The RLCS World Championship is brewing up a heated rivalry among its participants. There are plenty of candidates for the RLCS Worlds trophy this year. Highly-regarded Group Stage teams consist of an odd ball, Team Falcons from MENA region. As such, the power struggle at RLCS Worlds probably already failed many Pick’em predictions before it even begin.
Let’s go through our own RLCS World Championship Power Rankings and see where everybody fits in.
Its the Wild West in the Wild Cards at RLCS Worlds
Sixteen teams will participate in a swiss-system format, where all matches are best-of-five and only top eight qualify for Group Stage. We see many prominent namesakes in the Rocket League Esports, such as Spacestation Gaming and Dignitas, which are former champions. Yet, you would be surprised to note that these aren’t even your favorites.
RLCS Worlds Wild Card Match-up
RLCS World Championship Wild Card Favorites
We established Favorites as teams that the majority anticipate to win the competition. Hence, as far as former champions’ titles go, they have to be able to keep that reigning glory for long to be considered relevant.
Although not major champions, Version1 and Karmine Corp are capable teams after their runner-up finish at Spring Split Major. Version1, in particular, has often been consistent throughout past majors, but fell short to opponents that go on to become major champions. Karmine Corp also saw a significant improvement, managing to defeat the Winter Major Champs, G2.
Spacestation Gaming, on the other hand, has the title of a former champion. And their consistent performance is a testament to their strength heading into the RLCS Worlds. Team Falcons had a rough time crossing swords with SSG, as it took a complete set of seven matches before it concluded.
Hence, it’s not always a good depiction of strength when it comes to past major finishes, especially since all three teams performed phenomenally well, only to have Moist Esports gaslight them in their lower bracket run.
Wild Card Challengers
Challengers class is reserved for the consistent teams, staples if you will, in the RLCS (2021-22) season. Renegades and Pioneers have always been Oceania’s representatives, while the popular regions (North America/Europe) have OpTic Gaming, Dignitas, Team Secret, and SMPR Esports.
Their occasional victories are a treat when they deliver, but it would have been better if they kept that momentum. Unfortunately, much like the washed-up state of Dignitas and SMPR Esports, they are typically regarded as remnants of the past.
Wild Card Dark Horses
It’s certainly an unusual Wild Card group since there are so many underdogs aching to showcase their talents. The list includes MENA regional participants, such as 01 Esports, Veloce Esports, Orlando Pirates Exdee, and Bravado Gaming. Even so, we wouldn’t underestimate the potential of an underdog especially since Team Falcon became the region’s most achieved team.
The Dark Horses club also include Asian candidates, Tokyo Verdy Esports and Gaimin Gladiators, albeit TVE has somewhat of a prominent appearance throughout RLCS season. Lastly, The Club is one of the three South American offerings at RLCS Worlds.
Beware the surprise factor of minor regions in this year’s RLCS.
RLCS World Championship Group Stage Power Rankings
Eight Group Stage slots are already reserved for eight of the finest regional winners. Even so, the Group Stage raised quite the debacle, notably for how many slots NA and Europe regions received.
We just witnessed how Team Falcons and FURIA Esports become their regions’ best representatives in majors. Hence, the argument about the lack of talents in non-primary regions wouldn’t hold water in recent RLCS season. Meanwhile, General NRG, Endpoint CeX and BDS have been on a steady decline, as the latter placed last at Spring Split Major. NRG didn’t even make the cut for the major, but still secured enough points to be top dog on North America’s RLCS Rankings.
It all sets us up for a unique Group Stage in 2022, where everything goes. FURIA just won Gamers8, spicing teams up even further.
RLCS Worlds Group Stage Favorites
The Favorites title have to fall on Moist Esports as the winners of Spring Split Major and runner-up of the previous major. Formerly known as Team Queso, the roster took the competition by storm, and became Europe’s strongest candidate. As of the latest major, it’s safe to claim that Moist Esports made Europe as the most superior region over its longstanding rival, NA.
Falcon most definitely deserve a mention here as well, despite many haters calling the MENA team’s run a fluke. Regardless, they come into the RLCS World Championship as a favorite for setting the benchmark for powerhouses to surpass.
Lastly, G2 Esports is still among the most popular namesakes in RLCS, and they won the Winter Split Major. Sure, G2 looked blunt at the latest major, but still recent enough to give G2 a respected spot among favorites.
Challengers in Group Stage
Besides the eight teams qualifying from Wild Cards eventually, FaZe Clan, The General NRG and Team BDS are challengers in this realm. They are strong challengers at that, considering what they were capable of, during their prime.
Endpoint CeX, for what it’s worth, are still among qualified Group Stage teams at RLCS Worlds. Even so, many contenders can put Endpoint to shame, such as FURIA. They hail from the South American scene, the best one at that, so they can likely give the favorites a run for their money. One second thought, Endpoint CeX’s recent performance has been absurdly poor for a team that once rocked the top finishes in majors. They are underwhelming at best, and it wouldn’t do justice to other challengers’ potential to lump Endpoint among them.
In hindsight, the RLCS World Championship is building to become a dramatic journey for many parties. For one, many big players need to step up their matches if they want to stay relevant in the scene.
This is ironic, considering their crippling performance gave rise to strong candidates, who were never even in the scene until the last season. Anyhow, expect to add a new set of clips in best Rocket League goals in a few weeks. Check out our handy RLCS World Championship guide for all the details, or catch the games live on Rocket League’s official Twitch channel.
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