RLCS S9: NA Week 7 Power Rankings

Written by

John Nolan

Published

19th Mar 2020 19:00

This past weekend has seen a lot of movement up and down the RLCS league table as teams secure themselves in for playoffs, or the dreaded relegation tournament. Similarly, there have been some shakeups in our power rankings, so let us see where all the sides land per our committee.

The GGRecon power rankings committee:

Ben “notblondemonkey” Hurst - /r/RocketLeagueEsports mod and writer for GGRecon, The Players’ Lobby, GinxTV and others
John_aka_Alwayz - /r/RocketLeagueEsports mod and writer for GGRecon and Octane
Sly - RLCS Statistician and lead writer for Octane
Jake - Head of Operations for GGRecon & Rocket League fan.

#10 - Flight - rapid, Sea-Bass, Memory (-)

Flight fans, prepare yourselves for a crash landing, their RLCS future looks bleak. The sole one-win team in the NA RLCS after yet another loss, this time to the Soniqs means they will at best be 8th place, and have to fight to retain their RLCS status. However should they lose to Rogue this weekend, they won’t have a second chance as they will automatically demote to the RLRS. All they need is a win vs Rogue, but even that seems unlikely now.

=#8 - eUnited - Hockser, Roll Dizz, Ayjacks (+-)

Poor eUnited, or specifically, poor Hockser. Denied a move to Cloud9 and his now world championship appearing roster has only an 8% chance of avoiding the relegation tournament, which requires at least sweeping Spacestation Gaming. They did play a close series vs Pittsburgh Knights, and despite Hockser again playing a starring role, the game five loss eliminating them from playoffs contention. 7th is the best they can now do, and even that seems unlikely as again, they play SSG, so it seems they will have to fight for their RLCS careers.

=#8 - Rogue - Wonder, Kronovi, firstkiller (-)

It has finally happened to Rogue, they will not feature in the regional playoffs for the first time since the old Rogue roster in RLCS season six. Despite two incredible results vs PK & C9, with the expanded league play, those flash in the pan results aren’t aw rewarded in comparison to actual consistency, something Rogue still lacks. An on-fire offense vs SSG last weekend was all for naught as they gave up literal open nets in the first game, and then they failed to even score in the next 2 games as they got swept. So like mentioned for Flight, lose and they are out of RLCS completely, a frightening prospect for the legendary Kronovi, yet something that is only a single best of five series from reality.

#7 - Pittsburgh Knights - ExplosiveGyro, Retals, AyyJayy (-1)

Despite Knights winning this week, like their match against Flight in week one, it was by a very small margin vs a side dwelling at the bottom fo the rankings. Their three wins saw spectacular offense, completely ripping apart the eUnited backline. Yet in their two losses, there was no offense, even being contained in their own half again down to defensive double commits. Not to sound like a broken record, but it is week seven, and AyyJayy looks no better than when he first joined, still a liability on defense at times, all while scoring series-winning double-taps on offense. Whether PK can contend seems like a coin-toss nowadays, so much so they go into this weekend’s clash with Cloud9 as the unfavored side, where a loss will condemn them to miss the playoffs.

#6 - Ghost Gaming - Allushin, Atomic, mist (-1)

Honestly, how does one evaluate Ghost Gaming? One week they’re saving their own shots in defeat, the next week they’ll best the 1st place G2 comfortably, and now they’ve been swept by Cloud9. In all the chaos and in between certain sides resurging or regressing, Ghost has not secured themselves into the playoffs, and will have to deal with NRG if they wish to put their faith in their own hands. For a side that was looked at as a potential top-four side, missing the playoffs would be catastrophic, and its unfortunately on the cards.

#5 - Cloud9 - SquishyMuffinz, Gimmick, Torment (+2)

How Cloud9 has recovered is a great question, but they’ve not only ensured they’re fully clear of the relegation tournament, they seem primed to make the playoffs. This isn’t to say that Cloud9 is back to peak championship-caliber form, but they seem fully capable of beating near anyone right now. Obviously we can’t ignore Fireburner’s antics which won them the series vs the Soniqs, but even Torment played a faultless game vs Ghost, a great sight to see after having a dreadful season up until very recently. Along with Gimmick scoring well, and Squishy running the midfield, Cloud9 is once again becoming a feared name on the pitch.

#4 - Susquehanna Soniqs - Satthew, Shock, Dappur (-2)

Don’t get us wrong, the Soniqs can still very easily place top two in league play, win their series this weekend vs G2 and they will have done it. But when a roster begins to perform at the very top, the scrutiny intensifies and Susquehanna is no exception. Irrespective of Cloud9’s resurgence, they got reverse swept by a side way below them in the table, and to a substitute who hasn’t touched the game in a week. Not great for a potential table topper. They also lost their unbeaten streak in overtimes in the C9 series, and lost another en route to beating Flight. Shock was abnormally quiet but Dappur was on hand to pick up the pieces. They know the stakes for the G2 series Saturday, but they go in having been handed a loss by them 4-2 in the recent Astronauts Cup, so while they can do it, the smart money is on them to just stay 4th.

#3 - G2 Esports - Jknaps, Rizzo, Chicago (+1)

A mixed week for the G2 camp. On the bad side of things, they lost their 2nd RLCS match in a row, this time to NRG, a series they really could have and arguably should have buried far earlier if it weren’t for their shooting accuracy, making it still zero wins vs the (at the time) top half of the league table, heightening fears that they might lose out this season with the Soniqs and Spacestation this weekend. However, on a positive note, they bested both of those sides in the recent Astronauts cup en route to winning the tournament. Both games were 4-2 affairs, very competitive series but perhaps their best showing since Dreamhack Montreal last year. No one doubts G2 can take down the best, when they’re not slumping they’re always in contention, but can they replicate these showings come Saturday when they play Soniqs & SSG in the matches that actually matter?

#2 - NRG Esports - GarrettG, Jstn, Turbopolsa (-)

As for NRG, standard stuff for them, pushed close by G2 but ultimately victorious, especially when they needed a big response after being swept by Cloud9. Unfortunately for them, they won’t be topping the league table after an impervious 2019, but once the Soniqs fall to G2 (which is more possible than impossible), NRG just needs to defeat Ghost Gaming to secure themselves in top two. And with GarrettG beginning to find the ned with more and more frequency, there is little concern in the NRG camp.

#1 - Spacestation Gaming - AxB, Sypical, Arsenal (-)

Spacestation Gaming remains our top roster in North America. 3-0 vs Rogue in league play, now alone at the top of the league table, and in a prime position to get top two in league play yet again, or even come 1st. They still look like the complete package and simply do not have a weak link. This does not mean they are untouchable like the top NA teams of seasons past, G2 did finally get the better of them in the Astronauts Cup final, but across the six cups, they are first in their overall points leaderboard too. Time will tell if this season will be their coronation, but they’re well on their way to becoming the kings of NA.