Week 3 of LCK Summer has ended, alongside the longest winning streak of a Korean team. The standings are starting to separate, with clear top teams and clear bottom teams. With a third of the season over, it is critical time to review and adjust strategies for each team. Here are the current LCK Power Rankings for Week 4.
[Related: LCK Power Rankings: 2022 Summer Split Week 3]
The Bottom Half
10.) Brion Esports (0-6)
Last Week: 10 (0)
1-2 Loss vs HLE; 0-2 Loss vs LSB
Brion put up a scrappy fight against HLE, but unfortunately could not finish the series, alongside falling in a stomping by LSB. The early game for BRO continues to be a struggle, and although they fight back in the mid game, there’s not enough gas for BRO to take back a lead. Positioning in teamfights is their biggest problem, with key carries constantly caught without attention or peel. BRO must bring these issues to attention if they want to secure their first win in Summer.
9.) Hanwha Life Esports (1-5)
Last Week: 9 (0)
2-1 Win vs BRO; 0-2 vs KT
HLE fixed last week’s issues by consistently winning or trading the early game, but now have to look at the rest of the match itself. The improvement is already seen with consistent first bloods and individual performances in lane. However, teamfights and objective control continue to be a sore spot however, with frequent tossups between teams. HLE can win games, but they will have to prove that they can clean up their messes on the rift.
8.) Nongshim RedForce (2-4)
Last Week: 6 (-2)
0-2 Loss vs GEN; 0-2 Loss vs DK
NS lost against the top of the table, and in disappointing fashion. Coordination has seemed to have disappeared from previous weeks, with embarrassing teamfight focus and objective taking. The team seems to be at an identity crisis, unable to settle down on a stable champion pool or game strategy, using only three champions twice the entire week. Practice this week will have to find what works for NS and stick to it for the season before they stop jumping up and down the LCK Power Rankings.
7.) KT Rolster (2-4)
Last Week: 6 (-1)
0-2 Loss vs DK; 2-0 Win vs HLE
KT still find themselves as the Gatekeepers, winning against the bottom and losing against the top. Although they made plays and worked for early game advantages against DK, many botched executions lead to lost fights that snowballed out of their control. Against HLE, KT looks much cleaner, able to exploit their opponent’s mistakes with their proactivity to get a clean series. This execution gap of the team is what will continue to separate them from the top half of the table, and will be a thorn for KT’s season if they don’t find a way to shore it up.
6.) Kwangdong Freecs (2-4)
Last Week: 7 (+1)
2-1 Win vs T1; 0-2 vs GEN
KDF surprised Korea by being the team to break the T1 domestic win streak, and in their own unique way. Ornn Mid and Ashe ADC showed a degree of innovation and flexibility required to beat the top teams, and shows KDF’s potential for more upsets. Even with a 0-2 scoreline against GEN, KDF still kept in contention. Objective trading and disengages shows a clear strategic idea to work on as the season goes on for KDF’s identity. With more scouting against their future opponents and a watchful eye on the meta, KDF can be a scary team this summer if their mentality and willingness to try new things keeps up.
The top of the Pack
5.) Liiv SANDBOX
Last Week: 5 (0)
2-1 Win vs DRX; 2-0 Win vs BRO
LSB continues their upwards trend this week, only dropping one game against DRX to a botched Baron take. All other aspects of their gameplay continued to shine clean, especially carried by their ADC, Lee “Prince” Chase-hwan. Focus on enabling Price as their win condition for making late game comebacks is what makes LSB so formidable and constantly climbing. If they can continue this consistency and upgrade it to beat a top team later this season, LSB will break through to the top four of the standings and the LCK Power Rankings.
4.) DAMWON KIA
Last Week: 4 (0)
2-0 Win vs KT; 2-0 vs NS
DAMWON shows the star power of their roster, completely strong arming their lower ranked competition. Match 2 against NS now marks the fastest LCK Summer 2022 game at 26:25, with DK firmly in the lead and control at all times. Each of the lanes has the opportunity to carry the game through individual playmaking, coming together in fast and concentrated teamfights. However, DK continues to lack performances at the top of the table, only having beat LSB in Week 1 while losing to T1 and Gen.G. They will be truly tested next week against DRX to see if they can climb up to the top three.
3.) DRX (5-1)
Last Week: 2 (-1)
1-2 Loss vs LSB; 0-2 Loss vs T1
DRX found themselves trying to experiment too much and found losses against direct competition T1 and up and coming LSB. Hard to execute compositions and failure to find clean openings in fights led to their losing weekend. Their usual steady tempo was consistently displaced by their faster opponents, a problem which will have to be studied if DRX wants to avoid being studied and exposed. However, even with their plans exposed, DRX continued to fight and hold close games, showing that they won’t go down quietly.
(Photo Credit: Riot Games)
2.) T1 (5-1)
Last Week: 3 (+1)
1-2 Loss vs KDF; 2-0 Win vs DRX
T1 suffers the loss of their domestic win streak through questionable objective decisions in games two and three. In their game losses, T1 were either late to Barons and Dragons, or unable to fight due to prior picks in the lanes. This uncharacteristic loss was quickly remedied against DRX, as T1 pushed their tempo and found constant advantages, taking game 1 at 39:00, then game 2 at 29:55. Although the win streak is over for T1, they kept their heads on straight and corrected their course back on track, showing their usual dominance against their direct competition. With this wake-up call, T1 should be ready to prepare for their match against GEN next week, and contest them in tempo and for the number one spot.
1.) Gen.G (6-0)
Last Week: 1 (0)
2-0 Win vs NS; 2-0 Win vs KDF
Gen.G found an easier schedule this week, facing off against BRO and KDF, but cleanly swept both teams showing why they stay at the top. The steady tempo and ability to keep their cool is what led to their 2-0 week. In all fights, all members spotted each other and angled for constant picks. This control of skirmishes led to objectives, leading to quick snowballs. Gen.G continues to win games under 30 minutes and cleanly, keeping their spot at number one in Korea and the LCK Power Rankings.
Week 4 will have top of the table matchups, with DK vs DRX, GEN vs T1 and DRX vs GEN as the highlight matches to watch. Wins over T1 and DRX will firmly cement GEN’s position as the dominant number one team in Korea, as the top teams will shake out their individual positions. Week 4 of the LCK Summer Split will start on July 6 with NS vs KT and KDF vs BRO.
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