Introduction: The S16 season is about to begin, and the vast majority of players have been paying attention to the recent offseason, with all major LPL teams entering their final preparation phase. S16 will be the LPL region's final opportunity, and if we still cannot claim the World Championship title, the league’s overall enthusiasm will keep dropping. Recently, LPL's official commentator Miller released the new season’s team rankings. Unsurprisingly, several analysts rated BLG as the top-tier powerhouse, the only true god-tier team. TES, with star player JackeyLove, has even fallen out of the second tier, making it difficult for them to compete for a Worlds spot.

LPL Commentator Miller’s S16 Team Rankings

Most players are quite familiar with the LPL region. Once a world-leading league, LPL has grown rapidly in recent years, but the increasing number of teams has led to declining results. The retirement of key players has further cooled the league’s popularity. To achieve better results, many LPL teams have made significant moves this transfer season. BLG invested heavily again, assembling a top-tier "Galaxy Fleet" with one goal: to win the World Championship. As the season approaches, Miller’s team rankings have sparked widespread discussion among fans online.

Let’s first look at the only true god-tier S+ level team — surprisingly, only BLG earned this rank. Other teams have fallen behind significantly. The lineup includes top laner Bin, jungler Xun, mid laner Knight, AD carry Viper, and support ON. Indeed, from a roster perspective, they have almost no weaknesses. However, in the Demacia Cup matches, their overall teamwork was not outstanding and faced many issues. Of course, BLG might have deprioritized the Demacia Cup since that tournament had many problems, including three redraws of group stages. Next are the S-level teams: AL and WBG, with commentator Guan Zeyuan adding JDG to this group.

AL renewed the contracts of all players for another year. Although they lost their core coaching staff, the five players seem to have their own ideas when playing together. If nothing unexpected happens, their performance should remain stable, likely securing an LPL Worlds spot. JDG’s inclusion might be due to confidence in coach Tabe. Also, judging from the Demacia Cup, two young players are in good form. Especially mid laner Hangq, who performed smoothly on his LPL debut and could bring surprises once fully integrated.

IG and TES have dropped to the third tier. Both were Worlds participants in S15, but they may have lost the strength to compete this season. IG lost several key players and now rely heavily on their mid and jungle duo. TES faces a similar situation; although AD carry JackeyLove is on the roster, he is unlikely to play in the first split, with JKL positioned as the substitute. In the lowest tier, WE, UP, and TT are surprisingly aligned, all likely to finish near the bottom of the league. The notable B+ team is OMG, but they are not expected to create many surprises.

Farewell Thoughts

Every year there are evaluations of LPL teams, and this time it seems only BLG and AL are truly trustworthy. Even the newly formed all-Chinese roster WBG struggles to challenge for honors. The LCK region remains extremely strong, with Gen.G, HLE, and T1 all boasting top-tier lineups. Any of these teams appear stronger than BLG. We can only hope for team synergy to improve and perhaps witness a miracle.

What do all of you viewers think about this situation?