I already used the “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” opener last year but IT’S SO TRUE. Offseason in League of Legends esports is just so exciting.
Watch the video version of the power rankings on YouTube
We’ve had major shake-ups all around the world in the aftermath of DAMWON Gaming winning the 2020 World Championships, from C9 Perkz to G2 Rekkles to LPL Nuguri and Tarzan and the return of Khan and Bang to the LCK. The LCS has assigned “resident” status to every Oceanic player, too, opening the floodgates on last year’s Oceanic influx, especially after the success FBI found with the Golden Guardians.
In the LCS, only 15 out of the 50 starters from the end of this season are continuing with the same team into 2021, with five teams replacing four or more of their starters.
I’ve slogged through the entire LCS shake-up and formed my unshakeable opinions about how well each LCS organization played their cards, and where they’ll stack up competitively over the year to come. Read on, if you dare!
For an even deeper look, watch the VOD of my live-streamed presentation of the power rankings for an in-depth discussion of all my rankings, offseason grades, and more.
Power Rankings Explanation
Each team has been assigned a power ranking number that predicts where they will finish in the LCS standings by the end of 2021.
Teams also have a +/- modifier that gives an idea of how much higher or lower they might be able to finish depending on how things “click.” In other words, the +/- is both an indicator of my confidence in my prediction, and also an estimate of the roster’s volatility: how good could they be if everything comes together perfectly, and/or how bad might they be if everything falls apart?
Offseason Grade Criteria
I judge the quality of a team’s offseason on several criteria, including:
- Existing resources (players under contract, estimation of available budget)
- Spend vs. value gained
- Opportunity cost (by making a certain transaction, what other potential transactions were they not able to make?)
- Clarity of purpose (is the team trying to win this year, or build up for the future, for example)
- Organizational depth
The team’s grade is a summary of these factors, based on how they entered the 2020/21 offseason and what they had secured as of December 8, 2020 (with some teams’ Academy rosters not yet being finalized). The grades can range from A+ to F, with anything in the A range being great to excellent, B range meaning average to good, C range being below average, D basically meaning I’m actively disappointed, and F meaning a complete failure.
The Results
Let’s do it!
We’ll start with my 10th-ranked team, and count up from there.
Continue reading LCS 2021 Preseason Power Rankings and Offseason Report Cards