Top Five Matches Of RLCS X: Winter Split (Week 4)
The playing field has been levelled, apparently. The dominant forces of both regions are seeing competitors rise to the occasion and really put on a show for the audience. Perhaps the most surprising turn of events was that neither Renault Vitality nor Team BDS even made an appearance in the Regional Grand Finals. There is a lot to dive into, so let's take a look at the top five matches of the week.
5) European Regional Winner's Round 2 - Giants Gaming versus TrainHard eSports
As always, the competition for this list is tough, but this one stuck out because of the insanely high proportion of shots and overtime in these games. Three games in a row went to overtime, with two of them almost passing five minutes. With their upper bracket lives on the line early in the tournament, Giant's Gaming forced a Game 5 after 4:48 minutes of overtime. That in itself is entertaining, but here is the killer. The Giants, scoring three goals in that game, had twenty-seven shots. Every game until Game 5 was within a single goal, but Giants proved their quality and took down TrainHard 2-0 in the final match. There are always insane matches involving teams like BDS and Vitality, but the Giants are consistently a threat as well. Meanwhile, teams like TrainHard continue to prove to the world that they aren't far behind the top teams in the region.
4) North America The Grid Finals - NRG versus Spacestation Gaming
Heading over to NA, NRG won their second straight Grid in Game 7 of the finals. Spacestation Gaming, after only winning one series in the Regional, bounced back to make a run to the finals and played a back and forth series. These teams have definitely been treating fans to some fantastic matches lately, and the fact that neither team can gain much ground on the other is only making the stakes even higher for their next matchup. This wasn't the most explosive, high scoring series, but it was impressive how the teams held each other in check. NRG and Spacestation were the only two elite teams in the region who looked comfortable this Grid, and it showed by their run to the finals. G2 Esports and Team Envy were among some of the teams upset very early in the first round of the playoffs.
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3) European Regional Lower Bracket Finals - Team BDS versus Team Queso
The rest of these matches will deservedly be focused on the final matches of Europe, as they were all not just close, but highly entertaining. First off, Team BDS was eliminated by Team Queso, with Queso coming off of a massive 4-0 sweep over the Giants. BDS are obviously still an incredible team and have one of the highest ceilings on the planet, but Team Queso showed up big this weekend. Earlier in the tournament, Queso had also swept Renault Vitality. BDS always provide an entertaining match, but Queso really forced themselves on the pitch and just outclassed BDS. One of the notable takeaways was that Queso was able to score five goals on BDS twice. Up until this match, BDS hadn't allowed five goals in a game through the entire tournament.
2) European Regional Upper Bracket Finals
Again, BDS like to feature in these articles apparently, but again, they fell just short. Top Blokes have become a fan favourite over recent months, and they know how to put on a performance. Every single game in this series alternated between winners, and Top Blokes would come out on top in a Game 7 overtime. With teams like Top Blokes continually competing with teams like BDS and Vitality, the European scene just continues to heat up. The two overtimes earlier in the series were rapid-fire, only totalling twenty-eight seconds of extra time. It was a pretty high scoring series, and that's tough to do against these two teams. Leading into this series, Top Blokes had effectively shut down Team Queso and Galaxy Racer, two of the other rising teams in the scene.
1) European Regional Grand Finals
Another Regional, another Game 7! As great as it was to see BDS dominate the European scene for several regionals in a row, it is always fascinating to have a new challenger rise up and take the throne. Top Blokes have taken a leap forward this split, and going forward; it is only fair to want to see more of these guys in action. It feels like just yesterday Jack "FlamE" Pearton, and Andy "Kassio" Landais were on Veloce with casters, fans, and analysts alike saying they were always underdogs and their playstyle wouldn't be enough for the big matches. Add in Archie "archie" Pickthall and this team looks to be a major threat moving forward.
Meanwhile, Team Queso has really burst onto the scene. After a mediocre Fall Split as Magnifico, the team transformed their identity. Team Queso picked them up and added Diego Isla "VK-Sailen" Serrano, and they've been on the rise since. They had a strong first Regional performance, and now this run to the Grand Finals included upsetting Vitality and BDS, as well as close matches against the champions, Top Blokes. Fans are in for a treat if teams like Top Blokes, Queso, and crew all continue to test the mettle of the top two teams from the Fall Split in BDS and Vitality.
Images via @RocketBaguette | @RLEsports