Unofficial Week 1 Gold Power Rankings - By Toxin

Hello, it’s Toxin! For those of you who don’t me, I am the starting ADC on VBU Argon, and since last split I have done my own power rankings for BOL. Once again I’ll be taking on the challenge, and I hope everyone enjoys these preseason rankings. A couple of notes though: This list was made completely by looking at the starting rosters listed on the BOL site that went up a couple of days ago. I do not look at results from any other leagues, nor do I know any scrim results between teams. So, I made the predictions off of looking at op.ggs, along with some of my biases from last year. I might have under/overrated teams based on the strength of their players, rather than how good they are working together. Finally, I listed what I believe the starting roster will be on Week 1, mainly due to some listed starters having way too many games to complete in one day for me to think that they will be eligible. With that out of the way, let’s get into the rankings!

North Division:

The North Division, to me, seems to be the most balanced out of all the groups. There should be a two team race with both Oasis NADS and CB Rangers fighting for the top spot, followed by three equally strong teams vying for the final playoff spot. One note about this division is how strong their junglers are. I think that on paper, this division has three of the top 10 junglers in the entire league. The biggest pitfall for this division seems to be their mid laners, as the average North Division mid laner is worse than the average mid laner from every other division.

1. Oasis Nail and Day Spa

The returning champs rightfully take the top seed in this division, and what’s not to love about this roster. Over half of their roster is returning from the last split, including Natsu, Trux, and Kizercoolness, the latter of which is in elo hell and probably won’t be eligible for week one. I think the biggest reason I’m on the NADS hype train is because they didn’t downgrade very much from the members that ranked out. Classykru is the best top laner in this division, and Cheezy finds himself in the top 3 of supports in the division. We’ll see how they do versus CB Rangers in the first streamed game of the split, but I expect them to make a statement with a win.

2. CB Rangers

Second place in the division is CB Rangers, which has four returning members from the Chubby Babies Shock roster from last year that lost in the quarterfinals to NSG Black. The newest addition to the roster is Guardian Wakka, the support of last year’s runner-up team 3-0 Esports. Expectations for this roster are high, especially considering the core of Shadowballs, Anderson Cooper, and BuhRock almost won the Plat title last split as well. The player to watch for sure is YRU Running. Can he step up to the plate, or will he suffer the same fate as last split, constantly being swapped in and out of the roster in different roles? We’ll find out on stream, where the Rangers take on NADS.

3. Imperial Gaming

Third place is Imperial Gaming, as long as they are actually able to field a roster. The majority of the roster finds themselves ineligible to play with only a day to catch up, so this is my best guess at what the starting five will be on game day. Imperial had a rough go of it last split, finishing outside the playoff picture despite how respected the org is in the community. With a large upgrade in the ADC role coming in the form of ex-Twin Miracle player HowIMetYourTable, I think they will turn things around and make the playoffs this year. However, if their players can’t stay eligible, expect them to freefall towards the bottom of the division.

4. Gob Squad

Finishing just outside of the playoff picture in my initial rankings is Gob Squad, a team that’s new to the league but contains a few familiar faces, including ex-NSG Gold members Th0r22 and Dukee11. The real highlight to me on this team is their bot lane duo of sushisuwa and Bgonk, which looks to be a strong win con to play around. However, I think their current mid laner might hold them back, seeing how he is a silver player, which I rate very lowly on my scale. Hopefully Raztastic will prove me wrong and get this team into the playoffs.

5. Final Esports

The final of the three teams vying for third in the division is none other than Final Esports. From what I can tell, last season must have been quite frustrating for Batman, a player that was never really given the right opportunity to perform. He can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think he only played one or two weeks last season, and I know he specifically played against 3-0 Esports at the height of their dominance. Then he swapped over to Chubby Babies Cinder for the playoffs, but never was able to play before being eliminated. This split, he has made his own org with some newer faces to the league. On paper, none of these players really stick out to me; they are just a team of average players. Since no one really stands out, I find it hard to picture them making the playoffs. The player to watch here is Levi, a player that looks to be offrolled as well as still stuck in silver. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for him to climb out of silver and adapt well to his new role.

6. KQC

The final team in the division is KQC, which is completely unknown to me. All of these players are new to the league, so the only way for me to really rank them is based on their solo queue rankings. This doesn’t really do them any favors, as four of them are only silver players, three of which have never been gold before. There’s definitely a chance for these players to rapidly grow throughout the season, but at the moment I can’t rank them any higher than last. The player to watch for them is their top laner BBANDB, an autofilled Leblanc OTP, as well as the only gold player on their roster.

South Division:

I think that the consensus throughout the community is that the South is the easiest division by a landslide… and it’s really hard for me to disagree with that claim. As a bit of a spoiler to my top 16 teams in the league (listed at the bottom), the third place team from this division doesn’t even make that list, which is sad considering that 5 of the teams on that list won’t make playoffs and one of these teams will. The other problem with this division is that on average, the junglers and supports in this division are far worse than their counterparts in the other divisions. However, the bright side here is the top laners; two of the top 5 best top laners in the league happen to be in this division, and their competition is no joke.

1. NSG Infinity

Ya know, last split when I played against Karma Divine in Division 2, I always used to say that Karma Divine would be a scary mid to play against if he actually got a team around him that deserved bans, that way he wouldn’t get three banned in the first round every game. Well, it looks like he did just that by picking up former plat player WolfyEx in the support role, a stud in the top lane by the name of Clarken, and promoting Kawaii Bubbles to full time starter. With Jayyster as the glue that holds the team together, I think that this roster has potential to make waves in the playoffs. That being said, there’s still some major question marks surrounding this team. Will WolfyEx, a player that I’ve seen on multiple roster over the offseason, stay on this team long term? Will this team choke in the playoffs due to how weak their competition is during the regular season? I can’t wait to see how things turn out for this promising roster.

2. CB Royal

For the second CB team of the league, we have CB Royal, which is a rebrand of the Mad Rawrs team that finished fourth last split. Part of the roster is the same, including Natz, Dilly (now known as Irelia Noods), and Kalia (now known as Astrhoe). For this split, they swapped up their junglers by bringing in former BOL champion Boss Troll and they have Lone Wind in the mid lane instead of Duero. This roster is definitely a contender for the top spot in this division based solely off of Natz alone, a player that is definitely in consideration for the best top laner in the league. The biggest question mark is their ability to field a roster, as they just barely filled out their roster a day before the league started, and Boss Troll is a player that swaps roles and teams constantly. I don’t know how long this version of the roster will stay together, but regardless I think this team is a shoe-in for playoffs in this division.

3. !Rawr Eternal Return

A last minute addition to the league, Rawr finds a way to get a team into BOL yet again. This team kinda just confuses me across the board with their lineup, as I’d consider almost their entire lineup offrolling. On top of that, they do have concerns of being eligible to compete week one for their listed starters Pentakill Ahri (not enough games) and Rosalina (competitive ruling in another league). As a result, I have the starting lineup consisting of Hohenheim (which seems like an upgrade on paper at least) and Andromeda00 (who also doesn’t have enough games). While this org is not known for their positivity, they are known for putting together a playoff roster, and for that reason I have this team barely squeaking into third place.

4. Crimson Dolphins

Another returning org to BOL this split is the Crimson Dolphins. I’m going to be honest, I’m not 100% sure how many of these players are returning from the last split (if I had to guess, I think their bot lane at the very least is the same), but the Dolphins definitely had a season that they would rather people forget. The main thing to note is that these guys definitely improved over the offseason. Both Synirr and SilantroKiller look to be legitimate threats in this division, and I would definitely keep an eye on them. However, those two are really the only players to watch, as the rest of the roster is either negative win rates, silver players, or both. I think that they definitely took a large step forward, but they need to continue to push forward if they want to make the playoffs

5. NSG Amethyst

Fifth place in this division belongs to NSG Amethyst, the team known to be the weakest of the NSG triplets. Last split this team also had a season to forget, where they went winless in Division 4, but in fairness, that division was one of the hardest divisions in the league. This split, they are back to prove to themselves, as well as the rest of the league, that they deserve to be a team in the same realm as their sister teams. The good news for them is that they were placed in the best division for them to make the playoffs, and I think they have a shot at making it. They have some good pieces, including Tethnos and Nightmarehall, that should be able to make a statement in this division. The problem lies in their other players being stuck in silver still. I hope that they are able to keep grinding and prove me wrong.

6. Dead Orbit

In last place for the South, we have Dead Orbit. This team is new to the league, so again I really can only go off of their solo queue rank. I’m a little confused as to why some of these players are starting over some of their subs, such as why Moyushii is starting over Grigga. I think the biggest problem I have with the roster is that almost all of these players are negative win rate silver players. As a result, it’s extremely hard for me to rank them any higher than last. The player to watch is bupNcup, which on paper is the sole win con for this team.

East Division:

So the East division power rankings are going to be a bit of a double edged sword in my power rankings, mainly due to the fact that my team is in this division. Early on, my bias for my team is gonna shine through pretty heavily, but as the season goes on, I should have a better idea on how these teams stack up against one another than I would for the other divisions. That being said I think this division has the best bot lane duos in the league by far. I would say that four of the top 10 bot lanes in the league are in this division, which is exciting for me to see how I stand up against strong competition.

1. VBU Argon

Like I said, I am extremely biased, and I think that my team can win it all. I think both solo laners on this team stand out to be above their competition in this division, and with Kral Sultan backing them up, they should be able to carry the piano on their back across the finish line (aka me). I will say that this roster has not played a single game together before the start of the season (we haven’t played with Sultan yet), so there could be some growing pains early on. Nevertheless, I think this roster should be able to finish in the top two for this division.

2. Literal Monkeys

I think the saddest part of the group draw for me was seeing the Literal Monkeys in the same group as my own team. I’ve been in their community throughout the year, whether it’s coaching their IBS team or sitting on their Gold/Plat rosters, so playing against them is a bit weird for me. Power ranking-wise however, I think that this team is very clearly in the top two in the East Division. Returning this split is 4/5th of their roster from last split, including Funky in the top lane and the bot lane duo of Wunderworld and Just Bobo. Also returning to the roster is PacaPaul, back again to the dregs of gold after his short stint in Plat, which improves the roster drastically from last split. The biggest question mark comes in the form of their mid laner, Questzs, being eligible to play. If he were eligible, this team would easily take the number one spot in the division. Instead, look to Ball Slap to be able to hold down the fort in his absence.

3. Twin Spirits

Another surprising turn of events in the group draw for me happened when Twin Spirits, the org that I played under last split, was slotted into the East. On paper, this seems to be the Twin Miracles Academy team that Josh Kiddy envisioned when I first joined the org last year. At the forefront of the team is Riv60, which is by far the wincon on this roster. Alongside him in the bot lane is Woo am I, a BOL veteran returning to the league after some time off. The difference here is that I have concerns about the top side of the map. Emperor just barely hit gold 4 for the first time in his life at the time of me writing this, and Mr Lean, despite making it to the finals last split, is only a silver 3 player. In order for this team to succeed, the two of them, along with Smittyeh, need to prove that they aren’t dead weight holding Riv back. If they can hold their own, I have no doubts that this team should take the 3rd playoff spot.

4. NSG Gold

Fourth place in the East Division surprisingly goes to NSG Gold, which came into the season as one of the four teams considered to be the worst in the league due to the group draw. I think what is even more surprising is how close it is between this team and Twin Spirits for 3rd place. I will say that after the group draw, this team added Barbaric Champion and nightxwolf871