Gold Midseason Player Rankings: Top - By Toxin

Hey everyone, it’s Toxin! One the most requested things people ask for in our community is player rankings. Before I get into the actual rankings, I just want to go over some of the criteria that I used when making these rankings. First, I did not look at the actual stats that you could find in the stats-bot channel of the Discord. Not only is the bot bugged at times, but I personally believe that looking purely at stats does not accurately depict a person’s skill level relative to everyone else in the league. I also will not be using any scrim results to factor in where a player falls in regards to everyone else. Not only do I not have every single team’s scrim records available to me, but I also know that scrims are not always approached with the intent to win. Players use scrims to practice new picks and play more with their teammates, which does not always mean they are 100% trying to win. On top of that, some teams don’t scrim at all. The main things I will be looking at when making the player rankings is your head to head matchups against others in your division, as well as any past knowledge I may have on you as a player. The players themselves are grouped together into a tier list. While I have them listed in my own particular order, I think that players within their tiers can be interchangeable. For example, any player listed in S tier can be argued for the best player in the role. Finally, I will only be looking at active starting players. For some players, this could hurt your ranking due to a) you not currently being on a team, or b) you not being a starter but doing well when you filled in. Only one player will be allowed from each team. Let’s get into the rankings! Top Lane:

S tier:

• Altazi (VBU Argon)

• Classykru (Oasis NADS)

• Seich (CB Royal)

• Synirr (Crimson Dolphins)

• Clarken (NSG Infinity)

• Yung Natz (Mad Rawrs)

After looking over the first round robin games, one thing is for certain: the South division is where most of the top lane talent happens to be. Each and every player in my S Tier can take over and win a game for their team at any given moment as long as their team gives them the right amount of resources. The only player that doesn’t fit this build is Classykru, which in my opinion is the best weak side top laner in the league. Yung Natz is historically known as being a powerhouse top laner in the league, however the fact that he swapped teams in the middle of the split was detrimental to his rank. The only player he has gone up against is Clarken, and overall I would say Clarken was the better player of the two in their first matchup. Following this trend, Synirr was able to take down Clarken in their matchup, and Seich, despite only playing one week, was able to take down Synirr. Between Seich and Altazi, I have to give the edge to Altazi for right now, as Seich has only played that one series.

A tier:

• Triple Cute (CB Obsidian)

• ShadowBalls000 (CB Rangers)

• Habloufough (Collective Cosmic)

• KillerUnicornz (VBU Plutonium)

• Kappa Krusader (Twin Spirits)

• The Duckling (Limitless Chaos)

For the A tier, I think that players fall into one of three categories. I think the first category, which is highlighted by ShadowBalls000 and habloufough, is the type of players that play the weak side every single game. These players will never be found on carry picks, and their team will never tell them to carry the game. Despite that, these players are almost always able to contend with players that are “better” than them and excel. The second category of players in this tier, highlighted by Triple Cute and KillerUnicornZ, are players that are carry players, but are not the main focus of their team. Personally I believe that their teams play around their other lanes more often than theirs, and despite that they are able to do well and carry the game in their own way. The final category is the players that have had limited appearances. I think Kappa Krusader and The Duckling did well in the games that they did play, but it’s hard to argue how high they should be on this list.

B tier:

• Funky (Literal Monkeys)

• bupNcup (Dead Orbit)

• N0rthwert (Mythos Purple)

• Ishe (Classic Esports)

• Semz (Final Esports)

• North Wolf (Imperial Gaming)

• Th0r22 (Gob Squad)

• Róm (Shrimp Fried Rice)

• TheRunicBlade (NSG Gold)

For the B tier, I think most of these players are just the stock and standard top laners that are filling the role. For the most part, they aren’t going to win your team a game based on stellar play, and they won’t always lose you the game for doing bad. They kinda just exist if that makes sense. I think that Funky and bupNcup are two players that are the closest to making the jump into the A tier, but for right now they are still at the top of B tier.

C tier:

• CMT (Silverline)

• Shugotenshi (NSG Amethyst)

• Turbo Stainer (KQC)

Finally, we have the C tier, which just happens to be the three worst players at the role. I think that CMT and Shugotenshi have had games where they looked strong enough to be considered B tier players. However, this seems to be too inconsistent for me to warrant having them in the B tier. For Turbo Stainer, they haven’t played enough for me to really warrant moving them up any higher, especially considering how well his team is currently doing in the standings. There’s definitely plenty of time for these players to improve and move up, but this is where they land after the first round robin.