Storylines - RLCS X EU - Edition #9
The third European Regional of the RLCS X Fall Split finished on Sunday, with Renault Vitality finally taking a championship over a surging Endpoint side. With Week 9 of The Grid finishing up the weekly league, let's take a look at the storylines to look out for.
Can the Top Blokes recover from their early Regional exit?
Heading into championship Sunday of the third Regional, Top Blokes were in fine form. Having gone 3-0 in both of the swiss stages and on arguably the weaker side of the bracket, the FlamE, Kassio, and archie looked poised to mount another deep bracket run. However, Endpoint's surprising run on Sunday began with Top Blokes, who they dismantled in a four-game series. With one more chance to prove themselves ahead of the Fall Major, this week of The Grid is a vital one for the former Veloce side to get back to the top and secure a high seed.
First up is a Galaxy Racer (former Monkeys) side who, since first forming as a roster back in June, Top Blokes are currently 2-3 against in series'. It should also be noted that following arju's promotion to the starting roster ahead of Tahz, the two sides have met only once. It was two weeks ago, and Monkeys took the series 4-1 to secure their first grand final appearance in The Grid.
Is Tox the key player for Vodafone Giants?
In Stage One of last week's Regional, everything seemed to be going as planned for the Vodafone Giants. About to beat GameUp, they were about to go 2-0 in the Swiss bracket. Unfortunately for the Spanish side, Tox was then handed a 72-hour ban from Rocket League and the team promptly slumped to a 2-3 record, being knocked out before reaching Stage Two for the first time this season. It was a fate familiar to a handful of RLCS sides, but none had collapsed in such a spectacular fashion as the Giants did.
Well, now Tox is back in action, and the Giants are back at full strength. An opening series against Grid debutants Fadeaway should serve to be a good opportunity for the trio to become match-fit once again. Was their Regional slip-up just a blip or will it turn into a spell of poor form?
Click to enlargeCan Fadeaway impress on their Grid debut?
Thanks to winning an off-stream qualifying match last week, Fadeaway have commandeered Chalked’s spot in the final week of The Grid. Whilst they’re unable to secure a spot in the Winter Split’s Grid, Tigreee, Oscillon, and Freakii have secured themselves a high seed in the Promotion Tournament and have a good chance to take on some of Europe’s top sides.
First, up for them is Vodafone Giants. Certainly not the easiest of starts, and with Galaxy Racer and Top Blokes on the other side of the group, the German/Dutch side will definitely have their work cut out for themselves if they want to reach the playoffs.
Well, there you have it. With just one event to go before the Fall Major, the final week of The Grid is certainly going to be an exciting one. We’ll be back ahead of the Fall Major but, in the meantime, stay tuned to GGRecon for more RLCS X content.
Images via ZeeboDesigns
