Worlds 2016: Grading the Group Stage Teams

The Group Stage has ended and we finally have our top 8 teams that will soon slug it out in Chicago. But before we get to the Windy City, let’s take this chance to assess the teams that competed in over the last couple of weeks.

As such, grades will be given to all teams, whether they made it out of groups or not. Like all classrooms, you had your rockstar students, your average Joes, and of course, the underperformers.

Let’s see how 16 world class teams scored on the Worlds report card:

HEAD OF THE CLASS

Albus Nox Luna: A+

A perfect score to a team with a 4-3 record? You bet! Sure, their win/loss score isn’t flawless, but they get the phenomenal grade for defying everyone’s expectations.

Seriously, if you told anyone you knew for sure a gang of upstart Russians was going to contest Korea’s #1 seed for first place in the group, while pulling out curve balls like Support Brand, then you’d either be a liar or a genius.

ANX getting out of groups is a victory for all Wildcard region teams that have always been shunned as an afterthought. Coincidentally, it’s also a victory for exciting League of Legends. This team is an… Albus-olute joy to watch.

H2k-Gaming: A

After week one, it seemed like 2014 all over again with Europe not making it out of groups at all. Then along came H2-Whaaaat? H2k! Their flawless week 2 performance culminated in a hard fought tiebreaker win against China’s #1 seed, cementing the EU squad as first in their group.

It’s an emotional breakthrough for the likes of Konstantinos “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou and Ryu “Ryu” Sang-wook. Their journeys to success at Words have been long ones, and years of hard work are only now paying off.

It’s also a triumph for Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu, who played out of his mind in week 2. He proved his name should soon be added to the list of Europe’s all time top lane greats.

Samsung Galaxy: A

If we’re talking emotional roller coasters, SSG may have every other Worlds team beat already. Their road to this tournament looked near impossible. They finished LCK summer in 4th place and dropped out of playoffs in a 3-0 sweep to KT Rolster. What’s more, they had to make it through Korea’s regional gauntlet to face KT, a team they had a 19-game LOSING streak against, one more time!

But despite all the hardship, they emerged as the only team other than SK Telecom to have a 5-1 record out of groups. Korea’s weakest team on paper is now looking like a serious contender. Lee “Crown” Min-ho and Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk are looking like the best Viktor and Jhin at Worlds, respectively.

Samsung may have an entirely new roster, but if they keep this up, the organization could bag a second Summoner’s Cup for their shelf.

MAKING THE GRADE

SK Telecom T1: B+

How could a two time World Champion team with a 5-1 group stage record be ranked this low? It’s simple—they didn’t play like a two time World Champion team. Yes, they played well enough to school everyone else in Group B, but that group was arguably the weakest of the bunch.

To put this into perspective, SKT have been through 3 Worlds group stages with a combined record of 18-2. One of those losses just happened a few days ago.

And even in their wins, SKT didn’t look nearly as dominating as before. They had more close games these past couple weeks than their two previous worlds groups combined.

SKT are the reigning champions, but they’re not as invincible as they once were. .

China: B

2 out of China’s 3 teams made it out of groups. Good, but not for a region touted as 2nd best in the world. A combined record of 9 wins and 10 losses doesn’t scream silver medal performance.

China has seen its fair share of shenanigans this year. Some of its top teams were plagued with in-fighting, last minute subs, and whatever else.

Even its #2 seed, Royal Never Give Up (which houses 2 former World Champion players) did poorly in the LPL playoffs. We didn’t see the Edward Gaming that once stole a Mid-Season Invitational title from SKT.

True, China did redeem itself from its horrible performance at last year’s Worlds. But it may have to come to terms with the fact that it’s now closer to the rest of the world than it is to the Korean overlords.

ROX Tigers: B-

Why are the overall favorites to win the tournament graded so low? Is it because they had to claw their way through a tiebreaker with a Wildcard team to even get first place in their group?

That’s part of it, but it’s also because the Tigers displayed an abysmal early game in every match but that tiebreaker. Constantly behind in gold early on, hesitant to make aggressive plays… we saw none of the quickest finishing team in the LCK until their backs were against the wall.

None of this means that ROX don’t have what it takes to win it all anymore, but their group stage performance didn’t build them up as the unstoppable juggernaut fans know they can be.

Splyce: C+

Wait, wait. Splyce came dead last in their group! Why are they graded so leniently?

When you put Splyce’s journey into context, you’ll understand how amazing it was for them to reach Worlds. Debuting as a team of rookies at the start of the year, they bombed the Spring Split and nearly got relegated out of the LCS even!

But they let none of that stop them. They came back with a vengeance, rose above teams such as Origen, Fnatic and the Unicorns of Love to finish second in Europe. All their players have a long way to go in terms of growth, and they should be proud they went from 0 to 100 real quick in their first year.

LAGGERS AND FLUNKIES

LMS: C

Oh, Flash Wolves and Ahq. The mercurial teams of the LMS have been giving us great Worlds matches since 2014, but they’ve never made it past quarters. Hell, this time, they didn’t make it out of groups!

For a region that has the advantage of being able to scrim with Korean teams, you’d think they’d one day be able to be a stable performer on the world stage.

Alas, Flash Wolves proved they could be a silver bullet to SKT… in one game. For the rest, they showed an inability to close. Ahq had a wonderful bot lane duo and not much else. Their weakness in the mid lane was sorely exposed this time around.

Will the LMS ever repeat the magic that the Taipei Assassins shook the world with all the way back in Season 2? Someday, maybe, but definitely not this year.

North America: C

Cloud 9 are out of groups! Why is NA rated so low?

Because its two better (read as: much better) prospects floundered. Counter Logic Gaming looked like the second best team in their group until they allowed ANX to steamroll them. Team SoloMid came out strong before completely choking in week 2.

If anything, this should have been North America’s year. TSM was performing marvelously all summer, C9 has a world class top laner that rallied them through the gauntlet qualifier… they even had the home crowd advantage!

Alas, they squandered all these chances. One could argue that the only reason C9 even got out of groups was through SKT’s good graces.

INTZ e-sports: D

For another Wildcard team to be so highly praised, it must feel a little bad to be INTZ right now. In all honesty, the Brazilians wouldn’t be rated this low if not compared to their other Wildcard team.

ANX proving that Wildcards can perform on the big stage means INTZ can’t hide behind the guise of being outclassed anymore.

Yes, they pulled off the greatest upset in League of Legends history by beating EDG on the first day of Worlds. But after that? They simply faded into nothing. After a respectable showing by paiN Gaming last year, Brazil needs to show more if CBLOL wants to be taken seriously as a region.

G2 Esports: F

What else is there to say about G2 that hasn’t already been said on Reddit?

Europe’s greatest hope sputtered and crashed completely when their region needed them the most. If not for H2k, this would have been EU’s worst Worlds showing ever. The G2 we all saw in the 8 days of competition were nothing like their EU LCS selves.

Gone were the aggressive moves by MVP Kim “Trick” Gang-Yun. And though G2 acquired one of the best bot lane duos in the West, they actually looked like the worst bot lane in the group.

There’s no doubt G2 can bounce back in the future, but for now, they’ll have to live with the shame of their Worlds performance.

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