RLCS X: Power Rankings NA - Edition #6
After weeks of stability in NA, everyone decided to shake things up this time. The Grid was becoming predictable, but Week 6 and Stage 1 of the Regional Event shows us that North America has more to offer. When the region gets more exciting, Power Rankings are harder to get right. Still, GGRecon makes up the standings in the middle of the second Regional Event.
#10 - Rogue (-4) - Kronovi, Firstkiller, Turinturo
Last week wasn’t Rogue’s week. With a bit of misfortune, they were eliminated in the first round of The Grid. In the Regional Event, however, they were lucky to make Stage 2 with a 3-1 scoreline. Their offence is looking good, sure, but Rogue’s defence - what defence? Oh, those double commits? The communication surely wasn’t on point. Even with their improved shooting precision, leaving players up the field with nobody back to defend long clears is an issue. They’ve got a lot to fix to make it through Stage 2 next weekend.
#9 - Nefarious (New) - Buddy, JWismont, Ahduhm
This is the first time that these Power Rankings feature a team that doesn’t play in The Grid. Their performance in the Regional Event was just that strong. A lot of Grid teams seemed to have an off day, but upsetting the Knights and Team Envy three games to one is no small feat. Buddy and JWismont were already known names in the Rival Series. JWismont even played one season in the RLCS before, under Splyce. Ahduhm may just be a rookie, but he showed everyone he came to play.
- Read More - All The RLCS X Rosters
#8 - Pittsburgh Knights (-1) - radoko., kinseh, ZPS.
Even though the Pittsburgh Knights took NRG to game 7 in the semi-finals of The Grid, their road to that semi-finals was an easy one. Despite only giving away one game to Plot Twist, the Knights had a shaky start and only made it out of round 1 because plot Twist didn’t close it out. To their credit, this was the third week in a row reaching the playoffs. The knights still looked a bit shaky in the Regional Event, and it took them the full five rounds to qualify for Stage 2.
#7 - Alpine Esports (+3) - percy., Jordan, majicbear
With wins over Rogue in The Grid and the Pittsburgh Knights in the Regional Event, Alpine are looking better than ever. The past few weeks have shown they can stand their ground in the top ten. Now that other teams are struggling, their chance has come to show up in a big way next week.
#6 - The Peeps (-1) - Gyro., AYYJAYY, Allushin
The Peeps are looking to do damage against the top teams in NA, so it was surprising to see how quiet they were against SSG in the quarterfinals of The Grid. For the Peeps, last week was all about surviving. Securing a spot in Stage 2 without losing a series is great, but they have to clean up some sloppy plays and follow up each other’s plays to make it further than that.
#5 - Kansas City Pioneers (+3) - rapid, Memory, BeastMode
The Pioneers were one of the biggest winners last weekend. They made up for their less-than-average Gris performance by taking on SSG and G2 in the Regionals. Not only do they set up their teammates perfectly, but they also manage to disrupt the other teams. It’s difficult to tell whether they can repeat a ravaging rampage like they showed on Saturday, but they proved they’re capable of it.
#4 - Team Envy (-2) - Atomic, Mist, Turbopolsa
Envy had an early exit in The Grid when they lost versus G2 in the quarterfinals. G2 came in with a game advantage, but they were also just the better team. Envy often tries to get creative with passes, but they sometimes don’t produce enough shots. A team like Team Envy is expected to sweep the lower teams, but they gave away games in every single series last week. That’s not up to their standards, and they know it.
#3 - G2 Esports (+1) - Jknaps, Rizzo, Chicago
When G2 can play their own game, they look invincible. For a team that’s known for their passing plays, their passes looked even better than usual. Defeating Spacestation Gaming and winning The Grid paints a clear picture of what they’re capable of. The Regional Event also showed a weakness - when a team like KCP can disrupt them and mess up their awesome offence, they can be beaten.
#2 - NRG Esports (+1) - GarrettG, Jstn, SquishyMuffinz
NRG had great results last week, but they didn’t get tested very heavily if you look at what teams they got matched up against. They had the easier side of the bracket in The Grid, and none of the three teams they swept in the Regionals made it to Stage 2. Still, where many teams blundered, they stood strong, and can get some confidence going into this week.
#1 - Spacestation Gaming (+0) - Sypical, Arsenal, Retals
Have Spacestation Gaming lost their stellar form? It’s difficult to say. They clearly didn’t reign supreme over NA last week like we’re used to seeing. SSG showed they’re human too, and can fall to a rising KCP. They haven’t lost their status as final boss yet, though. To win in NA, you still need to get past Sypical and Co.
Image via ZeeboDesigns
