The Unraveling of League of Legends History in North America: Part 1
I entered the world of League of Legends two years ago and soon became a fan of professional LoL. I vividly recall watching the 2014 All Star Tournament in Paris, feeling completely lost. I understood how the game was played, but had no knowledge of the players or the history of the teams. It was fascinating for me to discover the rich mythology that League had built in such a short time.
However, as I delved deeper into reading about the teams, I found myself confused by the sheer number of teams and tournaments. There were hundreds of teams, numerous IEMs, and multiple versions of teams like Millenium, making it hard for me to keep track. In order to gain some historical context and make sense of competitive LoL’s past and present, I decided to create Elo ratings.
League’s Wild West: Pre-2013
Before I delve into the Elo ratings, let’s take a brief look at the period before 2013. This was a time when League resembled the Wild West, before Riot established the structured LCS system. Specifically, I will focus on the years 2011 and 2012, as there were very few competitions before that, making it less meaningful to discuss them.
Elo Ratings in NA 2011 & 2012
Now, let’s talk about the above chart, which may seem overwhelming at first. However, it provides an overview of what follows. The bright orange line represents CLG, the bright blue line represents TSM, the dark blue line represents Dignitas, and the gray line represents Curse. These lines show the ratings of the teams during this period.
The Rivalry
League in North America during this time was primarily a two-horse race, dominated by the rivalry between TSM and CLG. These two teams spent 446 days simultaneously in the top three, accounting for more than 90% of the period between February and November 2012.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, CLG seemed to have the edge over TSM. Overall, the competition between the two teams was close, but the Elo ratings favored CLG. Let’s break down the details.
Looking at the table above, a few things stand out. Only four teams were ranked first throughout 2011 and 2012, and only two of them held that position for a significant amount of time. These teams were CLG, TSM, Dignitas, and Curse. These four teams have been a part of every LCS split or have directly spawned a team that participated in the LCS. Their consistent strength relative to other teams in the region is noteworthy.
In terms of CLG’s edge over TSM, CLG spent more time as the number one team in North America and had a higher average rating. However, TSM had the highest overall rating, which is a significant factor in their favor.
It’s important to note that CLG’s dominance during 2011 is somewhat unfair to compare to their performance during the more active Season 2. Additionally, TSM’s strength was not remarkable in 2011. The real heyday for both teams was 2012, which will be analyzed in the next chart.
As we observe in this chart, the average ratings for CLG and TSM are closer, but CLG consistently remained the stronger team.
This raises the question: How did this happen? Surprisingly, CLG was the more consistent team. There were periods in 2012 when TSM’s performance was subpar, especially in online competitions. It’s interesting to note that despite TSM’s sponsorships of many online events, CLG outperformed them. While online competitions may lack the same degree of competitive integrity as LANs, they still provide valuable information about team performance.
On the flip side, TSM’s true strength shined through in offline competitions. These offline events played a crucial role in determining the best teams when the stakes were highest.
As seen in the list above, TSM dominated the top performance ratings during this period. Five out of the top ten performances came from TSM, while three were from Dignitas and two from CLG.
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for part 2, coming soon!