The LCS will be kickstarting the 2022 season with its preseason tournament, Lock-In. It'll be a good litmus test for NA League of Legends teams before the Spring Split officially begins, but a couple of rosters aren't going in at full strength. How seriously the teams take the competition is up in the air, but hopefully fans can get a good preview of the players who'll be competing for the LCS crown this year and see how they stack up against each other. Here's our early power rankings for LCS Lock-In and our predictions for how the rosters might perform in their respective groups.

LCS Lock-In 2022: Power rankings and predictions

For now, we've divided our initial assessment for LCS Lock-In 2022 according to the two groups. Each group has its own ranking and predictions for the standings at the end of the group stage, with the top four teams qualifying for playoffs. We also take a stab at predicting the final standings for the rosters after the Lock-In playoffs stage.

Group A Rosters and Previews

1. 100 Thieves

Roster: Ssumday, Closer, Abbedagge, FBI, huhi

Predicted overall ranking: Winner/1st

The LCS Summer 2021 champions were the only team to make zero changes to the starting lineup in the off-season. That says a lot about the org's confidence in their players heading into the new season—even after a disappointing Worlds showing. I expect that, given the team's existing synergy and Reapered still at the helm, 100T will hit the ground running for Lock-In.

For now, the only major contender I see is Team Liquid. Whether TL, who won last year's Lock-In, can defend their preseason crown, will boil down to how well the superteam synergizes—can they execute in teamfights? Will they overpower through lane and snowball from there? I still think 100T's overall macro game will help them come out on top when Lock-In playoffs finals time comes around.

2. Cloud9

Roster: Darshan, Blaber, Fudge, Zven, Isles

Predicted overall ranking: Semis/4th

C9 fans will have to wait before they see Korea9 or Church9 in full force, but the mix of main and Academy players still make for a competent roster. Zven is absolutely no slouch in the AD carry position and Blaber can turn the tide of a game in one play. But perhaps the bigger question concerns their playstyle. With LS as head coach, we're expecting C9 to have a late-game scaling approach, rather than the early (over)aggression we've witnessed in the past seasons.

However, not only players but also coaching staff who are based in Korea have run into issues before they can arrive in NA. With Summit and Berserker, C9 could have potentially challenged for second or third overall. Fourth is a safe bet, but they could drop to probably third in Group A, and as far as sixth overall given the lack of practice for the mixed lineup, too.

3. Golden Guardians

Roster: Licorice, Pridestalkr, Ablazeolive, Lost, Olleh

Predicted overall ranking: Quarters/5th

Golden Guardians could perform a lot better than initially expected, at least for Lock-In, with two teams in Group A fielding some Academy players. While not necessarily the best at his position, Licorice might be able to recapture his former form that turned heads back when he was on C9. Even then, he's still a reliable player for the squad and won't have huge disasterclass moments. Lost and Ablazeolive are also promising young guns on the squad, so GGS could definitely rise to the occasion and punch a class above their weight.

4. FlyQuest

Roster: Kumo, Josedeodo, toucouille, Johnsun, Aphromoo

Predicted overall ranking: Quarters/7th

FLY has some bright spots on the roster, combining the young top half of the map with the seasoned bot duo. I don't think they'll progress much farther than the quarters, though, unless C9 or EG implode or TL's lineup just doesn't work out from the get-go. Overall, it's a roster that has a decent foundation to build on. If the LFL MVP mid laner pulls through, we just might see FlyQuest making waves in the LCS—perhaps not enough to topple the giants in the league, but enough to be a bit better than bang average.

5. Team SoloMid

Roster: V1per, Hyper, Takeover, Instinct, Yursan

Not much to say for this one, except that it's a shame TSM couldn't field their main roster. The Academy players may see the tournament as a chance to prove themselves and possibly pull off some upsets, but likely won't be consistent enough to do much more than play spoiler to another team in the group. If TSM had gone for a mixed lineup like C9 did, I might put them up to third in the group and fifth or sixth overall, and possibly fourth overall with the full starting roster.

Group B Rosters and Previews

1. Team Liquid

Roster: Bwipo, Santorin, Bjergsen, Hans sama, CoreJJ  Hans sama, Eyla OR Yeon, CoreJJ

Predicted overall ranking: Runner-up/2nd

TL really wasn't playing around during the off-season. All three additions to the team were huge signings for sure, and fans are divided as to which one was the biggest “win” or best move. CoreJJ is arguably still the best support in NA, and you've got a promising rising star from EU to partner with him in bot.

With Bjergsen coming out of retirement, it'll be exciting to see if he can be as good as his peak. How the mid laner combines with Santorin, who he's played with on TSM before, will also be an important deciding factor for TL's overall level. The roster could stun everybody as early as Lock-In, but I'll be a little reserved and say that they'll need some time before they takeover NA.

UPDATE: CoreJJ reportedly has yet to acquire his green card, meaning TL lacks an import slot to field its intended starting lineup. The bot duo will likely be splitting time with their Academy counterparts. With this in mind, my predictions say TL could drop to second in Group B, and potentially not make the finals for Lock-In, probably ranking only fourth if CoreJJ is out.

2. Evil Geniuses

Roster: Impact, Inspired, Jojopyun, Danny, Vulcan

Predicted overall ranking: Semis/3rd

EG may have enough firepower yet to dethrone 100T or compete with TL (unless the superteam just collapses), but they're a promising squad with immense potential to shake up the NA pro scene. The off-season additions of Inspired and Vulcan are huge boosts to the squad, and if Danny improves his laning phase, that bot duo is a scary pair—not to mention how good they both are in the late game.

3. Immortals

Roster: Revenge, Xerxe, PowerofEvil, WildTurtle, Destiny

Predicted overall ranking: Quarters/6th

Among the mid-to-low tier teams' off-seasons, Immortals had the more impressive roster moves, picking up PoE and WildTurtle. The squad can upset the upper echelon of NA teams, whether in preseason or during the regular season itself. They might not necessarily break into the top tier of the LCS, but they aren't ones to be taken lightly. Similar to my assessment for FLY, IMT will put up decent performances but may not have the consistency to advance far into the playoffs unless the other teams fail to show up on the day.

4. Dignitas

Roster: FakeGod, River, Blue, Neo, Biofrost

Predicted overall ranking: Quarters/8th

Signing PSG Talon star River was probably the only reason DIG wasn't at the bottom of my rankings. The squad will be hoping that the former PCS champion can stamp his presence on the game, but otherwise the roster hasn't upgraded by much. Unless the other players drastically improve, Dignitas will still probably end up as a low tier team. They won't be the worst in Lock-In (sorry CLG and thanks TSM Academy), but I doubt they'll be serious contenders for a playoff spot come Spring.

5. Counter Logic Gaming

Roster: Jenkins, Contractz, Palafox, Luger, Poome

CLG overhauled its squad in the off-season, looking for another fresh start as nothing has been working the past splits. But I don't see how this roster can challenge the other teams in the league and rise to a higher spot in the standings. It's hard to pinpoint where they could draw strength from—like having a focal point in the roster—unless someone has a breakout season.

Closing thoughts

Personally, I feel there is an evident gulf in quality between the top three or four teams and the rest of the pack. Despite the huge roster changes in the off-season, some of the bottom-of-the-pack LCS teams are really underwhelming. It doesn't feel like they have a clear identity and the players aren't exactly prodigies in the scene. The rankings would have looked much different if both TSM and C9 had their actual starting lineups available, though since both international rosters would have needed a bit of time to build synergy anyway, 100T and TL would still represent the strongest bets.

Fans will get to see these rosters head into competitive action as Lock-In kicks off on January 14, 2022. We can look forward to thrilling games—maybe some clown fiestas—as teams experiment with their drafts and playstyle in the preseason tournament.