Ground Zero Shut Down The R!OT
Well, here we are. The first of the four regional Winter Majors has concluded, with Ground Zero Gaming taking home Oceania's biggest title. Although it wasn't exactly smooth sailing for Daniel "Torsos" Parsons, Jonathan "Express" Slade, and Luke "Amphis" Riddell, the table-toppers extended their lead with a victory over R!OT Gaming.
OCE Winter Major - Ground Zero show up big
On the first day of the major, things certainly didn't start off smoothly for the eventual champions. In their first series they came close to being reverse swept by Team Fenrir before rescuing their upper bracket run in a tight fifth game. Elsewhere, the former Ninjas continued their strong third regional form by taking down the organisation's old roster (playing under Asian org 1NE Esports for the major) in a four-game series, before proving that they weren't a team to be messed with by battering Renegades in a swift 3-0 sweep. Renegades then fell in 7-8th with a loss to Team Process that dealt a severe blow to their World Championship hopes. Fellow worlds hopefuls Mindfreak were themselves sent down to the lower bracket by Dire Wolves before mounting a strong lower bracket run. 1NE, Solicit, and even Dire Wolves in a rematch were all batted away before R!OT (having been swept by Ground Zero before themselves sweeping Team Process) annihilated any hopes that the Fall Major winners had of repeating their miracle run with a tense 4-0 sweep that featured three overtime wins.
The closest series of the Major would come between Cringe Society and R!OT. Cringe Society had convincingly beaten Solicit and Dire Wolves before they too were sent to the lower bracket by Ground Zero, and with two early game wins it looked like they'd be heading for a rematch. However, with four one-goal game wins (including overtime victories in both games six and seven), R!OT pulled through and took the series in seven games, ensuring not just a shot at the title but a vital 100 point boost as they look to sneak into the top two in the Spring Split. Although they had looked convincing for much of the event, Ground Zero struggled at the start of the grand final. They took the first game, but could muster up just four goals in reply to R!OT's 11 as, despite a ridiculous goalmouth scramble at R!OT's end in the dying seconds of the first series, Blake "SPYDOGE" Evans and co. were able to hold on to secure a bracket reset. Much like Envy in their grand final back against Spacestation Gaming in North America's second regional, Ground Zero found their footing in the bracket reset. A quick 4-0 sweep, with a goal scoreline of 12-3, gave Ground Zero a crucial boost in the standings, taking home the Winter Major. Here's how the top eight teams stack up heading into the all-important Spring Split:
- Ground Zero Gaming (3055 points)
- Cringe Society (2551)
- Mindfreak (2192)
- Renegades (2191)
- R!OT Gaming (1901)
- Dire Wolves (1870)
- Solicit (1550)
- Hazard Esports (840)
Tuesday 11th Febuary's RLO Masters was quite the upset-fest as Fall Girls - currently sitting on just 100 RLCS Points - swept Ground Zero on their way to a top-four finish. Ultimately, they were swept by Cringe Society, who then got their revenge against Mindfreak from earlier in the day with a 4-0 sweep in the grand final to take home February's second edition of RLOceania's event. That's it for this week's round-the-world recap, join us next week for a look back at the SAM Major, and stay tuned to GGRecon for more RLCS X content!
Image via WSOE