Storylines - RLCS X EU - Edition #4
The European Rocket League scene has a jam-packed fortnight ahead. Tonight, the fourth iteration of The Grid will be played out, where several teams will be looking to make reparations for failures last week, notably Top Blokes and Dignitas. Over the course of the weekend, Regional 2 Stage 1 will separate the mighty from the minnows. Between then and Stage 2, we will have had the fifth instalment of The Grid (once again on Thursday night) where the teams challenging for the automatic qualification first spot will start to emerge. To top it all off, next Sunday, the victor of Regional 2 will be crowned.
Let’s bring the focus back to tonight, though - this is a pivotal week for several teams, and for many different reasons.
Vodafone Giants
Placement (and last week’s prediction): Second (first)
Prediction: Second
It seems that I have been cursing Renault Vitality all along. The Grid Week 3 was the first event for which I did not predict a first-place finish for the Frenchmen, and then they beat my favourites to win - the Giants. Despite this, they still hold a 40 point overall advantage over the rest of the pack, meaning that they are the only team that can secure a Winter split Grid spot this week. For reference, the upper bound I found for points required to achieve this is 701 - Giants will guarantee themselves 702 points by the end of the split with a win. I, however, think that another overall victory for the Spaniards is not as likely as I suggested last week.
Renault Vitality
Placement: First (second)
Prediction: First
Now inevitably this is going to backfire, but if Renault Vitality can win The Grid once, they can do it again this week. But I hope this time they don’t strain my heart quite so much - Vitality reverse swept both Team Liquid and Libertas to stay in the event. You could argue that Vitality don’t have as much on the line as the Giants now they’ve won an event, but another win will promote them to first place in The Grid rankings, a title that will look very nice next to their 1091 ELO in The Field.
Click to enlargeTriple Trouble and Oxygen Esports are the two teams I expect to round out the top four, should seeding allow it. The two teams have 361 and 310 points respectively, with a comfortable 120 point margin over Endpoint, the fifth-placed team. Triple Trouble has used the unorthodox marketing strategy of not streaming their playoffs matches in weeks one and three. However, those are the weeks where they have performed best. Taking the pressure off themselves in this way might be helping the orgless side.
Team Liquid, Team BDS, and Endpoint should make playoffs this week, even though BDS was the only team of the three to do so in Week 3. Note that Team Liquid and Endpoint were eliminated by Renault Vitality and Triple Trouble respectively in game five matches.
FC Barcelona
Placement: Tied third (tied thirteenth)
Prediction: Tied fifth
Itachi, Deevo, and Ronaky have finally clicked after four RLCS X events, and I can’t see them dropping off for at least a few weeks. They reached the semifinals last week, jumping them from dead last to tied ninth in The Grid rankings, and I think they can at least produce a similar performance this time around.
- Read More - All The RLCS X Rosters
Let’s remember that no team can be mathematically eliminated for at least a few weeks yet. Even if Chalked fails to win a series in five of the remaining six weeks, a win can still secure them a Winter split Grid spot in some cases. I’m not getting my hopes up though, and the same goes for Dignitas, Monkeys, and Top Blokes - I expect none of them to win a series.
Libertas
Placement: Tied fifth (tied thirteenth)
Prediction: Tied ninth
Way, way back before Regional 1, I made the outrageous claim that Libertas was the best of the three top Dutch teams. This was not the way I expected them to fulfil that expectation, but with Monkeys and Dignitas at the bottom of the table and Libertas taking at least one series each week, you can’t say they aren’t the best Dutch team. I don’t expect Libertas to achieve a top-eight again this week, but they are on the cusp of being a playoffs team in my mind.
Team Singularity, Guild Esports, and Solary are the other teams I expect to place between ninth and twelfth. For the first two, this is true to form, but Solary has been see-sawing between disappointing and impressive placements, which seems to be a trend for French teams.
Make sure to tune in to your favourite team’s Twitch channel on Friday night and keep following GGRecon for more Rocket League esports news, features and interviews!
Images via DreamHack