NA RLCS Winter Regional Event 1 Day 1 Recap

Even with a new format and some new teams, I don’t think anybody could have predicted the results we have seen today, as the winter split gets off to a flying start.

Group A

At least one thing remained consistent, and that’s NRG finishing on top of Group A, yet certainly not as easily as they would’ve hoped, as they had to come back from 2-1 deficits against both XSET and RBG. Speaking of XSET, their early Fall form is a thing well in the past, after a miserable day drops them into 4th in the group, with debutantes RBG solid in 3rd and Vibrance impressive in 2nd.

Group B

The group we thought would be the closest did not disappoint. Round 1 alone was an absolute treat, with Shopify Rebellion producing a shocking reverse sweep against G2, and Ghost outlasted V1. After the dust had settled following rounds 2 and 3, we had not one, but two tiebreakers on our hands. V1 and Shopify Rebellion, the two lower ranked Fall teams, would fight for winners bracket, where V1’s new fire power would prove too much, whilst G2 finally got things under control to produce another 3-1 win over Ghost.

Group C

The group of death went exactly as predicted. FaZe dominated the group, Daniel and Aqua both looked very strong on debut, and a poor Torrent was left wondering what sins they had to pay for after ending up in a group like this. 3 teams that are contenders for the major, and a very tightly contested group.

Group D

Apparently Group D isn’t as top heavy as we thought. Oxygen, with the addition of the highly experienced Gimmick, were absolutely ruthless, dethroning major contenders and Fall top 5 teams Envy and Complexity in emphatic fashion. Throughout the day, Envy looked like they were just missing the special touch that Atomic brought to the team, making it appear that they may indeed have lost the dreaz/Atomic trade. Still time to recover, but certainly not the start they would have desired.

Losers Bracket Round 1

After an action packed day, the first round results from playoffs were reasonably tame. Shopify Rebellion dominated the new kids on the block in RBG, SSG put on a defensive masterclass to concede 1 goal in 3 games to cruise past the Soniqs, G2 won a tight game where they still didn’t look quite settled against a gutsy Vibrance, and Complexity came back from the dead, thanks to some Shad solo plays, to take down Aqua’s Rogue.