It is FINALLY time, after 2 LONG, painful years since Covid cancelled the RLCS Season 9 world
championships, we are FINALLY getting back to LAN. The lucky people who get to
host the show? The ESL Studio in Stockholm Sweden! Seeding has been completed
and the first round of games have been announced and since the games start this
evening, there’s no better time to be taking a look at some of the VERY FIRST
matchups of our Swiss Stage of the Fall Major. So without further adieu, we may
as well get straight into it.
2 long years have passed and we can
now finally get under way with the FALL Major, sponsored by Ford. Source: RL Esports Website First, I’ll put together a table of the teams involved in
the first round of games, who is playing who, their rosters and how they qualified
for the major;
Swiss Round 1
Game 1
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Ground Zero (OCE)
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EnVy (NA)
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Amphis
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Atomic
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Express
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Mist
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Torsos
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Turbopolsa
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Jimmah (Coach)
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#2 OCE Seed
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#4 NA Seed
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Game 2
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Dignitas (EU)
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Tokyo Verdy (APAC)
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ApparentlyJack
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Maru
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Joreuz
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reaLize
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Scrub Killa
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Tenhow
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#2 EU Seed
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APAC Qualifier
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Game 3
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Team BDS (EU)
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Complexity (NA)
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Extra
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ajg
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Marc_By_8.
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Reysbull
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M0nkey M00n
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Shad
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Kael (Coach)
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Agüesome (Coach)
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#2 EU Seed
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NA Tiebreaker
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Game 4
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NRG (NA)
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eRa Eternity (SAM)
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GarretG
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AztronomicK
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jstn.
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math
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SquishyMuffinz
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snipjz
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Musty (Sub)
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Michi (Coach)
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Sizz (Coach)
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#1 NA Seed
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#2 SAM Seed
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Game 5
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G2 (NA)
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Sandrock Gaming (MENA)
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Chicago
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Ahmad
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dreaz
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Senzo
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JKnaps
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trk511
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Satthew (Coach)
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mits (Coach)
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#2 NA Seed
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#1 MENA Seed
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Game 6
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Endpoint CeX (EU)
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Renegades (OCE)
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Metsanauris
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CJCJ
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RelatingWave
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Fever
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Seikoo
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Kamil
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Eclipse (Coach)
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LBP (Coach)
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#1 EU Seed
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#1 OCE Seed
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Game 7
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FaZe (NA)
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Vitality (EU)
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Allushin
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Alpha54
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AYYJAYY
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Fairy Peak!
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Firstkiller
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Kaydop
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Moopy (Coach)
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Mout (Coach)
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#3 NA Seed
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#5 EU Seed
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Game 8
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Semper (EU)
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FURIA (SAM)
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archie
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caaard
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Chausette45
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CaioTG1
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Kassio
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yanxnz
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billy (Coach)
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MateusSTL (Coach)
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#4 EU Seed
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#1 SAM Seed
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Right, so now we’ve got that sorted, it’s time to pick a few
big games and using my experienced head, I’ll be telling you where I think you
should be putting your money. Of course, if you are to get involved in gambling
on the RLCS Fall Major, be aware your capital is at risk, never bet above your
means and if the fun stops, stop. I’ll be taking a look at places like Bet365, Heritage Sportsbook and various other sites to
compare odds to give you the best chance and with a bit of luck we can turn a
profit together eh?
The first game I would like to take a look at is what I
believe will fully be a gimmie, the #2 seed from EU, Dignitas playing RLCS
newcomers from the APAC Region, Tokyo Verdy. As somebody who absolutely adores
Rocket League, isn’t very good at it, but watches ALL the Esports I can
physically consume. You’d better believe I watched as much of the APAC N/S Fall
splits as I could and look, please don’t take this the wrong way. I mean the
APAC region, no disrespect here.
Tokyo Verdy played some damn good Rocket League and they
absolutely smashed every team they came up against on their way to major
qualification, but the standard of Rocket League isn’t QUITE there yet, not
only that, but I fully believe that their lack of experience on the big stage
compared to some of the EU & NA teams is going to be a big factor. If Tokyo
Verdy takes ANYTHING from this game, it’ll be game one and only because they’ll
catch Dignitas off guard. Dignitas wins this series 3-0 or 3-1, there’s a
reason they’re HEAVY favourites for this game at 1/9 (Bet365). One thing I have
no doubt about however is that this LAN experience will help Tokyo Verdy grow
MASSIVELY and I look forward to seeing their development moving forward!
The next game that stands out for me is the #2 seed from NA,
G2 Esports Vs Sandrock Gaming, the sole participant from the MENA region, on
the surface, this is another game that looks pretty straight forward right? G2
SHOULD batter Sandrock Gaming, G2 are 1/4 (Paddy Power) favourites and like
with Dignitas, that’s with good reason. But why do I think this game may have
more than meets the eye? For anyone who has spent any amount of time watching
Rocket League Esports over the last few years, you’ll probably already know who
Sandrock Gaming are.
Sandrock Gaming are a team of, genuinely, some of THE BEST
1v1 players in the world, no cap, as the kids say. They have played teams from
EU and NA before, but only in show matches and have somewhat held their own, given the fact these showmatches have been
played ONLINE ONLY, meaning SRG would be playing with MASSIVE ping, we’re
talking 200ms plus ping. In a game that requires such precise uses of physics
like Rocket League, when you’re looking to play at the highest level, that ping
makes it impossible. On LAN however? At 11/4 (Bet365) it may be worth a punt on
SRG. *eyes emoji*
Complexity (Formerly True Neutral),
ajg, Reysbull and Shadd, getting ready to attend their first LAN as North
American representatives! Source: RL Esports Twitter
Last but not least, I’m going to talk about #3 EU Seed,
which is a huge surprise to many, Team BDS who will be playing the winner of
the NA Tiebreaker (Or #5 seed) Complexity Gaming. Team BDS absolutely DOMINATED
RLCS X for Europe, but with no LAN they never REALLY got to test their mettle
and this season they haven’t necessarily continued that scintillating form,
however they have still been a top tier team and are deservedly getting to
compete on LAN. Complexity?
Well, Complexity, formerly known as True Neutral, were the SOUTH AMERICAN
champions, who would’ve EASILY qualified for LAN as the #1 seed in SAM, they
dominated that region for a long time, but after discussing their options, they
moved from Argentina to Mexico so they could compete in the NA region, they
beat EVERYBODY outside of the top 5 teams this season so far showing they deserve
to be here. They finished the split tied on points with none other than
Spacestation Gaming, oh, were you wondering why they weren’t on this list? Yeah
Complexity beat them in a high pressure tie breaker to stop them going to LAN.
CRAZY. Team BDS are somewhat narrow favourites at 2/5 (Paddy Power) but with
Complexity sitting at 7/4 (Paddy Power)? This is a very close game to call. I
can’t look past BDS honestly but if Complexity pulled it out of the bag?
Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me… VAMOOOOOOOOSSSS!!!!
That’s going to do it for this one! Unfortunately we ran out
of time to talk about the rest of the games in round 1, but the beauty of it is
there are FIVE GAME ROUNDS in the Swiss stage alone! We have SO MUCH Rocket League to take in starting TODAY and
ending on Sunday with the grand final. My excitement has been building and I’ve
hit boiling point honestly! I wish nothing but the best of luck to all the
players, good luck to all of those who are having a punt on the major and as
always, gamble sensibly and take care!