they have to prove whether they have improved as a team or not.
4. Misfits Gaming
MSF ends up 4th on our playoff rankings as the remaining upper bracket team. They are a fundamentally solid team that is playing really well with two rookies in Shlatan and Mersa. While HiRit is not playing at his peak like he did last year, Vetheo turned it on during the split.
This rising superstar is proving he has what it takes to be the best mid laner in the LEC. The bigger question is whether he and the rest of his team can take a step forward in the playoffs. In the last split, they almost beat Rogue but a clutch Inspired play denied them that win. There is no Inspired in Rogue and one could argue that Misfits is a better team than in Summer 2021.
Only time will tell how much this team can push themselves in the playoffs as they grow as a team to potentially go to Worlds and secure enough points and prepare to go to Worlds 2022.
5. Team Vitality
Vitality is the super team that does not look like a super team. In fact, they might be one of the most inconsistent super teams we might have seen in recent years domestically at the very least. The team has been very up and down and it’s really hard to get a beat on them. The acquisition of Perkz, Carzzy, and Alphari was supposed to vault them to either top 3 or top 2, but it’s not been close, to be honest. Furthermore, the bot lane duo of Carzzy and Labrov looks shaky.
Despite that, there are some positives to look at for this team. Selfmade has been very consistent and he has been the main driving force for this team thus far. Alphari is having his usual splits where he plays really well but he does not quite impact the game as much as Vitality would want. Perkz and Carzzy leave much more to be desired as they are probably the two most inconsistent players on this team.
To win the playoffs, they have to make a run like Fnatic did in Summer 2021. It is possible for that to happen but it’s a grand undertaking regardless. The team has to massively improve compared to their regular season selves in order to stand a chance to achieve that. Remember that Fnatic did not win that split in Summer 2021.
They have the players to make it happen and only time will tell whether they can achieve that. However, they have to take it one series at a time, starting with Excel Esports.
6. Excel Esports
XL is the one team everyone was hoping they would make playoffs for the first time ever in the organization’s history and they fully deserve to make it. They are a solid team and they have a clear formula they play with. Their style is to get advantages early game as much as they can while accelerating Patrik in the bot lane. Then, they transition to the mid-game where they generally win through team fights.
With Mikyx coming in, the bot lane has gotten better and his voice has brought something to this team. Finn is the solid rock in the top lane and the same can be said about Nukeduck in the mid lane. Thus, they are a very solid team with great fundamentals and a style they can play around. It’s more about whether this team can rise above their opponents when the going gets tough and that’s one to watch in the playoffs against Vitality.
In Conclusion
Hence, this is our power rankings as shown above. For us, Fnatic is the best team in the LEC and will likely win the playoffs and go to MSI. However, if the other teams can turn it on and make a run, anything can happen. We await the suspenseful playoffs bracket that will start in the coming week. So, do not forget to tune in for that.
