The stakes are raised for these power rankings. In addition to allocating all 22 teams over 5 tiers, I will also be ranking them. For once, the placement of teams within a tier is in a particular order.
I’m admittedly unsure about some of the rankings, specifically when dealing with teams where my knowledge of newer players is limited — but I’ll generally explain my thought process behind these teams, as well as what could be the deciding factor between them performing better or worse than my rankings might indicate.
As a final note, this is as always purely my opinion, and you’re free to hold and share your own, as well as disagree with me — if anything, I enjoy people’s reactions to my rankings (especially when they base their entire team’s identity around a ranking I gave them without very in-depth analysis).
In any case, without further ado, I present what I believe to be the worst and best drafts of SUN S17.
Tier 5
22. Melalez
Blackjack, Dazza, Deoksi, Jnolds
One would have expected Amos to do his buddy Melalez a solid when drafting for him. Instead, Amos firstpicked Blackjack. He did also manage to grab a great support in Dazza second pick, and a relatively high MMR 3rd pick with Deoksi. The issue here is the lack of anything even remotely resembling a standout core player — or, well, any sort of standout player. With the best players on the team being traditionally non-core players Melalez and Blackjack, it’s hard to see who in this team is supposed to actually win the games for this team. We have seen Melalez play carry and Blackjack play mid in the past, but the results were underwhelming at best. I struggle to find a redeeming factor in this team, as even high value Dazza being put on a team like this is much like wasting a great Cards Against Humanity card for a bad round.
21. Sitham
PONPO, UniqueWithATwist, Viper, bitch im a cow
Sitham is an absolutely top tier offlaner. That’s about it. PONPO has generally been somewhat underwhelming in RD2L, and to me it always feels like I’m watching a good 2015 mid player trying to pick the game up again 4 years later, only to find out that Invoker, QoP, Puck and SF aren’t exactly top tier. This points to either UniqueWithATwist or Viper being given the carry role, but either way, the farming core duo for this team will be underwhelming, and the team will likely be very reliant on the offlane to carry the game which — while possible — isn’t exactly a common occurrence in RD2L, nor a reliable strategy.
20. Ogreboy
Spulg, Low Expectations, Smacking The Pony, PussiDestroyar69
A team that looks quite solid at first glance, with the duo of Spulg and Pawel, it falls apart once put under the microscope. Spulg is seemingly a very strong player, but even if he does perform on a core role — neither of which is his main position — there’s no one to match that. It’s hard to imagine Low Expectations playing anything other than 4, which in all likelihood means Ogreboy playing core and Pawel matching up with one of the lower MMR players in the offlane. Either way, this would mean that, unless Pawel goes absolutely ham, a minimum of 2 lanes will be losing, with the team relying on Spulg to pull the game out from a secondary role. The redeeming factor for this team, and what makes me think they might be better than the #20 spot might suggest, is that their midgame play might be very strong.
Tier 4
19. Cory
Androgynous, Awkarasou, Lewis, Yagami Light
My first reaction to this team is that it’s…weird. Assuming Cory lets Yagami play carry and goes to the offlane with Andro playing mid, they have a very solid support pairing and decent core trio. This, on paper, should be a higher placed team, but I put them quite low, since I feel that there are many questions to be answered here. How good is Andro mid? Will Yagami being an SEA player affect his performance? Will Awkarasou play to the standard suggested by his 4.8k sheet MMR, or will this team get something more resembling the 4.2k player he says he is? Finally, solid is often quite good in RD2L, but I can’t shake the feeling that this team step above that if they’re to make a run in playoffs. You never know though, it might be high time to stop underrating Cory.
18. NaClO
XWZ, OverKoalafied, Spicy, Revenger
NaClO managed to snag my planned first pick XWZ, and along the way pick up my co-admin Koala and my ex-teammate Spicy. I’m starting to think he has some issue with me — but in all seriousness, this is a pretty well-balanced team, albeit one lacking any standouts at first glance. If XWZ is as good as his Dotabuff might suggest, him, NaClO and Koala might make a pretty decent tricore, but I don’t see this team being a very serious challenger against some stronger teams.
17. Barg
kalimoo, Mad Scientist, zorenb, Eliathon
I don’t know what to think about this team. My first instinct is that having a drafter in MadSci is going to be hugely useful, and that Kalimoo might turn out to be an amazing core, but we haven’t seen him in that role. I know very little about Barty, but I believe he’s a 3/4 player, which means this team lacks a second core to join kalimoo. Still, I feel like this team is likely to have some direction in their player and, provided their farming cores perform, could be decent.
16. Fan7asy
Windsayer, Anderkent, BentonNelvar, Crioliix
Fantasy is a pretty good mid player, and the lower MMRs on this team seem to be pretty value. This leaves Windsayer as the variable that decides how good this team actually ends up being. Being mainly a 3/4 player, we might see Anderkent go safelane and Windsayer offlane, or they might put their highest MMR player on a farming role. Either way, there’s a dependence on either him or Fantasy performing very well in this team, but even then, this is an okay team — especially considering it was birthed during the commitment of a felony. At the very least, Fantasy always seems to be doing something fun during drafts.
15. MoFarah
Polarbear Prince, Elpieee, ard33sy, tmp
A well-balanced draft by Mo, the actual results of this team will depend heavily on how they line up role-wise. My expectation is that Polarbear and Elpieee will be the team’s cores, with tmp in the offlane and MoFarah and ard33sy playing support. In that case, they’ll be pretty solid all across the board, with the biggest question being how their farming cores would perform in comparison to some of the bigger stars in the division.
Tier 3
14. Rapdis
Wesside, Mattador, Fancy, Dark Eagle
Newcomer captain Rapdis is a core player and managed to snag a high MMR pick in Wesside, who is a pretty flexible player and one would expect he’ll take up a core role in this team. They’re joined by Mattador, an NA import who will probably sit in the offlane, and the team is rounded out by decent supports in Fancy and Dark Eagle. Still, something to me is off about this team, but they could easily outperform this ranking if their farming cores step up.
13. Anstar
Mango, Kevin Richardson, Icon, Bucketbaba
Anstar’s draft might outperform this ranking, and they might do a bit worse, and I feel like this hinges quite significantly on carry player Mango. He did decently in the first week of WED, so chances are he isn’t bad, and this team has a very solid tricore in Mango-Anstar-Kevin, as well as veteran wardbit-supports Icon and BucketBaba. The question is how well this team can perform in comparison to the others, as I don’t recognize and standout players on this team. Still, if they figure things out, I’m sure they can get a decent number of wins.
12. SwagMander
TheSucker, BrainyGonzo, KillerPanda, deluxaran
Depending on the time of day I look at this team, I might think it’s mediocre at best or surprisingly good. Sucker is probably going to play mid, but we know from past seasons that that’s not a very impressive use of his MMR, but then again, it’s balanced by SwagMander getting 2 more decently high players in Gonzo and KP to play position 3 and Earthshaker respectively. Swag has also historically been an unimpressive core, but he’s climbed a ton of MMR, so you never know.
11. Waterfalls
Muffinsan, mitsu, Adko, madmadu
I don’t know what to think about this team — I think Muffinsan and mitsu are a good carry and support respectively, Adko is a decent offlaner if I recall correctly, and Waterfalls can absolutely destroy games from mid, and I think he suffers less from the common issues high MMR RD2L supports, but I feel like this team overall isn’t exactly super impressive. Still, Waterfalls teams are always solid, and if he adds a third hero to his mid pool this could be a strong team.
10. Helix
Cvaekt, Kimer, DmWp, Wyvern
Simultaneously a solid team and the team that’s likeliest to disband, a core duo of Helix and Cvaekt sounds very promising, and Kimer+DmWp as the 4 and 3 sounds decent as well. If this team doesn’t have internal issues, their farming cores could easily win games of their own accord, and overall this is a very stable team skill-wise. Still, it’s almost cliche at this point to say this about a Cvaekt team, and it’s becoming harder and harder to talk about them ignoring the prospect of him not tilting — it’s a fact of life by now. It’s just a matter of how hard he tilts.
9. Syrphx
Crayon, T-Reds, Matty, a fucking owl
Syrphx is a decent core player, and he managed to somehow get Crayon at his 6th pick position, meaning this is a team with a really good foundation already. Add to that T-Reds and Matty and, uh, the other guy, and it’s a really solid team in my opinion, especially if Syrphx does well. Still, I’ve historically overrated Crayon in my reviews, so the team rests a bit lower than it might otherwise.
8. TokenGoat
Roran, Devilesk, Eivui, Raudichris
Once again a team I’m quite unsure about, TokenGoat’s goal of playing RD2L to beat Roran seems to have been thwarted, as Roran drafted himself for TokenGoat. Still, this is a strong team with experienced players. My issue with this team is the lack of an apparent core player, and while I do expect that TokenGoat will take up one of the farming roles, there’s a distinct possibility that they’ll want Roran and Devilesk to play more comfortable roles — in this case 3 and 5 respectively — which might mean we once again see Bat play carry in SUN. Still, I regard this team quite highly, as I feel they’re certain to have direction in their play with TokenGoat and Roran at the reigns.
Tier 2
7. Molten Knight
look alive, maegustav, YaBoiTheJebait, Oak
Molten Knight took a very classical approach to the draft. Get a good mid, get a stable carry, and focus on those two lanes, while sacrificing the offlane. I don’t mind this at all, and I believe that Look Alive is a very strong player, who lifts this team up quite a bit, adding a star player and game winner to a team that is otherwise ‘just’ stable.
6. Madsen
DNC, Karma, Maus, SockarMedSmor
A 14th pick 7k player, a solid offlane player and a pair of valuable supports mean that I come out of the draft a very happy boy. Admittedly with myself being a bit washed up and DNC playing off role, it might take us a bit of time to get into the swing of things, which is why I put us a bit lower, but I believe that a player as good as DNC can lift up the level of play of the entire team and I’m glad that I can be the one who helps him get past the first round of playoffs. Let’s just hope Cory doesn’t make them.
5. Paju
Judas, a34fsd, Youngster Yammy, noXious-
This team is the opposite of Ogreboy’s — the longer I looked at it, the stronger it seemed. With a very strong and stable tricore, Paju managed to draft a team which can aim to play for the win in all lanes, and won’t mind if one of them does underperform. His experience and ability is sure to put a bit of a leash on Judas and a34, and if he does manage to control the tempo of the games for this team, they could be very strong.
4. GabePork
Ayano, Nullagon, PineappleSan, Okami Shiranui
GabePork managed to avoid the trap of Nullagon core by cleverly picking him to play support, which is something that could arguably only have worked for him in the draft, as he picked Ayano as his core partner. This makes the team very strong, with a focus on the core’s lanes, and provided these two good core players play to win games, rather than to click creeps, they’re a very threatening team.
Tier 1
3. Linail
Boelens, Wizard of Chaos, Beach Please, In Putin we Trust
You can tell Linail did his homework. Picking an extremely valuable and versatile core player in Boelens first, he also managed to get Boelens’ longtime friend Wizard of Chaos for the offlane, completing a stable tricore and then picking up proven lower MMR support players with Hamma and Putin. This is the third time that Boelens and Wizard play together, and at this point there’s definitely an amount of synergy there that can’t be understated, as it can impact both the team’s play and overall communication and atmosphere. I have very high expectations for this team.
2. Irevall
Waloo, ruskomsnusk, Skully, Paw
Another team that came together as the result of careful draft planning, Irevall managed to snag extremely valuable players in Waloo and Ruskomsnusk, finally creating an impressively stable and balanced tricore, all while rounding the team out with a damn decent support duo. I strongly believe that this team can do very well, especially if they find some direction, even if they don’t have one single standout player.
1. Crasha
KTZ, ElNino, Sora no, Basi1eus
How KTZ and ElNino have ended up together on a team twice in one season is beyond baffling, but here we are. With a stable mid-3k captain, amazing duo in KTZ and Nino and an extremely valuable 4 in Sora, this is without a doubt in my mind the best team in the division. Their mid and off lanes are some of the strongest in the division, and while their safelane might suffer depending on who plays what, we’ve seen the infamous pair of friends run through teams in the midgame. It would be an understatement to say that Waloo did Crasha a favor in this draft.
Thanks for reading! Best of luck to everyone, have a great season.
