The third week of competitive LEC play brought us nothing new — and that’s far from a bad thing. We’ve already become accustomed to high-octane League of Legends, insane upsets, and unexpected twists and turns.

The one thing last week didn’t give us, however, was an answer to many burning questions. We know who’s at the very top, but everything below the number- one spot is completely up in the air. Regardless, let’s do a quick LEC week 3 recap to see how each team is doing, and what’s likely to happen in the weeks to come.

First — G2 Esports (6-0)

What can one say about G2’s monumental success? They started the season off in the best possible way, and they’re not showing any sign of stopping. At all. They’re definitely one of the strongest European teams ever assembled, and their sheer mechanical prowess is mesmerizing.

G2 does, however, have a tendency to start overly-confident and underestimate their opponents, and they’re also willing to experiment in-game and potentially even throw big leads.

That’s what makes them both exciting and frightening. You never really know what you’re getting from their games, regardless of the opponent. Either way, watching their games is an absolute must. They’re currently the best team in the LEC, and it’s not even a close race. That doesn’t mean they won’t potentially drop a game further down the road, but they’re currently the number- one team in the league and have their eyes set on the LEC title.

Tied for Second — Schalke 04 (5-1)

After G2 Esports, we have an incredibly close tie for second. It’s “close” in the sense that both of these two teams are neck-and-neck when it comes to overall strength.

Schalke already has the upper hand over Vitality, though, seeing how they beat them in the first week of competitive play. They’re incredibly strong, they’re cohesive, and they’re basically five aggressive, playmaking hard carries. Everyone wants to do their share of the work, but they’re still playing as a five-man unit. They’re making it work, and there’s a metric ton of potential within the roster — in each and every lane.

The sky’s the limit for Schalke, and much like G2, they’re not showing any signs of stopping. They’re up against Misfits on Friday, and if they manage to survive their early onslaught, they should be more than capable of taking the win.

Tied for Second — Team Vitality (5-1)

It’s hard reading Team Vitality right now, especially considering how they’re still painfully inconsistent. They’re exceptionally strong, but there are more than a few kinks in their armor. They’re almost too crazy and aggressive at times, and even though their bravado allows them to dominate more often than not, there are moments when it becomes their biggest weakness.

Case in point — they nearly dropped a game to tenth-ranked Rogue. Even though individual Rogue members played well, Vitality still played better as a five-man unit. They did more on the map and created small leads on their own through stellar play and objective control. But in the end, the tally was 13-3 in Rogue’s favor, and it seemed as though they were en route to their very first LEC win.

Until Vitality backdoored the opposing Nexus in stylish fashion.

Now, Vitality did win, so it’s hard to really criticize them because they overcame adversity in the end. But almost dropping a game to the absolute worst and weakest team in the region is not something that should ever happen if you’re a top-tier contender.

And yet they were mere minutes away from losing, and in pretty embarrassing fashion as well. Looking ahead, they didn’t lose much stock, but they need to clean up their play if they want to stand a chance at challenging G2 Esports or even Schalke 04 for a top spot.

Fourth — Misfits Gaming (4-2)

Ranking Misfits right now is downright impossible. One thing is for certain, though — they’re not as strong as everyone thought. They dropped a game against Excel Esports, and they didn’t even look remotely competitive in the process. They did, however, manage to bounce back in rather dominant fashion against Fnatic the day afterward, but winning against the ninth-ranked team doesn’t really create a ton of hype.

They’re strong, that’s for sure, and they’re a top-tier contender, but much like in 2018, they’re prone to having these exceptionally inconsistent streaks. They’re a fragile team, seeing they’re not lacking any mechanical prowess. If they don’t start off on the right foot, they crumble fairly easily.

League can be a fairly volatile game, and you can’t always count on an early lead. Regardless, the sheer amount of talent within this roster is sensational, and they will find their way sooner rather than later. They have a pretty tough schedule ahead for week four as they’re up against both Schalke 04 and Rogue.

They need to have a dominant showing against both if they want to be considered a contender that’s worthy of lifting the LEC trophy.

Fifth — Splyce (3-3)

The boys in black and yellow are in a somewhat strange position right now. They’re really strong, and they have a ton of potential, but it seems as though they won’t be able to compete with the best the LEC has to offer. They’re a tough challenge for anyone, but whenever they had to overcome a serious challenge like Schalke, G2 Esports, or Team Vitality, they failed to step up and compete.

That doesn’t, however, mean they won’t eventually become a top-tier contender. They just need to find an identity and stick to it in the long run. The talent is there, but they’re just not at that level yet. Right now, they’re a very strong gatekeeper — capable enough to keep all teams below them from advancing, and yet not cohesive nor powerful enough to take on the teams at the top.

Tied for Sixth — SK Gaming, Origen, Excel Esports (2-4)

Next up, we have three solid teams tied for sixth place. They’re all pretty close when it comes to overall skill and potential. Everyone’s is set on Origen being the top team among the three, which would be a fair assessment seeing how they recently took down SK Gaming. Excel Esports, on the other hand, is still impossible to rank with confidence seeing how they’re unexpectedly dexterous and nimble when you least expect it.

They looked fairly good in their losses, and they took down Misfits last week, meaning they at least have the basics down in order to be a solid gatekeeper. You’d never give their starting five-man roster much thought, but they’re a solid dark horse right now. Their jungler Marc “Caedrel” Robert Lamont is still performing way above expectations, and as a five-man unit, they’re deceitfully strong.

Likewise, SK Gaming is pretty capable, although they’re relatively one-dimensional. Their main (some would argue only) win condition is Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek, and even though the rest of the team is solid, they’re just not strong enough to challenge the upper echelon of the LEC.

Ninth — Fnatic (1-5)

Fnatic was finally able to get their first LEC win, but even though it was a stellar showing against the tenth-ranked Rogue, they still failed to leave a mark overall. Just when you thought that their resurgence might be coming, they pretty much crashed and burned the day afterward against an equally-struggling Misfits Gaming.

While Fnatic is known to be a slow starter, having five losses in just three weeks of competitive play is a worrying sign — that’s for sure. While they’re still not out of the playoff picture just yet, they don’t have the luxury of dropping games any longer. They have to pick up the pace — fast. They’re up against Excel Esports on Friday, and if they can’t take them down, then it might as well be time to abandon the Fnatic ship.

Every team is improving by leaps and bounds, and Fnatic has to do the same in order to be competitive with even the mid-tier teams in the LEC. Otherwise, they’re poised to occupy the bottom of the standings throughout the Spring Split.

Tenth — Rogue (0-6)

There’s not a lot that you can say about Rogue right about now. They’re relatively bad, all things considered, but they at least showed some signs of life against Team Vitality. Chres “Sencux” Laursen was a man on a mission as he was taking down Vitality members left and right. Martin “HeaQ” Kordmaa was also finally set up to succeed on a strong Lucian pick, but to no avail.

The fact that they lost didn’t hurt their stock much, considering how they never even won in the first place. Regardless, seeing them put up such a big fight and even outclass Vitality on a few fronts is a promising sign of things to come. With time, they could become an acceptable mid-tier team. Sadly, it won’t be enough in to secure a higher ranking further down the road.