Now that we're at the halfway point of the 2022 LCS Spring Split regular season, we've gotten a fair chance to assess the teams, their strengths and weaknesses, and potential to improve. With just nine matches left to be played, here are our updated, mid-split power rankings and predictions for how the rest of the LCS Spring will shake out.
Which teams impressed the most, which players surpassed expectations, and which ones floundered and are still clawing for stability? Already, fans have gotten to enjoy non-standard drafts from the likes of Cloud9 early on, upsets like Golden Guardians taking down Liquid's superteam, and the bottom-of-the-table rivalry between TSM and CLG. Definitely, fans have been pleasantly surprised or shockingly disappointed by some teams, and our initial predictions have been thrown far out the window.
Before we dive into the updated power rankings, you can also check out the current LCS league table and game results over the past weeks in our tracker. The middle of the table is just stacked. At this point, we have three teams tied at third with 5-4 records, and another three teams tied at sixth with 4-5 records—they're as good as dead even right now, going off the numbers alone. Still, we take a stab at predicting which teams will end up ranking higher or lower by the end of the season.
LCS Spring 2022: Mid-Split Power Rankings & Predictions
1. Team Liquid (TL)
Liquid's superteam clearly clicked from the get-go, so we're well past the stage of having worries about the team just being good on paper and not translating to stage. Initially, there were doubts on whether TL could sustain the quality of their gameplay with CoreJJ's green card issues, but Yeon held his own and the rest of TL have continued to perform well. It's not that they haven't been without issues in their games—their unexpected loss to Golden Guardians and close game against Cloud9 come to mind—but they also haven't reached their peak yet. Now they are at full strength with their preferred starting roster. Though they probably won't go 9-0 in the second half of the split, Liquid look like the most stable team at the moment, which will be enough to land them in the top three most assuredly, and likely in first place as well.
2. Cloud9 (C9)
Whether innovating with Ivern/Soraka mid picks or sticking to more standard drafts, Cloud9 are just good. Many were unsure whether C9 would just dominate the league or fail miserably, but now it's clear that the players are talented enough to outmatch their opponents, whether it's Berserker's Aphelios, Summit's Jayce, or Blaber's Olaf. Fans who've had a listen in on C9's voice comms will also feel more confident in the team's growing coordination week by week. It's exciting to think about the ceiling that this team has, and I wouldn't be surprised if C9 end up slipping past TL at the end of the regular season or come playoffs. However, if other squads start to find their footing, C9 will have to learn to rely more on their team play, cleaner games and better decision-making than individual heroics.
3. Evil Geniuses (EG)
EG may not seem that much stronger than the other mid-table teams, but I still think they will come good by the end of the season, banking on the likes of Inspired, Jojopyun, and Danny. They definitely have a lot of potential to improve and we haven't seen them hit their ceiling yet, compared to the more known quantities that the other teams are fielding. How well EG do in the second half will depend on stronger mid- to late-game decision-making as well as making sure that they do take care of the teams they should be beating (on paper). Each matchup will definitely be important as the difference between 3rd and 7th might boil down to just a game or two.
4. 100 Thieves (100T)
100T haven't exactly been bad, but I don't feel that they're on an upward trajectory (unlike GG, C9, and CLG), especially in recent weeks. They're far from the LCS Summer 2021 champions that fans were hoping to see, and they'll have to find something to build around if they want to secure a playoff spot. Abbedagge and FBI haven't quite performed to expectations, though 100T's losses can't be pinned on them alone. Closer is still a good jungler, but NA is stacked with high-tempo, influential junglers now, so his impact doesn't seem as strong as it used to be. Given the state of the meta and the strong points of other teams, the carries will need to step up and pull the squad over the line.
5. Golden Guardians (GG) and 6. FlyQuest (FLY)
My initial thoughts about these two teams went like this: “All around, the rosters are quite average, with the potential for some flashiness, but probably not enough to break into the upper part of the standings.” Yet they've surprised LCS fans in the first half of Spring. The two teams had somewhat different trajectories. FlyQuest got off to a blazing start, even claiming sole first place in the standings at one point, until they stumbled into a losing streak. Meanwhile, Golden Guardians dropped several close games, their record making them appear worse than they actually were, until flipping the narrative particularly during the Super Week.
FlyQuest run the risk right now of plummeting to where most fans had expected them to be (in the bottom part of the table), with only the likes of TSM probably keeping them from dead last. That said, I think they have enough in them to at least snag a playoff spot and could perhaps bank on the inconsistencies of the other teams as well. I'd still put GG as the more likely of the two to earn a top six finish, with Pridestalkr continuing to stamp his presence on the map.
7. Dignitas (DIG)
It feels bad to put DIG in 7th when they haven't been drastically worse than the other teams. Everyone's been inconsistent so far in the first half of Spring, so I wouldn't be surprised for DIG to actually make it to top six or even top four if EG don't find their footing, if FLY continue on their downward trend, or if 100T can't plug the gaps. That said, the other teams that I've placed above them just feel like they have a bit more going for them—whether one player having a breakout season, a team having a history of getting their stuff together, or several players with potential to come good—that might be enough to snag a playoff berth and unfortunately push DIG out.
8. Counter Logic Gaming (CLG)
At first, the LCS crowd had begun taking shots at CLG (and TSM) for being rivals at the bottom of the table, but Lugar and the squad turned it around during the Super Week. I still wouldn't bank on them being able to rise above the other mid-table teams, though they're not behind by much. It is a shame because CLG will probably rue not having some of the closer matches going their way to aid their cause. Considering how close the records of the mid-table teams are, with each squad taking games off each other, the extra losses early on in the split definitely hurt their chances at making playoffs even if we have nine matches to go.
9. Immortals (IMT)
Out of the six teams with nearly even records, IMT look the least convincing of the bunch for me, at least in the long term. Although to give credit where due, both IMT and CLG went 2-1 during the Super Week so they are on the positive in terms of recent form. However I don't really see IMT surging ahead — not when the other teams seem to have a slightly stronger sense of identity (whether that's smite top or building around a well-performing player).
What they do have going for them is that they, like the other teams, have a nearly 50-50 win-loss split, and I could see them pushing toward sixth if all the pieces fall into place. For ranks 7-9, they will have to ask for a bit of help from the top teams to hand the middle-of-the-pack teams “guaranteed” losses. But it's the LCS so nothing is guaranteed and we can expect more upsets on the way that could tip the other squads to playoffs over IMT.
10. Team SoloMid (TSM)
Sorry, TSM fans, they really don't have much going for them in this split. Even if they improved greatly for their second half performance, the eight losses really diminished their chances of making playoffs, barring a miraculous win streak of some sort. But I don't see where this TSM squad can find the strength to rally around, and even going slightly positive at 5-4 might be too much of an ask. They'd have to rely not only on themselves but also on other teams just all beating each other to keep the win-loss records all low, rather than having four or five squads pull ahead. The LCS is volatile, but not that volatile—maybe TSM won't end up last, but the outlook couldn't be grimmer for playoffs qualification.
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