Going into Phase 1 of the Major I decided to ask few of the talent from across the scene their thoughts going into the event.
Gibson
Thoughts on the groups?
Some teams are going to be much happier with the groups than others. I feel like SQ will be happy with their group. Northeption, Laveg and Reven will all feel they can take that 2nd spot. It’s the group I look forward to the most.
I feel like Group D will be the easiest to call with W7M and Wolves most likely to proceed
Group B is a tough one, SSG on paper to me are the strongest. NIP have been on a resurgence so I expect them to battle with 6K for 2nd spot. I think Elevate could surprise some people.
Which group is the group of death?
Group A , I didn’t speak about them above as to me this is the strongest group top to bottom. MNM are the best team here and SBX and Fury have international Experience. SBX dropped 3 maps the whole stage. Fury played the best R6 I’ve seen them play in a long time against Bleed. Falcons to me are the wildcard. IMO they are much much better than people think and I have them qualifying.
Which teams will make it out?
I feel like MNM/Falcons, SSG/NIP, SQ and Either LVG/Northeption, Wolves/W7M.
Is there a sleeper team that will overperform?
Lavega, they are really good at getting opening picks and in my opinion they seem to have worked out how to convert it into wins.
Most interesting narrative going into this stage?
How the newbies perform, I want to see how 6k, ELEV, LVG, Reven, Northeption, Varrel and Bliss do. A Major is like nothing else and I’m curious to how they deal with a LAN and the pressure of the competition.
Cookiez
Thoughts on the groups?
Thoughts? A LOT OF questions as to whether some of these games are even good enough to stay up to watch
Which teams will make it out?
Obvious ones from NA and EU + Falcons + W7M
Which group is the group of death?
– will Elevate get their visas on time?
– I feel like 6K is a common scrim partner for NA PL so I imagine they aren’t terribly afraid of SSG, or even NIP
Those two teams will be problematic if they show up
Is there a sleeper team that will overperform?
Falcons. Mena will prove better than APAC. That’s my sleeper team
Most interesting narrative going into this stage?
Narrative wise I can’t wait to vod review the games really. Especially the subregion vs main region matchups, and see who to put on fraud watch strategically or mechanically
Fellow
Thoughts on the groups?
It’ll be interesting to see how well certain teams will perform in Phase One that have 0 international experience (Reven, Northeption, 6K, Lavega, Varrel, and Bliss), most of them qualifying to phase 1 through an LCQ.
Which group is the group of death?
I’d say Group A, SandBox and Fury are very close in skill based on how well they did Stage 1, plus all 4 of these teams have international experience (Weakest might be Falcons, but they have a very small sample size to go off of compared to Sandbox, Fury, and MNM)
Which teams will make it out?
Group A: MNM + Fury/Falcons (These 2 will be fighting in the lower bracket for phase 2).
Group B: SSG + 6K
Group C: Soniqs + NorthEption
Group D: W7M + Wolves
Is there a sleeper team that will overperform?
Either 6K or NIP (Depending on who would qual out of the 2), Wolves, and NorthEption
Most interesting narrative going into this stage?
Reven Qualified through a Latin American Qualifier and have ZERO LATAM players
Jesse
Q1-3
Group A seems like a blessing for MENA fans. Falcons are both underdogs and have a lot of expectations thanks to G8 last year, and this is very a much a group they could make it out of. I think Sandbox have consistently been a weak team internationally and atm Korea is looking a bit behind on the meta. Fury I honestly have not watched much of but many were surprised they even qualified over Bleed. MNM should be an easy 1st place and then I’ll get a little wild and pick Falcons to get out in 2nd.
Group B is another blessing group for SSG/NiP fans. Both are rosters that have struggled a lot recently, SSG are a good team but man they had some serious problems in the NAL, and it’s been a hot while since we last saw NiP but they have been on a real downwards spiral recently. Thankfully the other 2 teams in this group look even worse. 6K may be the #1 seed, but IMO the Hispanic region is the worst in the world, and I don’t have confidence that they’ll be able to perform under pressure. Elevate are not a bad team but from the looks of it they won’t even make it with their full roster, so I can’t imagine they do much. SSG 1st, NiP 2nd.
Group C continues the classic battle of Soniqs vs APAC, and historically that’s not been a good fight for APAC… On top of the history, I think Soniqs are the strongest team in phase 1, they looked amazing during the LCQ, they should breeze to the top of this group. Then it’s Korea vs Japan for 2nd place, I believe Japan is the stronger region currently so I’ll take Northeption for 2nd place but really not sure how that one will go down. Reven aren’t worth considering.
Group D seems like the group of death. If MENA fans got lucky with these groups, it came at the expense of OCE. I was really excited for Bliss, as they dominated their regional league and it’s been forever since we’ve had an Australian team do well in Siege. Unfortunately they have to go up against 2 of the best teams from last year in W7M and Wolves, as well as Varrel who despite being pretty unknown to us in the west, have actually been playing for years in the Japanese scene and have consistently done pretty well. W7M and Wolves will be the favorites, but I think both teams have regressed from where they were at the end of last year, and I don’t think this will be an easy group for them. I’ll get a little crazy and sa W7M 1st, Varrel 2nd, Wolves 3rd, Bliss 4th.
Is there a sleeper team that will overperform?
I’m looking at all 3 teams from Japan and expecting them to smash expectations. We’re all used to associating Japan with CAG, but I’ve talked with some in the Japanese community, and in their minds these other squads like Scarz have been ahead of CAG for a long time, it’s just that they weren’t fully involved with the rest of the international scene as they didn’t play in APAC North. If I can only pick one, I’d say look out for Scarz, that Rec guy is insane.
Most interesting narrative going into this stage?
It’s the biggest major ever. MENA and the Hispanic regions are debuting teams for the first time ever. OCE threatens a new super team to rejuvenate their region. Japan is unleashing 3 brand new teams onto the international community. First impressions mean a lot, and we’ve got a ton of em for the first major of the year. I’m hoping this major sets the tone, and lets us know who the real contenders are going to be this year.