Week 3 Gold Power Rankings

East Division Hello, it’s Toxin! Last week ended up being the status quo for the most part. Most teams that were predicted to win on both Otter Talk and in the written power rankings did end up winning with one major exception being the BDE vs SCS matchup. I also got the LTMK vs RSO matchup wrong personally due to overvaluing the former’s roster changes and undervaluing the quality of RSO’s loss last week. In addition, let’s talk about the changes to the power rankings this week! For the rest of this season, Wakka and I are going to work together to create the official power rankings for BOL. What this means is that the two of us will work together on which rank each team will fall in for the particular week, and then we each will write about a different division in the league. Since Wakka is subbing for a team in the East, I will write for that division to clear up any biases. Hopefully, this division of the work will allow us to create more content each week outside of the power rankings. With that out of the way, let’s get into the rankings!

1. Limitless Excel (=)

Staying first in this division is Limitless Excel. Here’s the thing about Limitless: although the quality of their opponents has been lower than GSG Sigma, they have looked dominant in their games so far. In their first three games, they were averaging an insane game time of around 24 minutes, which means they were convincingly defeating their opponent in quick fashion. While their final game was much less clean (more on that in a second), I don’t think there’s much reason to dethrone them from the top spot as of right now. That being said, their best competition won’t come until the final two weeks of the regular season, so I’m interested to see if they can keep this level of dominance up throughout the split. Last week, they went against NSG Gold, this time electing to use their sub, OhioERP as their support. I thought that the team played well around this player and his signature Pyke pick, although game two was definitely a lot closer than the first game. Hopefully TooÞ is available next week, when they go up against Singed’s Crab Shack.

Player to Watch: Triple Cute / Bot lane in general What I am interested in watching next week is how the bot lane plays up against stronger opponents. This week, Triple Cute had a rough second game, and really wasn’t the main carry in game one either. Is this due to the team bringing in a new support? Or maybe he is not used to playing Samira? Either way, I’m looking to see Triple Cute bounceback alongside his starting support in this week’s games.

2. GSG Sigma (+1)

Next up is GSG Sigma, which moved up one spot this week after taking down Revolution Gold. This matchup went exactly the way it was supposed to, GSG easily won the series in convincing fashion, with the second victory coming in a record time of 23 minutes. Another bit of good news; Physıcal was back in the lineup and did well in both games. I will say that I’m a little disappointed in his performance, due to the fact that he had counterpick in both games but didn’t really take over the game despite their opponent being a lower end team. That being said, I am nitpicking a bit here; they did win their lane and helped win the game, what more can I really ask for? Either way, this team seems to be a shoo-in for the playoffs, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they do against a struggling Literal Monkeys team next week. Player to Watch: BTG BTG takes the cake for me this week as a standout player in the division for the mid lane role. He popped off on both Lux and Ziggs, going 6-1-15 on the former and 8-0-7 on the latter. This champ pool definitely worked in his favor against Benagin’s Viktor, as both champions have the range advantage.

3. Radiant Storm Onslaught (+1)

Also moving up one spot this week is Radiant Storm Onslaught, which defeated the Literal Monkeys 2-0 this week. RSO is a team that is giving me a roller coaster of emotions this season, and it's only week three. In the preseason, I heralded this team as the second coming of 3-0 Esports and thought that this would clearly be the team to beat. After week one, I was so disappointed in their performance that I knocked them down a few pegs and tore into them a bit. Now, after week three, I’m back to having a ton of confidence in this being a top 3 team. They were a team with a chip on their shoulder and had something to prove last week, and boy did they prove it. Despite the Literal Monkeys reuniting their all star bot lane, they completely decimated that lane in game one to prove a point. Then, in game two they decided to pick on top lane and jungle. This was a statement series, and that statement is that despite their week one hiccup, this is a team that can win it all.

Player to Watch: MinuteMilitia

Who else could I give the player to watch to other than MinuteMilitia? This man picks up new champions as easily as breathing. This week, he decided to give the league a crash course on both Rek’Sai and Lillia, two champions that are not normally seen that often in the league. In both games, he was able to pick up double digit kills, showing why I had him ranked as the best jungler in the pre-season.

4. Singed’s Crab Shack (-2)

Moving down two spots this week is Singed’s Crab Shack, which ended up losing 2-0 to Big Duck Entourage last week. Honestly, this team got esub diffed. BuhRock, one of the best players in the league last season, filled in this week for BDE and absolutely took over the series. Although game one’s Match history link is buggy, I can clearly tell in game two that this team had a massive lead throughout the entirety of the game. Their lead peaked at about a 8k gold difference around 26 minutes into the game, but unfortunately Buhrock and his Corki packages completely dismantled their roster. It’s hard to really read into this loss. I think this is one of those losses that newer teams have towards the beginning of the split that they learn from so that when playoffs roll around, they aren’t making mistakes like these again. That being said, with how strong the three teams above them have been looking, I think that 4th place is a good spot for them right now. A win next week versus Limitless Excel will definitely propel them to a higher standing. Player to Watch:

5. NSG Gold (+2)

Next up is NSG Gold, which weirdly moves up two spots this week despite losing 2-0 to Limitless Excel. The main reason for this is due to how bad the teams below them are doing right now. Of the remaining four teams, I feel the most confident about NSG’s chances of sneaking into a playoff spot. With BDE taking down Singed’s Crab Shack this week, I think that if NSG Gold can do the same in week 7, they might be able to snag the final playoff spot in the division. Although, if this team wants to make a run in the playoffs, they need their top side of the map to improve. While their bot lane remains the core of this team’s strength, their solo laners and jungler had a poor week overall. These three need to step up their game and develop a champion pool for their new roles ASAP if this team hopes to win it all. Player to Watch: TheRunicBlade Like I said above, I think that TheRunicBlade is the player that is struggling the most to adapt to their new role. This is now their second BOL season of playing top lane, and to me, it doesn’t really look like this player is a top laner. Although he tries to circumvent this by picking adc-esc champions, such as Kayle and Quinn, overall it hurts the team’s ability to draft a good comp. For example, CRØNA, a player known for his Seraphine and enchanters last split, has been on tank/front line champions this split mainly as a direct result of TheRunicBlade’s champion pool. Unless he can pick up some bruiser champions, I think that perhaps NSG should consider swapping him to mid lane and trying BarbaricChampion top lane.

6. Literal Monkeys (-1)

Falling to sixth place this week is the Literal Monkeys, and at this point I’m nervous that I lost big on my BOL Stonks. Last week, the loss was not as big of a deal. Sure, the team was struggling to find a player to play either mid lane or support long term, but at least they had the salvation of Just Bobo coming back to the roster that made me optimistic that this team could rebound. I can’t really say the same after this week’s trouncing at the hands of Radiant Storm Onslaught. Every lane got gapped at one point during the series, and I’m struggling to see this team as a playoff contender. What makes things worse is the fact that they go up against one of the best teams in the division, GSG Sigma, this week. If they can find a way to win this week, I think they can easily jump into playoff contention, and we could justify their losses as quality losses versus top teams. But if they lose this week, I’ll officially consider this team drowning, and I don’t know how they are going to mentally recover from a 0-3 start to the season.

Player to Watch: Everyone

I’m not gonna lie, usually when I see people right “everyone” as the player to watch, I get pretty upset and feel that it’s a cop out answer. Everyone? Just pick a player! That being said, I really can’t pick a single player on this roster that is standing out and can be considered a win condition. POTATOTOMATO669 and a strong showing in game one where they had the counterpick, but got absolutely decimated in game two. Bªtman got flame horizoned in both games. Both of the carries, Wunderworld and Hide in Shrouds, had a game one to forget but stabilized in game two. Just Bobo looked like he was playing Thresh for the first time, which is completely uncharacteristic of a player that I know mains the champion. Overall, this team needs to find its identity and step up their holistic play in a hurry, or they might see this season slip away fast.

7. Big Duck Entourage (+1)

Moving up one spot this week is Big Duck Entourage, which some may be confused why they are this low despite having a huge upset win over Singed’s Crab Shack last week. The answer is simple; I don’t think that success is sustainable. Sure, they will move up this week by at least one spot due to the sheer magnitude of the victory, but that being said, BuhRock is not starting on this team long term. If they were able to maintain this roster for the rest of the season, I could easily put this roster as the number 4 team in the division with potential top 3 upside. However, since at the moment of writing this BuhRock has not been added to the roster, I cannot see this team as anything more than one that is struggling to find five starting players for their roster. Who will play this week against Revolution Gold? I couldn’t tell you, but we’ll find out. Player to Watch: JayJ JayJ has become this team’s swiss army knife, where he kinda just plays whatever role the team needs on any given week. This week, he decided to play jungle, and I thought he did relatively well playing around his team’s win condition of BuhRock. That being said, which role will he play this week? Will he go back to mid lane and have Allfire26 return to the starting lineup? If he plays jungle, which of his lanes will he end up playing around without BuhRock in the lineup? I have a lot of question marks surrounding this roster, and most of them are surrounding this player. I definitely will keep an eye on him throughout this season.

8. Revolution Gold (-2)

Finally, in last place this week is Revolution Gold. What confuses me the most about this roster is the fact that despite the AD Carry position being their overall best player so far, whether that be Dakng in week one or Warning Shots in week two, this team still finds a way to have that role be the overall least stable position. I’m not really sure why they are adding yet another starting ADC to their roster and not addressing their weakness in the other roles instead. I’m not saying they should replace players on their team, but if they are looking to make changes, I can’t see why the ADC role is the one they are targeting. Could it be that both of those players tilted too hard after losing? Maybe they are finding synergy issues with the support? Either way, it’s perplexing to me.

Player to Watch: SamVC As I stated above, I think all eyes are on SamVC to be this team’s saving grace in the AD Carry position. Maybe instead of having him pop off, he just needs to do poorly, that way when his team removes their best player from the week, it won’t be him? Jokes aside, I think that this move looks like an upgrade on paper, and hopefully it fixes some of the problems that seem to be present for this team currently.

Toxin's Predictions for this week:

Big Duck Entourage 2-0 Revolution Gold

GSG Sigma 2-0 Literal Monkeys

Limitless Excel 2-0 Singed’s Crab Shack

Radiant Storm Onslaught 2-0 NSG Gold

Nails and Day Spa 2-0 Nitwits in Purgatory

CB X 2-0 Imperial Gaming

Conduit Esports 2-0 Krakens of Love

Monkeys Rising 2-1 Reign Gaming

East All Star team of the Week:

For a new segment in the weekly power rankings, I’m going to give a special accolade to the best player in each role from last week. For the most part, I think the player that stands out the most after watching last week’s games will end up getting recognition here. However, I am going to limit this to a maximum of two players from the same team per week. I think that for example, last week you could argue that RSO could have had four of their players shown here as the best in their role. That being said, I want to spread the love to as many teams as I can and not over-reward a top team playing against a bottom team. With that being said, here are my picks for last week:

Top Lane: C0nquers Jungle: MinuteMilitia

Mid Lane: BTG

AD Carry: Moekaizer Support: Poison57

West Division Sup, it’s Wakka! Welcome on back to this week's Power Rankings for Season 6 Week 3 of Blue Otter League Gold. Some new changes are going to be happening to the power rankings going forward as Toxin and I are going to work together to formulate our rankings for each division and to try and give out a close to, if possible, unbiased thoughts on the league. Since I'm subbing and rostered as a player on a team in the East it only seems fair for me to then rank the west instead of my own division. Hopefully, this division of the work will allow us to create more content each week outside of the power rankings. With that out of the way, let’s get into the rankings!

1. CBX (=)

The season is heading in the direction most people in BOL would've thought that this team would go. Strong, and probably the best solo laners in the league,top jungle and strong botside if this team wasn't going anywhere but up something would be going wrong. CB teams in the past are known for sometimes dropping series that they really shouldn't and i feel like this could be that week verse Imperial Gaming

Player to Watch: Riv60

This bot lane matchup is the match up I wish everyone could see this week as coming in to play ADC for Imperial this week is Season 1 of BOL Plat Champion Paradigmshift. If Riv and this botlane get abandoned and put to far behind i think it's gonna be really hard for CBX to find success this week

2. Conduit Esports (=)

Conduit is still a team I hold really high in this list because of the strong team play that they have shown off so far with a really good week 1 win and tho even dropping a game week 2 this is still one of my favorites for this division to even take first if CBX has an off week. Even though they are going probably into their weakest opponents of the season I expect a dominating performance out of their top laner Skwugg, i mean Skwigg who played really well the last two weeks.

Player to Watch: JJH

It is finally JJH’s time to really show off how good of a player they really are. They do not have to be playing weak mid and sac lane anymore to camp and help out his other lanes. JJ(G)H is one of my favorite players to watch and most weeks I feel like he has the chance to continue to push for maybe even the MVP race for the season

3. Nails and Day Spa (=)

Not a whole lot of movement among rankings this week in the West, because I feel like a lot of the teams haven't shown anything to be moved up or down based on their matches so far. NADS came back strong in week 2 against Krakens of Love after being handed a stern loss to the number one team in this division CBX. There is a strong chance that NADS just doesn't drop any other games the rest of the season since they got their matchup versus CB already out of the way.

Player to Watch: KizerCoolness

I expect Kizer to have a big week this week as they are a top jungler in this league. We saw last week that their opponents NIP struggled against another top jungler so that trend is just going to continue to happen this week and I'll just call it a Diffy in the Jiffy this week.

4. Imperial Gaming (=)

This was one of the hardest teams to rank this week as yes this team has yet to play a game and win this season. As they got 0-2 in week 1 and then got a FF victory in week 2 so it's really hard to try and rank this team fairly. But, and I mean big but their long time ADC HowIMetYourTable has stepped down and the replacement is BOL Plat Season 1 Champion ParadigmShift. If this team performs this week I really don't have a problem moving this team up into a top 3 spot next week. The team already has a good all around roster and they added someone who could possibly be the best ADC in the league if he performs.

Player to Watch: ParadigmShift

This was the easiest player to watch call I had to make while putting this ranking together. Having played with ParadigmShift in the past he is a great player so much so that BOL in the past had to force remove him from a roster that he was on. (#JusticeForParadigm) This is a big week for Imperial as they play top dog CBX and a true test to this new roster. Let's hope they've had enough time to prepare and learn to synergize as they will need it against CBX.

5. Monkeys Rising (=)

Monkeys Rising was able to take a good game off of the 2nd ranked team in this division this week so that allows them to keep this spot in the rankings which is perfect for them. I don't think they are worse than any team lower and not really any better than teams above. Even though this is Literal Monkeys' developmental team, I truly believe that this is the best Literal Monkeys team in BOL at the moment.

Player to Watch: bts jungkoop

The game they took off of Conduit last week was off the back of bts jungkoop’s trundle and his jungle ability. If this team is to continue their success they need to put them on something that can help out its laners while keeping a good tempo to just punish the other team.

6. Reign Gaming (=)

I feel like it would be unfair to move Reign any lower on this list then at this spot right here. As A, they have beaten a team below them, and B, had to unfortunately FF their series last week. Yes they played well against NIP week 1 even though they dropped a game. They would need to prove themselves this week against Monkeys Rising if they would like to make movement on the Rankings

Player to Watch: Sondly

Since we were not able to watch them play week 2 I had to go back to their week 1 matchup and noticed that the games that they played well were the games Sondly played great in on the Rakan game 1 especially. This team's success might be on the back of their playmaking support.

7. Nitwits in Purgatory (=)

NIP had a rough week 2 and I'm not really sure if anyone was too surprised as it was against possibly the best team in BOL at the moment but the team has shown flashes of being able to pull off good mechanics and macro to be able to pull off a victory in week 1 at least. Another tough matchup this week for NIP but if some players are able to come up big they might be able to pull off the upset this week.

Players to Watch: ToTheM00n and Eastonn8

If ToTheM00n is able to take a lead and or even win botlane and put 7ruX behind I always think there is a chance to beat NADS. The other player that needs to have a good week and play strong is Eastonn8. He needs to be able to survive the camp that Kizer will put on him, especially if he gets the Hecarim.

8. Krakens of Love (=)

This team will need to put its act together and find that synergy that can hopefully start to bring success to this team. It's gonna be really really hard for this team though as they dropped probably their best player, who if was playing well was the reason the team was winning. Let's hope this team is able to put something together for this week as they have to face off against Conduit Esports a team with a lot of teamfight and group play synergies

Players to Watch: The whole team

This whole team needs to put something together to find any success whether or not that is trying to find some cheese comp or picks that only they are able to abuse like double mages bot or Sona Seraphine lane or funnel, something they need to work it out and find some success or will be stuck here at the bottom sadly.

Wakka's Predictions for this week:

Big Duck Entourage 2-1 Revolution Gold

GSG Sigma 2-0 Literal Monkeys

Limitless Excel 2-1 Singed’s Crab Shack

Radiant Storm Onslaught 2-0 NSG Gold

Nails and Day Spa 2-0 Nitwits in Purgatory

CB X 1-2 Imperial Gaming

Conduit Esports 2-0 Krakens of Love

Monkeys Rising 2-1 Reign Gaming

Wakka Predictions Season Record (7-1)

East All Star team of the Week:

For a new segment in the weekly power rankings, I’m going to give a special accolade to the best player in each role from last week. For the most part, I think the player that stands out the most after watching last week’s games will end up getting recognition here. However, I am going to limit this to a maximum of two players from the same team per week. I think that for example, last week you could argue that CBX could have had four of their players shown here as the best in their role. That being said, I want to spread the love to as many teams as I can and not over-reward a top team playing against a bottom team. With that being said, here are my picks for last week:

Top Lane: Diete Jungle: Kappa Krusader

Mid Lane: Kaiten

AD Carry: Riv60 Support: Kleio