After last week’s intense Swiss stage, only eight teams remain at the University Rocketeers Winter Tournament. All that is left between them and victory is a single elimination bracket, stacked with the top University teams in Europe battling it out for a share of €5,000 and a place at the CRL 2023 World Championship.
Casters predictions for Swiss Stage were pretty accurate
University Rocketeers – Storylines of the Swiss Stage
Lisbon were the surprise act in the Swiss stage. As a new roster in the university scene they were overlooked by many to be a top contender, but they proved that they are a team to watch out for with a flawless 3-0 record. Hamburg were the second team to progress to the playoffs with a 3-0 record, an expected result for the team that are currently being regarded by many as the best team in Europe after their two new pickups over summer.
Closely followed behind them with a 3-1 record were Berlin Phoenix, Dorans Boxfish and UEA Bluejays. Berlin were once regarded as the titans of Europe with Maik “Tigreee” Hoffmann leading the charge, however the departure of Niels “jamiroquint” Seebann over the Summer seems to have weakened this roster slightly. Both Dorans Boxfish and UEA have been challengers in past seasons, however roster improvements of their own over summer have brought these two teams up to the top.
The Swiss stage ended in a dramatic round 5, with all three series ending in extremely close game 5s that all could have gone either way. The three universities to advance were Keele, Amsterdam and Hannover, who took out Stuttgart, Aalborg and Roehampton respectively, however all six teams to make it to this final round could have deserved to make the top 8.
Germany has proved that they are still the dominant nation in the European Collegiate scene, with a total of three German University teams making it out of Swiss. This was decided in the round 5 series between Hannover and Roehampton, where Roehampton had the chance to put the UK on top but failed to do so. Tied with two teams each are the UK and Netherlands, with Portugal being the final nation to have a representative.
Uni Rocketeers Winter Playoffs Expectations
Now that the Swiss stage is over, we can look forward to the playoffs that will take place next weekend. The eight remaining teams will have to battle it out through a single elimination bracket for their share of €5,000 and a place at the CRL 2023 World Championship for the winners.
In a stacked bracket like this, there are no free wins for any team. One side of the bracket contains Hamburg, Keele and Berlin, three giants of Europe who qualified for CRL Worlds last year. We expect the new Hamburg roster to reach the final from this side, however Keele is a difficult first round matchup which they cannot afford to be complacent in. We also can’t count out Berlin, who despite being weakened slightly still have a top European professional on their team.
The other side of the bracket could see any of the four teams making it to the final. If Lisbon can recreate their magic performance from Swiss in which they beat both Hannover and Dorans Boxfish then they will have a strong chance, however all teams are looking evenly matched on paper and it will be an exciting battle for sure.
Opening Playoffs duels are as follows:
Hamburger Haie vs Keele Krakens
Berlin Phoenix vs UEA Bluejays
ISCTE-IUL vs Amsterdam Carball
Dr. Buhmann Akademie vs Dorans Boxfish
You can catch the action live this weekend starting Saturday over at UniRocketeers, and with many exciting matchups and so much on the line, you won’t want to miss it.
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