Welcome back, everyone, to week 2 of Blue Otter League Masters, and week 2 of the Power Rankings with CmonShootFaster. Week 1 was a wild one. Filled with teams both under and overperforming based on our initial analysis. It’s a little hard to definitively say or predict how well a team is going to do in the coming weeks based on just their week one results, but there are a few things that we can glean with the results, and statistics that we saw in our first week of games. With that said, here’s the rundown.
#10 - Chubby Babies
Oh boy, we runnin’ it back boys. Chubby Babies start out the season 0-2, does that seem familiar to anyone? On the upside, we won’t have a time several weeks in the future where they play to decide the only team without a win. They lost to Aztecs and FriendZoned, two other teams that I’m not super high on right now, taking FZ to a 35+ minute game, but losing decisively in the second game despite their support swap where Frozen Turd heavily overperformed compared to game 1. I’m not sold on them being the last place team, but statistically it is so right now, so here is their rightful throne.
Player to watch: Frozen Turd
He had a mediocre to poor game on gnar, but looked to really be trying to carry the team when he was landed on pyke. More than any single player, I think this team probably needs to decide on a set roster and try to move forward with that. Deciding where Frozen starts on that roster is going to a big part. I’m genuinely surprised to see him top and support this season, but who knows. Maybe he found his calling.
#9 - Friend Zoned
Pretty cut and dry. Friend Zoned didn’t have a good week either. You can say they went 1-1, but their only win was against Chubby Babies. They won decisively, but it was a slow finish. Taking the 0-2 team to a 37 minute game doesn’t necessarily build confidence. This is one I could be super wrong about however. Maybe they were just taking their time to make sure they didn’t make any mistakes, and wanted to close out clean. Maybe it was just glacial comp taking too long to get online with the Sej, Ashe, Anivia, Braum comp. Regardless, I’d be happy to see them move up in the ranking next week.
Player to watch: Shlidd
Keep it short and easy. 2 deaths over 2 games, one of them being a loss. Big damage, and lots of utility make him the easy player to watch for me this week. Maybe tomorrow we see a team hard camp the bot lane and punish him more, or maybe we see him pop off and hard carry. Only time will tell.
#8 - SPK White
SPK White had a bit of a weird week. They won against Atlas, but realistically that was Atlas’ game to win. They overstepped their draft and put themselves in a bad position. Despite having Daddy Atlas on a carry mid laner, it took SPK white nearly 40 minutes to close out the game, which was then followed by a loss to Gamma Guardians, the speculatively ranked 10th place team. It’s a tough call for sure, but I wanna see them step up and close out a game before I rank them any higher next week.
Player to watch: Ballz
Interestingly enough, several of SPK White’s players had good weeks statistically speaking, but I think Ballz is the standout. Willing to play more tanky and utility junglers while also still putting up big numbers does mean something to me, and it should mean something to any team playing against SPK in this coming week.
#7 - Illumination
So technically Illum didn’t win a game this week. They had one forfeit, and then one loss in a decently close in the early game matchup with Literal Monkeys. That said, they also were not fielding their main roster, and had several people off roleing to what this team had previously practiced so I’m willing to give this (my) team the benefit of the doubt for this week alone. If they can’t bring home the bacon tomorrow night, then they should be ready to plummet down the rankings. I expect a 1-1, given that at least one of their games will be against the currently undefeated Tempest and the other against Gamma Guardians.
Player to watch: Sibelwind (Known as Phantom Outlaw)
Sibel was not there last week, leading to Azure playing back in the mid lane, and ImPureLatino subbing into the jungle for the week. That in addition to the substitute support probably put the team off it’s game a little more than you would expect. Look for a big performance from this player in the upcoming games. Win big or feed big.
#6 Gamma Guardians
Impressively not 0-2, and I congratulate them for it. Maybe I was wrong about this team. Their first game loss was against Tempest, and while it wasn’t necessarily a close game, it didn’t seem to be an absurd stomp either. Combining that with the fact they closed out against SPK in nearly the same time as their first game loss leave me a little more hopeful for this team moving forward. This week I expect either a 1-1 or a 0-2 in all honesty. They play against Casting Couch and Illumination this week, leaving an interesting amount of speculation. The newbie players mentioned last week did not quite live up to the expectation of storming the scene, but they weren’t such a detriment that it kept Gamma from winning in their second game either. Look to see if improvements are made and the team starts winning. Who knows, maybe they’re gonna slam dunk the rest of the league.
Player to watch: Darkness.
Two pretty good games from the Gamma top laner leave me interested to see what happens next week. This player showed they can play tanks in the form of Malphite, as well as carries and juggernauts like Darius. I’m interested to see if they have any other pocket picks to bust out in the coming weeks to make for some interesting lanes. I’m sure he’ll have a fun time against support turned top laner Awootism this week.
#5 Atlas Gaming
Atlas picks up its first win in a pretty good week for them all things considered. I’m pretty firm in my belief that they could have taken the win from SPK if they kept their draft a little closer to the chest and maybe played a little less loose with giving carry potential to the mid lane. I think Bliss in the jungle is pretty good for the team right now, and I’d be interested to see what he chooses to do next week after he is no longer roster locked. Atlas does have a history of losing their junglers mid season after all.
Player to watch: Shifti
At least one beastly performance from this man right here this week. Shifti put up a 16 kill Kai’sa game last week to bring home Atlas the win versus Friend Zoned. This man is clearly meant to be the late game carry of the team, much like when he was on Literal Monkeys last season, only this time he doesn’t have all star support Shadow Isles in lane with him. Eager to know if this one game was a fluke, or if Shifti has it in him to put Atlas on his back and run it down to the playoff bracket.
#4 Ozon3 Aztecs
Color me surprised. Technically Aztecs have yet to lose a game. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, Ozone had to forfeit their first game against Illumination, leaving them chasing their one possible win for the week. Of course that win was against last place Chubby Babies, but it was a decisive win if nothing else. Impossible to give a precise judgement about this team give they’ve played half the number of games of every other team, but if they play like they did in that one game, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them break into the top 3. Remember kids, always carry your house key on you.
Player to watch: Inheritance
Pretty much exactly like a said last week, the Viktor madman himself is the player to watch. In their game, he had a standout performance on his signature champ, going 12/1 and carrying his team to a win. I need to see how he performs on other champs and against mid laners other that BuhRockObama to call him one of the better mid laners, but if he keeps putting up numbers like this then it’s an easy call to make.
#3 Literal Monkeys
The top 3 remains the top 3 this week, with a small shuffle inside those rankings. Literal Monkeys joins the team that went 1-1 this week, losing only to the team above them, Casting Couch. They had a good win against Illumination, Midnight Wisp popping off on Xayah, and everyone else performing well in addition. This is a good team and should be the bar that every team below sets themselves to if they really wanna contest for finals.
Player to watch: QuestForIons
Quest had two very good games this week, only dying twice total. Considered one of the best tank top laners last season, he started this season out strong by playing two carries in the form of Mordekaiser and Kled. Whether or not this was a fluke and he’s back on tank duty in the upcoming week, or if we get to see more of the Chad top laner in the future is something that only time will tell, and I’m eager to find out the answer.
#2 Casting Couch
Much like Literal Monkeys, Casting Couch has only lost one game, and it was to the team directly above them in the rankings. Their loss against Tempest wasn’t as close as their win against Literal Monkeys, but they still performed well and more than earned their spot at the top for now. The roster continues to change in small and large ways however, so we could see this team either shoot right to the top, ready for a rematch, or drop down to the bottom of the leaderboard in the coming weeks however.
Player to watch: Woo Am I
Proving me wrong, Woo did not tilt in the losing game, and apparently was keeping the coolest head in the lobby. Despite his team’s loss to Tempest, Woo put up and impressive scoreline of 8/1/2. Was that from well positioned teamfighting, or was it from a few ill gotten secures? I’m more inclined at this time to venture that he had a good game. Another interesting tidbit is that he played two artillery mages in the way of Ziggs and Xerath. I’m sure we’ll see a Lux game in the coming weeks if he has anything to say about it, so keep your eyes out from bombs and lasers.
#1 Tempest
Even with subs in multiple positions, Tempest has proven they have more than what it takes to reign at the top of the board. Both games they played took about the same amount of time, and neither of them were particularly close. This is the team to watch and the team that anyone should be ready to play in finals. There are expected to be some minor roster changes in the next couple of weeks, but with the core of the team remaining, I’m not worried that they’ll start to slip in the standings.
Player to watch: Viperfang
Lo’ and behold. We pick Lee Sin boys. Viper plays the carries and the tanks in the same week, proving that he’ll do what it takes as long as his team gets the win. It is telling that both the mid and jungler have excellent scorelines in both games, and I think that Viper probably has a lot to compliment on about that. This week I can’t wait to see what he picks and how he plays. Show me something high mechanic and flashy my man. Gimme something good to look at then you camp my lane :^)
And that’s it for week two. It’s hard to really speculate on rankings based on a single week of play, and I’m 100% certain we will see these rankings shake up quite a bit in the coming days. People slump and others over-perform. That’s just the way it is in Gold 5’s. The only question is, for those teams slumping, how long will it be? And for those playing out of their minds, is it a fluke they have to try and continue, or were they just underrated. Like I said before, only time will tell. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you all next week.
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