With the Winter Major in San Diego taking place next month, qualified teams across the world will be working harder than ever in the hopes of denying Gen.G their back to back LAN wins. Teams from every region are getting stronger as each online split passes, and it is setting up to be the most intense Major to date.
Source: Twitter / @RLEsports
Let’s take a look at our RLCS 22-23 Winter Major Power Rankings to see how the competition stacks up:
Karmine Corp
FaZe Clan
Gen.G Mobil1 Racing
Team Liquid
Oxygen Esports
G2 Esports
Complexity Gaming
Team Vitality
Team Secret
G1
Team Falcons
Dignitas
KRÜ Esports
Ground Zero Gaming
Pioneers
Gaimin Gladiators
RLCS 22-23 Winter Major Favorites
The top seed and the favourite going into the major is of course going to be Karmine Corp after their dominance over Europe again during this split. They comfortably made it to every Grand Final ( six regional finals in a row), winning two of them. The pressure of performing well in front of the blue wall affected them massively in Rotterdam, ending with a disappointing Top 8. With this event taking place in NA, having the crowd against them may help them settle in and feel less pressure.
After winning the last two North American Regionals, FaZe Clan are looking the strongest they have ever been coming into this event. After being knocked out by Gen.G in the semi finals at Rotterdam, FaZe are unbeaten against them this split and have looked by far the strongest in NA. Could this be the time for FaZe to break the 4th place curse? They got one of the best Rocket League players on their roster, so I certainly think so.
After winning the first regional, Major Champions Gen.G have been on a relative decline this split, finishing the final regional with their worst placing ever: a top 8. As previously mentioned, FaZe have had their number this split, and Gen.G will need to improve before the major if they want to go back to back, but they are still one of the favorites.
Finally, TeamLiquid are looking very strong going into this event after winning the last European Regional by taking down the mighty Karmine Corp. As the team who were the closest to taking down Gen.G in the playoffs in Rotterdam (and arguably should have won that series after going 3-1 up), the young trio will be full of confidence that they can win this event, and they certainly have the talent to do so.
Source: Twitter / @RLEsports
Dark Horses and “ones to watch”
After their very successful RLCS 21-22, it feels weird to call G2 Esports a dark horse, however they simply haven’t been performing well recently. The Winter Invitational was their first Grand Final this season, as they have been often struggling in the semi finals. However we saw what they can do in front of a North American crowd last season, winning the Winter Major and a second place at Worlds, and I think now is a better time than any for G2 to rise back to the top.
One team that I am excited to see play on an international stage is G1. The Spanish trio have been placed in a group with both FaZe and G2, and it will be very interesting to see how their extremely chaotic playstyle will match up against these titans of North America. Whilst I don’t see them winning the event due to their lack of consistency, I definitely see potential for them to cause some upsets.
There is plenty of opponents who are not ready for the Spanish bim bam and goal explosions. It will also be great to see the return of MaRc_By_8 after spending the end of last season stuck on the bench of Team BDS.
We haven’t seen Complexity play on LAN in over a year since the RLCS 21-22 Fall Major, and it will be the first time with their new addition of Cristian “crr” Fernandez. North American players have all been saying that they are one of the best teams in the region despite not getting the results to prove it over Fall. This split however has been much more successful for them, and going in as NA’s 3rd seed puts them in a perfect position to make a run.
I would also like to highlight both Ground Zero and KRÜ as ones to watch. They have both had very successful splits and caused upsets in their respective regions. Whilst I also don’t think either will be able to win the whole event, I definitely see potential for them to cause more upsets against top teams, so keep an eye out for that potential chaos.
With the lineup of teams who will be competing at this event, it feels as though almost anyone could make the run and win the event. With $310,000 on the line, you won’t want to miss any of the action in San Diego.
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