Commercial League Rankings: Mid-season Edition

By: LestForce

Hello everybody, welcome back to the commercial league rankings! There's been a lot of clamor amongst the league members, wondering when the next iteration would be coming. First, I want to thank everyone who checked out the first edition back in the preseason. I wasn't sure how people how people were going to react to written content in that format, but the reception was super positive and there was a ton of buzz that first day the rankings were out! Hopefully these rankings continue to give a little more context to what's going on around the league, and helps you all invest a little more into the rest of your groups and the league as a whole. I try to deliver as much quality into the analysis, which unfortunately takes a bit of time as a consequence.

We've made it through 3 (and a half as I write this) weeks of the season so far, and there have been a TON of great series. If you're not tuning in on Twitch when the commercial league has games on, I regret to inform you that you've missed out. Misfits and Naughty Dogs kicked off the season in a major way, and arguably the best streamed series of any league this season being a 3 game gauntlet between Avalanche and Let 'Em Cook. If reading recaps is more your speed, I covered a fantastic series between Serenity Left on Read and High Alert, which is here in the #press-corps channel. I hope we get to see a lot of streams for commercial, as there's a ton of interesting teams and narratives to talk about. I've had a chance to watch roughly half the teams so far, and definitely aim to watch the remaining teams over the next month. If you'd like for me to be able to watch your series and see you play first hand, make sure your captain is posting the scheduled game in the #streaming-schedules channel in advance, otherwise I have no clue when you're playing!!

The preseason iteration of these rankings were largely based on a scan of the player's OP.GG for stats, champ pool, etc. This was to serve as a starting point for the rankings. Now that there are a few series under each team's belts at this point, rankings are much more influenced by LBLCS performances. This means that a S2 player might be several spots above a G1, if the S2 is having a great season. KDAs were collected per player, and while that is not the primary factor being considered, it certainly helps to paint the picture of player performance. These rankings only cover the first 3 weeks for each team (any week 4 games are not included.) I don't think there is too much else to cover that wasn't addressed last time, so without further ado, let's get into it! This writeup will be longer than the preseason edition, the hope is to cover more players this time around!

The players ranked in this article are the players who have had the most games played in that role for their team. This means some players from the preseason ranking are not included. When looking at the "change" column, these players will be noted with a mark beside their number.

Top

Toplane

Leading us off in the top lane we have MF the Moose of Misfits, moving up 2 spots. While their Tryndamere has been banned nearly every game, they've performed excellently on a variety of tanks, and the one match they were allowed to have it, they picked up 9 kills in a carry performance. Following them we have B3arTV, captain of High Alert. Their last series didn't quite go how they would have liked, but they were still able to have an impact on their signature Gangplank, and have had flashes of brilliance in every series, including a 15 kill game on Yone. The highest jump for any top laner goes to SNC EJoon of SNC Dreaded Dawn. This is a player who I had just outside the top 15 to start, and they've blown those expectations out of the water. They are an aggressive player who aren't afraid to take risks to build leads with champs like Darius, Pantheon, and Olaf, and their performance in every series so far reflects that. D3mónicSómbra of Flash for Damage has certainly held their own in the transition to commercial , as they lead all top laners in assists piloting things like Ornn and Sejuani. OuroBor0s of the Ragin A'Sols is a new addition to the rankings, as this team was not in the league at the time of creating the preseason edition. They had an exceptional performance week 1 on the Rumble and Malphite, and have been a bright spot in the last 2 series for their team.

Moving down brings us to a solid clump of players who have had solid starts to the season. PhoKingGood is another player like EJoon, seemingly trending towards aggressive top laners, and their good early performances nets them a +5 bump. AndyGwen of Panther Corps Ronin has fallen, but that's not really due to a slip in their play; other tops have just exceeded my expectations, and PCR has several lanes to play through, which means AndyGwen isn't always the focal point. Wolfenshead of Avalanche is someone who otherwise would probably not get any credit, given that they've mostly played tanks like Shen to start the season. But their stability top, just like SE Picklehater of Serenity Knights Templar, has allowed their teams to have a great start early on. As we head towards the end of this role's rankings, we meet the player who I'm pinning as the dark horse of the position in Ûseless Miwå of Trashcanman. Their captain told me to keep an eye on them, and while they've had to split time this season, they were instrumental in TCM picking up a huge 2-0 this past week on K'Sante and Gnar. Hopefully this player is able to get some more playing time as we progress this season!

Jungle

Jungle

Securing the #1 spot in the jungle this time around is ASTROBABY99 of Team Volatility Academy. Formerly known as MWMWMWMWMWMW (in some order) Astrobaby has had an incredible start to the season, playing supportive jg picks like Jarvan IV, Maokai, and Wukong and is the driving force behind TVA's strong start. Much of that analysis can apply to Seasonally Happy of Avalanche, who also has had carry performances on the Diana and Viego. It's difficult for a team to start out 6-0 in spite of their jungler, so kudos has to be given to Billa of Panther Corps Ronin for exceeding my expectations so far! Syaro of DePaul University Academy played a perfect series against Kickin Squids in the lone series victory for DUA, and I hope we see plenty more up their sleeve in the 2nd half. My major mistake here in the jungle was disrespecting DapperGav of Misfits. They were ranked last place in the initial version, but following an incredible opening night performance against Naughty Dogs, they've continued that high level of play in subsequent series en route to a +16 change. Not too far behind them in terms of positive gains is ZaxNA of High Alert. I gave plenty of praise to them in my previous write-up, but ZaxNA is ice cold under pressure: good luck stealing an objective from them!

As we enter the 2nd half of this group, I would like to personally apologize to Uwufee of Serenity Left on Read for potentially caster cursing their Gragas. I did not have bad intentions, but unintended consequences for the hype train.. seriously though, Uwufee is frequently running the early games in every game of theirs I've watched, which is not an easy skill to acquire. Łeylz as the captain of Trifarix has had a solid start to the year, and is a player not afraid to whip out some spicy picks, hence the Darius jungle in week 2. Wrapping up this group will be LennonHudso1 of Serenity Bad Boys Club. They fell down a few spots, but this was another situation where they just had other players pop off the first few weeks. Keep an eye on them as we move along.

Mid

Mid

The only player so far to hold tight to the #1 spot is SE Da Banana Man of Serenity Knights Templar. Da Banana Man has piloted a variety of control mages to high levels of success, including Viktor, Aurelion Sol, and Azir. this team's mid jungle synergy may only be rivaled by the next mid laner, Vegar of Team Volatility Academy. These teams seem to play a very similar style, and given that they're both doing quite well, it's no surprise to see these duos top the rankings. Few players have put me in my place quite like ThatBoyTruth of Serenity Bad Boys Club has. In the preseason iteration, I had them ranked at #20, to which they told me to "keep a receipt" more or less. Their first series of the year saw them go toe for toe with Vegar, and has been elite on their Syndra so far. I hope that this improvement shows a correction in where they deserve to be ranked. Just behind them is GabeReCall (FKA Rizzington) of REV Resparked. They were pegged to be the star of their team, and though there have been a few rough games for REV, GabeReCall was instrumental in obtaining their series win over SLOR, and I expect a bounce back into the top 4 in a few weeks time. Another massive mover in the rankings is SNC NumNums of SNC Dreaded Dawn. I clearly underestimated the solo laners from these guys! NumNums has maybe been the less flashy of the two, but that doesn't take away their strong start to the year. Respectable jumps in the rankings come for Frogguy of High Alert and SoggyBottomBoys of Tickle Me Teemo. I haven't had the chance to watch TMT yet this split, but I'm hoping to change that here in the next week or so, which will give me more to speak about with these guys.

Not to gloss over some new entrants into the top 5, I'll bring us back Za Morant of Misfits and SometimesHelpful of Ornngasm completing the top 5. I think both are very good players in their own rights, but SometimesHelpful is a player to watch for sure. They're the captain of their squad, and were initially planning to play ADC this season. But when push came to shove, they stepped up for the team, and have had some really good performances mid in just a few series. Don't be shocked if we see a top 3 finish come the end of the season. I think mid overall is the position that seems to have the most potential volatility over the next 4 weeks. It wouldn't shock me at all to see names like PC Marshmallow, Frogguy, and Lil Deer push into the top 10, and we could see the competition get even stiffer at the top. Da Banana Man better hold onto their seat tightly, as their future schedule features several mid laners I'm high on at the moment!

ADC

ADC

I decreed that heading into the season, ADC was the most deep and talented position in commercial this season. I can say without a doubt that was reinforced by the sheer number of players currently popping off at the position. Continuing the trend of SNC players exceeding expectations, the #1 spot at ADC goes to SNC Cerionna. They currently lead the league in kills largely off the back of playing Xayah, and have avoided dying, which is never an easy task for an ADC. Just behind them is another +6 improvement in SE Sense of SKT. It seems to be a trend that the top ranked ADCs are able to pilot Xayah at a high level, and Sense is no exception. They have, however, brought out Twitch on a few occasions. Certainly a hard champ to pull off in competitive, but they've made it work twice on it. Verszia of Panther Corps Ronin has started the majority of PCR's games, so they slot back in as the starting ADC. A mainstay of the LBLCS, things have gone pretty well so far in the bot lane for PCR, though it is important to mention that Chanterr also had a great series when they played. I think Viking232 of Tickle Me Teemo is another great example of a player who is doing well in their own right, but just get caught amongst the surge of great ADCs here. Ghost X of High Alert is a player that wasn't initially listed as a starter, but is a super strong laner in every game I've watched of theirs. They consistently harass the enemy ADCs, and so far have been able to transition those early leads into Ws for their team.

Moving along, Lame Sloth and Linoleum have appeared to swap roles for the Naughty Dogs, and Lame Sloth has taken to the ADC role very well. Like Ceronnia, Lame Sloth has been able to pump the damage in team fights while avoiding excessive dying. As they get more familiar with the role, could we see a top 5 finish for them? I previously meintioned another player from this team, but I think Homicidiac of Ragin A'Sols is the key to this team's success. They only find themselves as 12 just due to the level of competition, but they seem to be able to pop off on whatever carry they're given. Hopefully the A'Sols can continue to play to this strong bot lane, as they look to push for playoffs in the 2nd half. Despite the struggles that Panther Corps Sentinels and Bingus Flingus have had, I still want to shoutout PC GGGTurtle and WildCªrd respectively. I still have a lot of faith in the ability of these players, and both these players should bounce back to their former glory before the end of the season. (Spoiler alert: Their week 4 game may not count towards these rankings, but WildCªrd absolutely popped off in their series on Wednesday. The start of the redemption tour?!) It truly is a shame that there's only 10 spots in the top 10, as talent wise there's probably 16 players that have a legitimate claim to be there. Finding a way to get your bot lane ahead should be the focus of every team moving forward, as there's too much talent here not to.

Support

Support

Support is another position loaded with high quality players, but in the #1 spot we have Słothman of Panther Corps Ronin. They nearly had the #1 spot in the preseason rankings, and a red hot start (combined with the team with the #1 support last time dropping from the league) made this an easy call. They can do it on enchanters, engage, or even ADCs like Senna. Quite a threat at the top. I've talked quite a bit about players from the teams in the top 5 here, but all of them have been vital to allowing their respective ADCs to thrive, which is why they find themselves so high up. Rombles of DePaul University Academy has only played 2 series so far, but has numbers that are on par with a lot of the top 5. Don't be surprised if Rombles is able to take a top 3 spot down the road, playing things like the Lulu and Karma. A tie for the biggest jump at support goes to TTVImOctavius of Let 'Em Cook. This is probably the most aggressive support I've watched this season, hands down. I don't think I've ever seen someone play Senna like an engage champ.. In all seriousness, I don't imagine early laning into them is very fun, they're going to make you work for your CS. MF RTGPlayer of Misfits gets a solid bump, but I do have to chastise them a bit for the volume of Yuumi games they've played (Don't take that too seriously, champ's really good if the team can work with it.) The other playing making the biggest jump is Missed the X from Avalanche. They went toe for toe with ImOctavius in their 3 game bloodbath in week 2, and look to be the strongest Zilean in the league. Take that away, and you're still having to deal with Pyke, Rakan, and almost certainly some more tricks up their sleeve.

I haven't talked a ton about Flash For Damage yet, but I have to pose the question to LingKing619 of the team: What's the tech behind the Grasp Bard? Genuinely curious, if it's good I'd love to try it out in my games. HappyDeåth of Naughty Dogs (and all of ND really) have had bloody starts to the year. They're just shy of leading the whole league in assists, but they're also putting themselves on the line to make sure their carries stay alive in fights. Support is overall a position that I won't be shocked to see Słothman firm their grasp at the top, but I also can easily see players like SNC Talon, SE Cobastrike, Rombles, and Kiale really pushing them for it.

The non-ranked teams

As was the case last time, there are 2 teams that I don't think quite fit into a lane ranking system. First we'll check in on Clown 9. The wheel of (mis)fortune has maybe not been the most kind to C9, as it looks likes there has been no repeat of a player in a role this season, and certainly not more than one. It's important to note that they've played 3 current playoff teams, and are the only team to take a game off of SNC. That, plus the fact that most of their games have been close, gives me faith in a strong 2nd half for these guys. Joining them in this section we have the Kickin Squids. This team has had a lot of shuffing in their roster and roles, and are now graciously in the presence of one Buggleberry Finn. A Spooky Man has certainly looked good on the Kled so far this season. As another team with a pretty tough early schedule, I want to keep an eye on these guys, and see if their lineup smoothens out over the second, and which teams they'll be able to knock off in the 2nd half.

Team rankings

Team

A lot of shakeups here, of course, but that does NOT apply to Panther Corps Ronin. They were ranked #1 heading in, and after 6-0 in relatively dominant fashion, it would be a bit criminal to drop them down. They're currently the top dogs in a super loaded group C. Just behind them are 2 teams that I think are incredibly similar in how they play, but I'm giving the slightest of nods to Team Volatility Academy over Serenity Knights Templar. If you want to think of this as more of a 2A/2B situtation, feel free. Following this is a massive string of teams that have shot up the rankings. SNC Dreaded Dawn and Misfits are 2 teams that I thought would be playoff caliber, but they have far surpassed those expectations to this point, and have to be considered championship contenders based on how the first half of the season went. SNC and TVA have a massive matchup this week, and if the scheduling works out, I think it's a must watch game for group B #5 may seem a little high for High Alert based on records, but I'm quite confident in the players on this team, and think this is the toughest challenge left that remains for PCR. Avalanche and Let 'Em Cook are both really strong squads, and we saw first hand on stream; these teams are dead even on any given day. That analysis can apply to our next 2 teams in Naughty Dogs and Flash for Damage. These 2 had an actual bloodbath in their matchup, with nearly 200 combined kills in the series. I think both are similar in the sense that their teams are greater than the sums of their parts. Neither team has a top 3 player in a role, but they play really well as a unit. That could be dangerous come playoff time for sure.

Tickle Me Teemo has surpassed my expectations so far, leading to a +6 bump, followed by a small jump for DUA and the introduction of Trifarix. The scramble for the final playoff spots features several teams that have fallen quite a bit. I think all 3 talent wise can shoot back up, it's just a matter of getting a bit more consistency. For today, I'm giving the last playoff spots to REV Resparked and Ornngasm, with Serenity Left on Read being the first out. Ragin A'Sols have had a tough schedule so far, but don't count these guys out. Trashcanman gets a bit of a bump, and Kato1000 wasn't lying when they said "I don't think we'll be in last by the end of the year." I'm pinning these guys as the team to outpunch their weight class. Not to put all the pressure on them, but I bet these guys make playoffs. Towards the bottom are several team that have had rough starts, but especially with Bingus Flingus, I think a lot of that may be due to a rough early season schedule. I would bet on a big comeback, but as I already mentioned, it wouldn't be as impressive to predict, since we just saw them have a huge 2-0 this week. A lot of that logic can apply to Panther Corps Sentinels as well; I still believe in them!

There is still plenty of season to go, so nobody is out of the playoffs. I'd love to see the teams at the bottom today cause a huge shakeup come playoff time. Each group certainly has tough teams to get through, but group C for my money is the single most loaded group in the league. It's a shame that only 5 teams (and maybe a WC) from here are going to make it to playoffs. No disrespect to groups A and B, who both feature teams in the top 5.

There was a quite a bit more to talk about this time around, and I hope that if you made it this far, you preferred having more content to consume than less. I can confidently say that we are in for a treat in the 2nd half of the season. A lot of strong teams at the top, but plenty of teams below them that can knock them off the throne. PCR, TVA, and SKT cannot afford to be complacent in the 2nd half, or we're going to see them get passed by. A few high-stakes matchups are coming up this week and next, with this week being Panther Corps Ronin vs High Alert, and Team Volatility Academy and SNC Dreaded Dawn battling for group B supremacy. Next week we see the tops dogs in group A face off in Serenity Knights Templar vs Misfits, and a matchup I'm personally sure to tune in for in Avalanche vs High Alert.

I think I am out of words to say, so thank you to everybody for sticking with me, and thanks for making commercial so fun to keep tabs on! Good luck to everybody!

Edit Report
Pub: 01 Apr 2023 16:07 UTC
Edit: 01 Apr 2023 20:42 UTC
Views: 807