[S2 Worlds Preview] The Calm Before The Storm

If you've always been wondering just how each of the twelve teams compare against each other and who exactly plays on each team, check out the infographic we've put together for you. (Click on the image for a larger version. Warning: Full version is very large.) Also, do check out the ggChronicles Season 2 Preview articles. They're well written and are great for people new to the competitive and regular follows alike who want a quick read that gives them the low-down on each team.

TL Power Rank

We here at TeamLiquid have spotted an alarming problem in the League of Legends community: there simply hasn't been any drama recently! We have a reputation as the most childish, casual and immature game to keep up, and while we've all be content to be "mature" and "sensible" the other eSports communities have found ways to keep the soap opera going.

To rectify this glaring issue, we have decided to publish a Power Rank. This is a list where we rank all your favourite teams in a complete unfair and biased way and no one is allowed to agree or get along with each other. In fact, even the TeamLiquid Editors don't even agree on what we even published. It's THAT controversial.

Disclaimer
+ Show Spoiler [DISCLAIMER] +


#12: Saigon Jokers
Some of you may remember Team Xan. They came into the Season 1 World Championships and took a game off TSM with a Kayle + Mordekaiser combo (back when Gunblade-Morde was sleeper OP) but then failed to do anything noteworthy. If you don't remember them for that, then you probably remember them for this interview.

This is what the Saigon Jokers reminds us of. Sure, they beat the Singapore Sentinels. But this is a team that before the SEA Regional Qualifiers, had never beaten SGS. At the same time, SGS is not the greatest of teams to use as a benchmark for success. They also have an even worse record against the Taipei Assassins and are barely scraping a positive Win/Loss ratio in the Garena Premier League. However, what they have is the advantage of surprise. SAJ regularly practise 1v2 AP bot lane, which sometimes resembles the "suicide off-lane" in DotA. This is definitely helped by the DotA background several of their players, such as their AP Player Nixwater, have. In addition, the SEA server has seen multiple styles of "counter-jungling" cheese. While so far experimentation seems rough and unrefined, it is not out of the question that we see something absolutely ridiculous come out in a similar vein to the Malzahar-Soraka cheese we saw in the Korea Regional Qualifiers.

No team in Group A can really count SAJ out due to the threat they pose in a Bo1 Group Stage. But at the same time, there's no denying it. SAJ are the weakest team out of the twelve.

#11: Taipei Assassins (TPA)
The Taipei Assassins are on odd bunch. Earlier this year they seemed anaemic at WCG 2011. But then they were incredibly scary and smacking people left and right. And now they're in one of the biggest slumps of their career for almost no apparent reason. While cynically you can match their slump with the release of Diablo III, more realistically it might just be that everyone else around them have gotten better. TPA is still top-dog in their part of the world, crushing their Regional Qualifier and continuing to dominate the Garena Proleague. But the segregation of regional servers seems to be hurting them greatly. At the end of the day, practise is dependant on who you can practise, which matters a lot when many players rely on solo queue to practise.

So where exactly do TPA stand? TPA have been training hard recently, and it's hard to say. On one hand, they have players like Stanley who once stated that the counter to Kennen was Vladimir, and the counter to Vladimir was Kennen. He also enjoys building triple gp10 on Shen, starting with a Philo Stone, getting a Kage and then a HoG. This only works because he's that good at top lane and is not recommended for solo queue. But their teamfights recently have been messy, and their focus has been lax. In their show match against CLG.eu at their Regional Qualifiers, they just couldn't stay as a cohesive unit under pressure. That will be the hurdle they need to cross. But if they can cross it though, they have a wide range of strategies they can run. For example, who even plays Trundle any more? TPA, that's who. And imagine what you can do with max-CDR Trundle who can keep his... Pillar... up permanently. (Please see a doctor if this happens to you however.) They've also been ahead of the curve in itemisation theory, such as getting Spirit Visage on several champions.

Fun fact: Did you know Lilballz, Bigfatjiji and Classick used to be in the same WoW Guild and raid together? Then one day Classick got a job at Riot and told Lilballz and Jiji to come play this game called "League of something". And the rest is history. Lilballz is also hilarious btw.

#10: SK Gaming (SK)
SK Gaming has been probably one of the most volatile teams in the League of Legends scene. It's not just their roster, but their performance seems to fluctuate too. They've been showing a good performances since Yellowstar joined but at the European Regionals, they were absolutely crushed by Moscow Five in the finals. Ocelote did say that they "went partying after winning semis so we got stomped against M5 at Gamescom." But SK still have a problem. They haven't proved themselves enough yet to be up there.

SK's game is emotional. They snowball hard when they do well, but they tilt when they do badly. And it reflects itself in their play style. When SK win the laning phase, they go on to make a mess in the midgame. But if they lose the laning phase, they're always struggling. They are a team who decides their own future early into the game. And this is their biggest problem. Many other teams can be flexible in how they want to play their game. SK has far fewer strategies and counter-strategies they tend to run. They have a game plan, they go into a game, and they execute it. And if you only have one plan, you need to be really good at it. Otherwise, your inflexibility means that teams can out-ban and pick you, and then out-play you on virtue of team composition.

While their recent results have been good, SK is still a team that needs to prove themselves. And that's why they're still in the lower half of the power rank.

#9: Counter Logic Gaming Prime (CLG.na)
Counter Logic Gaming is one of the oldest self-made brands in League of Legends. After a brilliant start at IEM Cologne in 2011, we've seen CLG.na just peter out. The world evolved around them, and CLG just couldn't adapt. Individually, they're all very skilled. But that's not enough to hang with the best. So what can we say about CLG then?

CLG's performance is all going to come down to Jiji. Like their brother team CLG.eu, CLG.na can play the late game well. They can split push. They can let Doublelift carry them. All they need to do, is create space for 2xLift. This is where Jiji comes in. As the second position carry, there's a lot of responsibility on him to do well. If he can win his lane, it opens up so much control and presence for CLG. It lets Doublelift farm and it lets HotShot pressure. But when Jiji fails, everything else fails for CLG. They lose jungle and map presence. Chauster and Doublelift get constantly dove. Voyboy falls behind from pressure. CLG.na have a lot of experience in playing from behind, but at this level of play you should not be going into a game assuming your lanes are going to fail. You need to win lanes, and then play from there.

So, it's all up to you Jiji. No pressure.

#8: Dignitas (Dig)
Team Dignitas has been part of the North American Trioka for just about a year now since their 1st place finish at IPL3 in Atlantic City. The team had just been picked up by Dignitas and they took the crown after taking out CLG.na and Epik Gamer. Then they went on a run of five top 3 finishes over the course of the next 6 months to really solidify themselves as one of the best in North America. The team's potential was questioned after the departure of Voyboy and L0CUST, but their replacements Crumbzz and Patoy have more than answered the call when they took 2nd place at the North American Regional Championships.

This is a team that has been known to think up some "cheesy" strats and use them to great effects at major tournaments. Who could forget the Super-Heals mass-Support Kog'Maw strat that they pulled out early at IPL4 to get into the Winners Finals? Or their recent addition of the poke-comp at the North American Regionals? And it would be remiss to not mention the Double-AP Skarner strategy that Dignitas loves to run. In the case of the World Championships, all eyes will be every single game during the playoffs and any cheese will be figured out very quickly. Dignitas can use multiple surprises to make it out of the group stage, but in the end they will need to rely on their mechanics if they want to go even farther. This is where they're going to run into problems. Scarra is notorious for getting camped mid lane, and Crumbzz has shown shaky performance top lane, especially on Rumble. That places a lot of pressure onto Qtiepie and Patoy to carry the team.

For Dignitas, a lot of their games are going to come down to the picks/bans. They need to get themselves team comps they are both comfortable playing with, but also give them flexibility. For example, Crumbzz has shown himself to be absolutely dominating on Jax, but often shut down on Rumble when he's not bee supported. This is the weakness teams will be looking to exploit against them.

#7: World Elite (WE)
World Elite were once one of the most feared teams in the world. They beat CLG.na to take first place at IEM Guangzhou. They crushed through the Chinese competition and were so good that they were given a direct invite to the Season 2 World Championships before CLG.eu even competed in their first major tournament. That's how good they were. How the mighty have fallen. World Elite bombed out of OGN Azubu The Champions to CLG.eu 2-0 and couldn't even pass Round 2 of IPL Face Off. What's more, in the last two months they've undergone roster changes, swapping out their Jungler and Support. Yet some how they managed to beat Invictus Gaming 2-0 in the finals of the Ultimate Game Tournament just this week.

World Elite play a very Chinese DotA style of play, with clearly defined roles for first to fifth position. Misaya is their tempo maker in second position, while WeiXiao is their first position in the 4-protect-1 who will crush the opposition. They are safe, conservative and solid. And that's been the reason for their continued success. In fact, it is perhaps best to draw parallels to CLG.eu and their cold and Chinese play style. The difference however is that Chinese play emphasises positional play very heavily. It focuses on always recognising the problem, and then executing the right answer. This is something that does not fair well for top lane and jungling. (Which is rather amusing, given that the top lane in LoL has many parallels to the mid lane in DotA. But that is a discussion for another time.) The Chinese server also has a distinct lack of good junglers to learn and adapt from. Jungling is one of the positions that is most dependent on experience and game sense, compared to mid or bot lane where a lot of the emphasis is on mechanics. It's then perhaps unsurprising that WE's strengths lie in its carries.

If WE manages to get the right experience to bring CaoMei and ClearLove to the same level as Misaya, the world should be very afraid. But for now, the two new additions are solid, but not quite good enough to break into the top half of the power rank.

#6: NaJin Sword
NaJin Sword combine with World Elite to represent the half-way mark. It's the point at which you become more than just a contender, but a big enough threat that you walk around with a target on your back and people try to trip you over as you walk down the corridor.

Bad analogies aside, NaJin Sword can be summed up in one word: Maknoon. He has definitely been the driving power behind Najin Sword's performance this season, being an unstoppable force in lane and a great play maker overall. Maknoon left his old team Najin Shield in the hands of Mokuza and started up a new one after the summer season. And together with AP mid player Ssong it has been nothing but ups. Sure the other players on his team perform well, but that is due to his leadership. He controls his lane and can comfortably command the rest of the team, as well as pulling out surprising new champions. He played Rengar several times in the Korean Qualifiers and won. He's played Nidalee in Skarner team comps where the AP should be instead, and won. And if he doesn't feel that these are sufficient he can always play Malphite, Jayce, Shen or Irelia. But Maknoon is also the Achilles Heel of NaJin Sword. If he underperforms, his team under-performs. Najin Sword is the team where "win lane, win game" applies most to.

#5: Counter Logic Gaming Europe (CLG.eu)
Counter Logic Gaming Europe is one of the biggest success stories in Season 2. After Wickd and Snoopeh split from SK Gaming, they picked up several players from a little-known team called Infused (who are familiar to DotA watchers) and then proceeded to smack face. Again, you really have to ask yourself: Where exactly to players like Froggen hide unknown despite being so damn good?

CLG.eu are perhaps the closest thing to a Chinese DotA Team we have seen in League of Legends tournaments, despite being not Chinese. Their cold and efficient style of play revolves around Froggen an Snoopeh controlling the temp of the game, before curving out into the late game and crushing people. Their teamfights are excellent, their positional play is strong. And it shows, as they are still the only team to take a finals from under the nose of Moscow Five and launch one of the biggest comebacks in League of Legends.

CLG.eu are out to prove themselves after a reverse sweep at OGN Azubu The Champions Summer 2012, and the blow they took from SK Gaming. But like CLG.na they have one key advantage over every other team in the tournament. They have two practise partners in the form of their compatriot CLG team in the World Championships, and also CLG Black. That gives them the unique opportunity to test against and with lots of strategies as well as plan out picks/bans long before they even arrive in on stage. And they have a good grasp over League of Legends theory too. Snoopeh was one of the first players to really start jungle Karthus and once played jungle Blitzcrank in the old jungle too.

CLG is going to be prepared, and they're going to make a mark at Worlds. So Froggen, Charm Me Maybe?

#4: Invictus Gaming (iG)
Invictus Gaming come into the World Championships with the pressure of their DotA team having swept Valve's The International 2012. They will have seen the lavish parties their billionaire team owner threw for the DotA team, with celebrities and fanfare all around. And they will likely want a piece of it too.

iG are the dark horse for the tournament. They have many similarities to modern Chinese DotA (unsurprisingly) which gives them a unique edge against every other team. They have a massive amount of flexibility and unpredictability thanks to their deep champion pools, especially on their mid player zz1tai. He can play Lee Sin, Jayce, Master Yi, Mordekaiser and Viktor. How many other mid plane players can even play half of those champions at a competitive level? The fact he plays Viktor alone gives him a TL seal of approval due to our rabid fascination with Viktor (who also ruins a lot of the push meta, although several conditions need to be met).

iG are going to play something incredibly cheesy. Except to them, they will be playing Standard. If that even makes any sense. The fact they could play a wildly different team composition or ten games straight shoots them up the Power Rank.

#3: Team Solomid (TSM)
Once known as a perennial second place team in North America behind CLG Prime, Team SoloMid has shown us that hard work (and some talent) can take you to the top. Soon after the announcement of the $5 million Season 2 prize pool, TSM was the first team to invest in a gaming house. They also decided it should be in New York so they could practice against both North American and European teams. The first few months of this venture was not successful at all as they didn't make much of an impact at IEM New York or IPL3.

Look forward a few months and TSM is now the hottest NA team, dominating other North American teams at every offline tournament. They decided that they would practice the fundamentals of the game rather than go for crazy strategies that would throw off their opponents and that has worked in their favour against other NA teams. But now they need to face the world. TSM were completely wiped by Azubu Blaze, and have never won a series against Moscow Five. Being the best in your region is all dandy, but this is the World Championships, not the North American Championships.

TSM's greatest strength continues to be the fact that every lane is solid and has the potential to carry. That's possibly all they need. But at the same time, a lot of their initiation relies on Reginald. Even on champions such as Karthus, he will be happy to Flash right into the middle of his team and just die in order to initiate and then Press R. However, if he falls behind, their options rapidly shrink in number and they become increasingly reliant on either their other lanes crushing their opponents, or the opposition to make a mistake and dive them under tower. Admittedly, it's not a bad strategy. Chaox and Xpecial plays a solid bottom lane, Dyrus is 1hp juke master and for some reason, people really like diving TSM under their inhibitor towers. (See: MLG Summer Arena, North American Regionals)

#2: Azubu Frost
The Koreans are the classic terror in Starcraft. They turn up to tournaments, they win tournaments. It's a fact of life. And now, they look to take out prize money in League of Legends too.

We all saw what Azubu Blaze did at MLG Summer Arena. (If you haven't, check out our analysis here.) Azubu Frost right now are probably the stronger of the two Azubu teams. Which doesn't bare well for everyone else. They're a very no-nonsense sort of team, that tends to play standard but also has a lot of flexibility in their team comps. MadLife in particular is going to be the biggest threat. He is quite possibly the best support player in the world, and one of the few support players whose champion pool expands outside of the traditional choices. What's more, he makes things like Lux and Zyra support work.

Azubu Frost's play is always about having control. Even when behind, they always try to exercise control in some form or another. Whether its through positional play, influencing the methods and opportunities for initiation to occur, or just straight up controlling the entire game, they play like their Starcraft brethren do: always be doing something. Many foreign teams have a weakness where they will faff around, not quite sure what they want to be accomplishing. Azubu Frost however have immaculate communication and game sense, which means they're always at least achieving something no matter how mundane or small. Their ability to understand game pacing is what really pushes them into the top three of the power rank. And this is what will make or break their games.

#1: Moscow Five (M5)
Moscow Five is a name that is known world wide in the League of Legends scene. Changing from Empire to the M5 brand in December 2011, they have only lost one final at a LAN event and have only been beaten in a Bo3 at a LAN by CLG.eu. They've also had no lineup changes. They're an extremely stable, successful and scary team.

In many ways, Moscow Five live up to the reputation that Russian and Ukrainian DotA has set for them. When we think of successful Western DotA teams, often teams like Natus Vincere or Virtus Pro are mentioned. In some respects, Moscow Five continues the tradition. They are erratic, chaotic, aggressive, enigmatic. And they win. A lot.

The World Championships represents the first time they will face off against the Asian teams. And the Asian teams are raring to face Moscow Five. But as far as we are concerned, Moscow Five go into this tournament as the strongest team. And they rightly deserve their number one slot in the Power Rank.