Utility Monster and JeffGodGamer’s Week 2 Helios Power Rankings
9/2/2021
Click for last week’s Power Rankings
“It’s that time of the week again - Helios Power Rankings are back! Utility Monster and JeffGodGamer here to bring you our updated assessment of the Helios League. We also subject you to our newest literary obsession, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Except to stop reading now. Please don’t.
Our newest hobby
Japanese poetic forms
Five seven five on
-
Two weeks have gone by
Helios games continue
Standings crystallize
-
Still uncertainty
Improvement, adaptation
Dark horses await
-
Who has what it takes?
Who will emerge the victor?
Time alone can say
-
That’s enough intro
So without further ado
Here’s this week’s rankings”
- Utility Monster
8th - AGS [-2]
A talented team
Yet missing a vital skill:
Basic scheduling
It’s often said in other sports that the most important skill is availability, and that’s definitely influencing our ranking of Aegis Gaming this week. After three straight forfeits due to scheduling issues, it’s fair to say that this team needs to figure their stuff out. Skillwise they aren’t the worst team in the league, not by a long shot, but you need to actually show up and play the game to prove it. It’s also pretty disappointing as a viewer to not be able to watch these guys show what they have. We hope they can figure out their scheduling soon, before the forfeits catch up to them and playoffs are completely out of reach.
7th - GURL [+/-]
Seemingly outmatched
Can they prove to be more than
Just a sum of parts
It was a rough week for GURL, with convincing losses to both CFG and INT. There weren’t even many silver linings in either game, just a long list of things to improve on. Most unfortunate, though, is the fact that GURL has had one of the weaker schedules to date, so their upcoming matchups don’t do them any favors. We hope they can find enough individual ability to not get blown out of the game in the first 15 minutes, and then showcase superior teamwork afterwards to take some wins, but we aren’t sure how realistic that hope truly is.
6th - CFG [+2]
Rapid improvement
A change to the status quo?
Or just a mirage?
We’re not sure what changed over at CFG headquarters, but the results of whatever it was looked fantastic. They turned in an impressive 2-0 week with wins over GURL and RLS. CFG’s bot lane was an especially notable strong point, with Sadiśt playing a pivotal role in both wins. Both Sonaphine (support vs GURL) and BillthePwny (support vs RLS) were on point enabling his play as well. CFG’s top side of the map cleaned up their play, avoiding early deficits and allowing them to showcase their teamfighting prowess. We’re a little cautious on bumping up their ranking too far, but we’re optimistic that CFG can keep up this level of play and remain a threat to any team in the league.
5th - RLS [-3]
High expectations
Unrealized as of yet
Potential remains
We might be overreacting to RLS losing to CFG this week, especially since they were playing with a top lane substitute and Ahntye was forced to swap to mid lane as a result. That said, at this point they only have one non-forfeit win, and they have yet to look like the best team on the Rift for an entire game, which is the level of play we’d expected coming into the season. This team is capable of more than they’ve shown, and we hope they can work out the kinks soon.
4th - PTP [+/-]
A promising trend
Cautiously optimistic
We’ve been burned before
Pentakill Teemo Please only played one game this week, and it was their first loss of the season, with TG emerging the victor. It wasn’t a completely unexpected loss, though, and we can’t fault PTP for getting a forfeit win either. As a result, they’re staying at the number four slot in the league. The gap between most of the teams in Helios looks slim, though, so PTP need to make sure they stay focused as the season continues. It isn’t hard to imagine PTP’s start was something of a fluke, and they need to be sure they don’t get complacent. We don’t expect them to suddenly revert to a bottom two team, but slipping down to the lower half of the league is easy when the standings are this close.
3rd - TG [+/-]
A true enigma
Hidden capabilities
Reveal your true skill
It’s hard to place TG’s level; we could potentially justify putting them anywhere from 6th to 3rd. They looked great against PTP, but came up short against REX, keeping them at a .500 record. The way this team plays, it looks like they struggle to generate advantages as a team, instead relying on individual outplays and laning prowess. That might mean they will struggle against better teams (both their losses are to the #1 and #2 teams), while they more consistently beat teams ranked below them. That’s a good recipe for doing okay and making playoffs, but maybe not for actually contending to win the whole league. Luckily for TG in the immediate future, they’ve played most of the top teams already, so we’re expecting some wins against lower ranked opposition this next week. More unfortunately, we’ve heard some rumors of roster instability, so perhaps our expectations are too high. Building team synergy is important, and starting over after two weeks is not ideal. We still think TG is a solid team, but the next week of games will be critical.
2nd - INT [-1]
Dominant at first
Roster instability
Now there’s more to prove
We were split on how to order INT and REX in our top two. Jeff prefers REX based on their head to head victory over INT this week, while Utility Monster notes that INT was playing with extenuating circumstances, and they’ve dominated their opponents in all of their three victories. INT’s previous support HeWhoSlopps was forced to leave the team this week for personal reasons, and it was too late to add a new support to the roster for their first match of the week. Star jungler BoExplode87 swapped to support for a game, and while INT played reasonably well, REX outplayed them in critical moments and handed INT their first loss. It did feel like more of a loss to the FoF Rulebook’s roster rules more than anything, though. In their second game of the week against GURL, new starting support JEFFuZ was able to make his debut, and INT went back to their dominant winning ways. In the end we’re dropping INT to the number two spot, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them bounce back soon, and we already can’t wait for the rematch against REX with a full strength roster in a few weeks.
1st - REX [+4]
Coming into form
Winning just doesn’t get old
The new team to beat
It was a dream week for REX, with clean wins over both TG and INT. While arguments can be made for a full strength INT being the superior team, we’re putting REX at the number one spot for now. Their team play was quite good, and individually they’re clearly capable enough to challenge for the top spot in the league. We’re especially impressed with the bot lane performances of AlkBattery and y u no doctor, gaining meaningful lane edges and translating it into winning teamfight performances. REX also had a brutal schedule in the first two weeks, so picking up some consecutive wins against worse teams on paper seems like a good prediction. We can’t wait to see REX rematch against some of the teams they’ve played, especially INT and RLS, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they aren’t seriously challenged until then. As long as REX keeps their focus, the number one spot is theirs to lose.
