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The champion has been crowned, and the sixth year of professional League of Legendswrapped up with a powerhouse match. After many months of amazing play, it’s the perfect time to reflect on another year of Leagueand take stock of the global power rankings.
A key theme of this year’s Worlds was inconsistency. And even though that would seem to be a negative quality, in many ways it yielded a high degree of excitement for viewers and fans. In most of the pairings, it seemed like any team had a chance to walk away with victory.
SEE ALSO:'Faker' wins MVP as SKT claims another 'League of Legends' championshipSo now that one of the most wide-open fields in Leaguehistory has been narrowed to just one winner, which regions were the most dominant? Which teams have the potential to dominate in Season 7 and which squads continued to disappoint?
LoL Champions Korea (LCK)
Credit: LOLEsportsWtih all three of the South Korean teams delivering top-notch performances this year, the LCK remains the undisputed best region in League of Legends.
SK Telecom T1, ROX Tigers and Samsung Galaxy showed impeccable game sense and teamwork through their Worlds matches. Sure, each squad had some eyebrow-raising moments, some close calls and some outright misplays. But what keeps Korea at the top is how well each of its teams can react to errors, both by their own players or by their opponents.
When even Samsung, the underdog third seed team that wasn’t expected to make Worlds in the first place, can push the legendary SKT to five games in the finals, then you know this region is not to be underestimated.
Their expectations are always high, and the Korean dominance shows no signs of waning into next year.
Tencent LoL Pro League (LPL)
Credit: LOLESPORTSThis could have been the year that China’s LPL rose to challenge the long-standing Korean dominance.
In the lead-up to Worlds, both Edward Gaming and Royal Never Give Up had the potential to upset even the strongest LCK squads. But both of these highly touted teams showed some cracks in their play as early as the group stages.
That’s not to diminish the skill on either EDG or RNG. Both squads boast some of the best players in the world on their rosters, and they do still have the potential to go toe-to-toe against Korean teams in Season 7.
All that’s missing is a bit of confidence. The pressure of needing to deliver a win, to be the ones knocking at the door of the championship, seems to get to these two top Chinese teams. If either can work out those last kinks in the mental game, then perhaps next year will be the one that puts a Chinese team at the top of the heap.
League of Legends Master Series (LML)
Credit: LOLESPORTSBoth of Taiwan's LMS teams competing at Worlds entered the fray with question marks over their heads. Though neither was able to deliver a decisive victory, with both Flash Wolves and ahq e-Sports taken down in the group stages.
Flash Wolves racked up multiple wins over the respected SKT Korean squad in international play over the course of the past year. But that was the highest point for this team, a long-time international contender for the region. Both Flash Wolves and ahq had the potential to emerge from groups, but a blend of slow starts and questionable plays kept them out of the knockout stage.
Given the legacy of Flash Wolves in particular, this region will always be one that merits respect. But even the top teams will have to put in some work on the strategy and macro game to come back even stronger in 2017.
EU League of Legends Championship Series (EULCS)
Credit: LOLESPORTSDespite high hopes for the region, Europe has struggled in every outing on the international stage this year.
Two-time split champion G2 Esports was a particular disappointment, as the team looked uncoordinated and uncertain in almost every match played both at the Mid-Season Invitational and at Worlds. For the team that was hand-picked to be a threat on the global stage this fall, a second round of difficult matches was all the more disappointing.
The team that made it furthest, and thus is the best example to analyze, was H2K-Gaming. They were able to push into a semifinal spot, but it was after drawing Albus Nox Luna in the quarters. The Russian team was a fan favorite, but also the least challenging opponent in the mix. And when facing off against Samsung Galaxy in the semis, H2K went down 3-0.
Overall, the performance of the EULCS proved that while there’s lots of raw talent, it’s still green.
It’s no coincidence that H2K, the squad that has been working together the longest, was the one to make it furthest into the field. With the individual prowess all three EU teams have shown, there’s little question that more time could be the missing ingredient for these player compositions to see international success.
The smart organizations will reflect on Season 6 as a building year and will continue to cultivate their young talents. If they make player swaps as a desperation move rather than of a calculated talent draw, then Season 7 could wind up being just as rocky.
NA League of Legends Championship Series (NALCS)
Credit: LOLESPORTSThrough the season, commentators and analysts have pegged this NALCS as the strongest in years, with the best chance at turning in a good performance at Worlds. And given the pedigree of the teams entering the competition, the losses suffered in the group stages were even more crushing.
This was supposed to be Team SoloMid’s year. With the squad’s nearly undefeated summer split in the NALCS, this should have been the time for them to take those skills to the global stage. But after getting drawn into a group with Royal Never Give Up and Samsung Galaxy, TSM struggled to keep up the crisp play that carried them so far at home.
For one of the most dominant and talented NA teams to go down in groups was a surprise, and a tough blow for the region in fighting for international respect.
The other North American teams, Cloud9 and Counter Logic Gaming, have both made regular appearances on the international stage. But neither put their best foot forward at Worlds.
Cloud9 did reach the quarterfinals, but even the support of a screaming Chicago fanbase wasn’t enough to help them out against Samsung Galaxy. As with Europe, North America does have an impressive talent pool, but it hasn’t been able to pull all that ability together to create a strong Worlds performance.
International Wild Card
Credit: LOLEsportsThe role of the ‘wild card’ teams changed radically this year. Over the past few seasons, these squads have gone from the gimme wins to threats that must be taken seriously.
Riot Games has also updated its Worlds bracket system accordingly, giving the wild card squads a better chance at making a good run.
Brazil’s INTZ Esports had a few good moments, toppling Edward Gaming in an upset on the very first day of group stages. Russian team Albus Nox Luna made it as far as the quarterfinals with aggressive and flashy play.
Both outings were strong enough for the other pro groups to sit up and pay attention. The inspiration those teams could provide to the other regions represented in the wild card division mean that the former gimme bracket could be very competitive in 2017.
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