Power Ranking: LEC Spring Split 2021

The League of Legends European Championship (LEC) is right around the corner and all teams are ready to duke it out on their home turf to see who will be crowned the new “King of Europe”. This title is currently in possession of G2 Esports but will they be able to hold on to it? Let’s take a look at a power ranking ahead of the first matchday in the LEC.
10. Astralis

The rebranded Astralis, previously Origen, should bring new hope to what seemed like a doomed project. Keeping Nukeduck might be a risk considering he has not been performing up to his standards, especially being the star player of an organization. This roster also fields some familiar faces in Jeskla, promisq and WhiteKnight with Zanzarah being the only newcomer from EU Masters. Expectations are low as it looks like Astralis is on a lower budget this year.

9. SK Gaming

It looks like SK Gaming’s roster did not recover from the departure of Crownshot. They do have some interesting players with Treatz and Blue coming over from other regions and TynX finally appearing in an LEC roster. But I do not see how these players will connect gameplay wise and it will be hard to train synergy between the players. Nonetheless they have potential and if they improve throughout the first weeks, they might be able to break top 8. It feels like there is a small gap between the bottom two and the middle of the pack. Those first weeks will be crucial.

8. Misfits Gaming

We’ve seen a lot of names under the Misfits banner already, seven to be exact. They’ve let us know that denyk will be the starter over Vander, which makes me wonder what the goal of the team is. Together with Kobbe, they’ll be the central point of this team.

However, their mid laner, jungler and toplaner seem almost randomly chosen. Of course, there is a lot of talent within the team but there are still a lot of question marks surrounding this roster. Who will start and how will this team play as a unit?

7. FC Schalke 04

Overall, this roster seems mostly unchanged after the offseason. They replaced a veteran toplaner with another one from another region. Arguably, they are off worse if you consider the LCS to be worse than the LEC. Broken Blade does bring some experience to the table, since he was on one of the better performing organisations in NA: TSM. Time will tell but a “S04 Miracle Run” might be the only thing getting them into playoffs again.

6. EXCEL

Excel made some surprising changes and this team feels like a good contender for playoffs. With the addition of ERL superstar Czekolad to their already strong botlane, they also added Dan from Fnatic Rising. This team could finally live up to their full potential and break into the top 6 in EU.

Also read: The LEC returns: These 7 LEC rookies might become the new superstars

5. Vitality

Even though Vitality was rumoured to field a superstar team, it was not meant to be. However, they quickly reconsidered their options and are fielding an incredibly young team that is eager to prove themselves. They have a lot of raw talent on the roster and we already saw what they can do last split. If they keep following this path, playoffs should be a manageable goal for them.

This is where we end the middle of the pack. The next four teams are all considered to be the top contenders of the region. They will most likely represent us internationally and on a good day, each team could take a win off each other.

4. MAD Lions

The MAD Lions had some problems going on with their toplaner and jungler. What those problems were we’ll never know, but they have decided to swap them out for Armut and Elyoya in the top and jungle position respectively. They already had two strong splits, and this split it feels like they are only looking to fix their existing problems. They should now work towards a possible breakthrough in the top three as they challenge the best in Europe.

3. Fnatic

Some of you might think that Fnatic will be the second-best team coming into the spring split but that is up for debate. Having lost their star player to their biggest competitor and needing a new midlaner who is unproven in our region, could come back to bite them in the ass.

The replacements for Rekkles and Nemesis are particularly good ones but they are not on the same level. Combine this with the fact that Rekkles had an incredibly unique playstyle and interaction with Hylissang, which we don’t know will work with Upset. With Nisqy coming back from NA after a disappointing run in the summer split playoffs, this team has still a lot to prove to the league.

2. Rogue

This team has only made two changes but they are very significant to their playstyle. Giving Inspired more freedom by drafting one of the most experienced toplaners in the league will do wonders for a team like Rogue. Trymbi has also been promoted from their academy team and he is maintaining an incredible skill level in solo queue, being consistently in the top 10 players on EUW. They already surprised us last year with only their lack of experience holding them back. With this upgraded roster, Rogue feels like the first team to challenge G2 Esports at their own game.

1. G2 Esports

The kings of Europe had one of the best offseasons they could have hoped for. They signed the best botlaner of the league, weakening their biggest competitor in the process. Rekkles will be replacing PerkZ on the G2 Esports roster. Although losing PerkZ feels bad for our region, G2 Esports could not have found a better replacement for him.

G2 Esports were the favourites last year by winning everything in Europe. Now with the addition of an arguably better bot laner, they are ready for another dominant year. The question throughout the whole split will be: “who can beat G2 Esports in a final?”

Final notes

And that is it, my power ranking of the ten LEC teams. Of course, this only reflects my opinion of the teams and is by no way a script on how it will turn out. A lot of things can happen in a split and Europe loves a good underdog story. However, the overall feeling I’m getting is that the gap between good teams and bad teams is bigger than last year, but not insurmountable. 

How do you think the LEC stacks up? Join the discussion on Social Media or our Discord! 

You can also help improve the website by sharing your feedback directly!

Image credit: G2 Esports
*The listed articles are provided through affiliate links. A purchase after clicking through them supports us at esports.com as we will receive a small commission without additional cost to you.