Will Noble Esports Overthrow South America's Titans?
As the Rocket League Championship Series' smaller regions resumed their Winter Splits this week, there were contrasting scenes across South America and Oceania. With upsets shaking up the SAM Circuit's latest Midweek Mayhem and a certain green side continuing their dominance down under, let's recap all the action.
South America - Noble make a return to the top
It's been a while since Noble Esports' last tournament win. Following a near-miss in Season 9's Regional Championship, a close win in the Spring Series last April preceded a Community Event win in September. Aside from that, it was a tough year for the former Lotus side. However, a big win in last night's Midweek Mayhem could be the change in fortune that the Brazillian side needed in order to return to the spot at the top of the region that they held for so long before the region's introduction to the RLCS. After sending the top-ranked side in the region, True Neutral, to the lower bracket in an almost-eight-minute game five overtime, they too would find themselves at death's door when they were taken down by Novus Aevi (the former Ellevens Esports trio) in the upper bracket final.
In the lower bracket, they would face True Neutral again. Despite the table-toppers going 2-0 up in the series, partially thanks to some outrageous goals including a 360 degree fake from Victor "Reysbull" Duran Parra. Undeterred, Noble fought back and reached the grand final with a reverse sweep. Even though they began the series a game down, Noble managed to take their revenge on Novus Aevi, winning another game five overtime to take home their first title of the Winter Split.
Oceania - Ground Zero keep on winning
It's starting to get rather familiar, isn't it? Ground Zero Gaming picked up yet another event win, taking home January's second RLO Masters event with a dominant display. They needed an intense reverse sweep (featuring a four-minute overtime in the fourth game) over Dire Wolves to reach the finals but, once they got there, Team Process were no match for Oceania's best team. A swift 4-0 sweep capped off an impressive showing from the team in green, and they'll be looking to carry their strong form over into this weekend's Regional play.
Speaking of, the opening group stage of the third Winter Regional took place last weekend, and it seemed the upsets knew where to conglomerate. Group C saw Hazard Esports and Vertex ESC, currently sitting 8th and 16th in the Oceanic standings respectively, being knocked out early. Other Top 16 teams to fall at the first hurdle were R!OT Gaming (13th) and Cowabunga (10th), with every other top side ending up with results that were pretty much to be expected. The Regional resumes on Saturday, with each side looking to secure their spot in what could be a crucial Winter Major when World Championship spots are brought into the picture.
That's it for this week; we'll be back a week from now with more South American and Oceanic recaps. Whilst you're waiting, don't forget to stay tuned to GGRecon for even more RLCS X content as all four regions head into the Winter Major.
Image via DreamHack