EU Regional Event 2 Day 1 Highlights: Chaos In Europe

Forget everything you once knew about European RLCS. With so many teams knocking on the door to make the major, make top 8s, and solidly themselves at the top, this 1st day of regional event 2 is one of the most chaotic we’ve ever witnessed.

Rising Williams Resolve Plummet Down To Earth, Luminosity Rise Above

Williams Resolve put themselves in a good position for the major after winning their group in the last event. And after being a goal away from top 3, losing in game 7 overtime to eventual champions Queso, Resolve have struggled ever since.

Today was a case of seriously lost momentum, as they were thrice shut out Luminosity, with Atomik’s astonishing defence getting the job done 3-1, and another poor offensive effort against the shock performers of the event, Guild.

Yet despite their early struggles, Resolve seemingly changed the flow of play against BDS, with saizen’s relentless offence too much for even the best defensive efforts from Monkey M00n, and sending Resolve to a tiebreaker.

But with playoffs and crucial points on the line, Luminosity rose above, sweeping Resolve thanks to a perfect, aggressive game 3 from Tox, and sending them through to playoffs, with the former top 6 rising stars sent home in a miserable 13th-16th, with dark horse major chances in tatters.

As for Luminosity, they wanted the chance to prove themselves against the best, and have now certainly proved their worth. In round 1 of lowers, they were faced with the task of overcoming fall split #1 ranked Endpoint, and despite RelatingWave’s best efforts in offence, eekso matched him throughout the series, including a game 4 hat trick, which when paired with Atomik’s perfect defence, secured Luminosity the 3-1 upset victory.

For Luminosity, they’ve made top 8 and put themselves in a position of consideration for being one of the best in EU, but will need to overcome Dignitas tomorrow to keep their chances firmly alive. As for Endpoint, it’s a thoroughly disappointing performance, and they now sit in a precarious position for LA qualification.

EG Find Ice In Their Veins

In regional event 1, EG struggled in the big moments. In fact, they were actually 0-3 in game 5 matches, losing out to Williams Resolve twice and Vitality once, sending them home in 9th-12th.

But in the second regional of the split, EG have completely flipped the script, going from hating champions field to seemingly loving it. In all 3 of their group stages matchups, against strong competition in Stormtroopers, Karmine Corp and Endpoint, EG were took to game 5, where it was ivn who consistently rose to the occasion, scoring in all 3 champions field matches to help guide EG to a upper bracket day 2.

With a very winnable matchup with Misfits, EG are truly playing for their major chances, and will need to continue their ice cold mentality if they’re to keep going on this run of good form.

Vitality Dismantled

Time and time again, the question is asked of Vitality and whether or not the veterans can keep going at the highest level. And, time and time again, they answer the question, but just barely.

Their results as of recently haven’t been great, but they’ve been passable. They scraped into the Stockholm major in 5th seed, where they were destroyed, but bounced back in the first event of the new split with solid wins granting a 5th-6th finish.

Now, unfortunately for veterans Kaydop and Fairy Peak!, serious questions will be asked about if they can continue to compete. After going down to the wire against Misfits, where Alpha’s shooting kept them in the series, Vitality were destroyed by both 00 Nation and Dignitas in two 0-3 sweeps, sending them home in 13th-16th.

The veterans today looked outpaced, outclassed, and completely overwhelmed, and with the team now a while back from major qualification, and slipping on overall points, there’s huge potential for a roster change in the upcoming trade period, as Vitality need a spark to reignite their fire.

The Return Of Guild In RLCS X, Guild was genuinely one of the best teams in Europe. They placed top 4 at both Winter and Spring majors, and 5th at the end of season championship. So naturally, expectations would be high regarding their performance in the new season, but thus far, it’s been nothing but a disappointment.

Guild failed to even qualify for the first 4 events of the season, with any chances of worlds and returning to the top quickly vanquished. But now that they’ve had their chance, we know that Guild can be a scarily good team. Put into Group A, with 3 other teams vying for major contention, Guild produced two magnificent wins, with crr’s incredible effort against Luminosity, where he scored all 6 of the team’s goals, granting a 3-0 sweep, whilst a defensive masterclass helped them to almost shut out Williams Resolve, with Noly’s clutch shooting guiding them to a 3-1 win.

Although two losses to BDS saw them through to the lower bracket, it was here that they impressed even more, sending Karmine Corp, a team held as the next potential French super team, home packing taking the win 3-1, with Deevo’s early series two way play and Noly’s game 4 finishing granting Guild a top 8 finish. They’ve got nothing to lose now, and a matchup tomorrow with 00 Nation presents a perfect opportunity to make top 6.

SMPR Sent Packing

Many thought that SMPR’s unfortunate regional 1 result, where they barely missed out on a tiebreaker and then fell in game 5 to Karmine Corp, would be the end of their worries. Wrong.

After another promising group stage, where they swept Kuxir’s Minions and NAVI, before being reverse swept by regional event 1 champions Queso, SMPR looked primed for a return to top 8, facing 00 Nation in round 1 of playoffs.

However, 00 Nation were certainly not looking to be an easy matchup, and instead of SMPR cruising, it was 00 Nation who made it look easy, with hibbs’ unbelievable efforts in defence combining with breezi’s pristine shooting to sweep the former major top 4 team.

SMPR’s back is now firmly placed against the wall. After the weekend, they’ll be more than 100 points out of major qualification, and with many teams in between them and the top 5, it seems inevitable that they won’t be flying over to LA.