Quest for Worlds

Split Two Preview

Split two is here and I can honestly say I 100% have no idea what is going to happen. Yet, I’m going to give my opinion about what I would like to happen. With worlds being in December and the last few teams trying to secure a spot, there are a few big name teams who we need to see in Singapore. Obviously TSM is one of them. But why you ask? They have disappointed us at every live event this year you say? I hear you on that and I agree. TSM has never seen a ‘live buff’ actually impact them when appearing on stage. Time and time again they dominate through the splits and are fan favorites going into the big name tournaments but seem to fall short. If you follow other esports, then you know being a TSM fan in the League of Legends has caused a lot of disappointment. I do not think we can decide yet in the Vainglory scene which region is the most dominate. The game is really young and we have seen only one worlds with Phoenix Armada (Rox Armada) take that Championship. We did just recently get a taste of cross continental play at the Las Vegas Mobile Masters . TSM tossed NRG, Echo Fox, SK Gaming, and FNATIC to the side in order reach their main challenger Ace Gaming from Korea. This was a great match that you should rewatch.

Let me pause and discuss EU real fast. While I enjoy the occasional banter for NA>EU, there is not much to discuss. SK Gaming has been dominating in EU and is clearly the team we need representing that region at Worlds. FNATIC has been very inconsistent and some may say just plan bad. Teams like G2 and Dynasty may stand a better chance at worlds than the current FNATIC team. I hope they can get back on track for split two. Since we did just see some NA verse EU in Las Vegas, it is safe to say we probably won’t have to worry about EU having an impact at worlds. TSM handled them just fine in Las Vegas and seemed to prove further that EU still has some catching up to do with other regions. For EU’s defense, they have gotten a lot stronger and I hope that continues. Look to have SK at the top at the end of split two.

A region that many people seem to think is the most dominate in Vainglory is EA of course. Teams like Detonation Gaming, Ace Gaming, and Rox Armada are teams with a lot of talent. But if we look currently at the EA region, we see other teams showing off their skills. Just take a look at where we find our defending champions, Rox Armada. Granted, they have been having a few issues with having the full roster present, but still a surprising place for them.

They are currently sitting fifth going into week four, which is probably surprising for a lot people. We have already seen Armada, Ace Gaming, and Detonation Gaming secure spots in worlds. With GG Newtype playing so well, it seems like we may see another EA region team make it in to worlds.

Which brings me to my next question. Do we need more than 2 NA teams representing the region at worlds? The whole point of worlds is to have the absolute best teams from regions across the globe competing to find out who is king. Not just for the teams bragging rights, but for the regions bragging rights. In NA, we currently have Cloud9 at the top. This means nothing considering they have already secured their spot in worlds. So we look to that number two spot, TSM…..wait Rogue? Yes, Rogue.

Rogue is a team who has not gotten all the respect they probably deserve. They started out in Vainglory running the Gauntlet at the Lair, which showcased many of the new teams like Echo Fox and NRG. Those teams are not currently in the Vainglory8 but do hold a franchise spot. Rogue has been in and out of the main Vainglory8 league with them returning during the summer season. They did not qualify for the unified, which gave them sometime to get even more prepared for Autumn. The synergy has been building between PONtheoriginal, Hami, and eVoL. I think this team is a legit contender for NA. For three weeks in a row during split one, they took down another strong team Nova eSports, who is looking to get past that barrier this split.

So, here is my predictions for NA this split. With TSM coming off of 7 wins in a row at the Las Vegas Mobile Masters, I think they will retake the number one spot, if not at least second behind Cloud9. They defended their home turf in Vegas and beat teams from NA, EU, and EA. BestChuck and especially VONC have been playing high level Vainglory once again. So if TSM does secure the other worlds spot through the Autumn season victory, then which team deserves the wild card spot? I already mentioned the EA teams and they have some strong teams. One team I have not mentioned is Tribe. Tribe is a team that has players who historically always play out of their minds on stage. When you look up live buff in the dictionary, this photo appears.

DNzio

DNzio and his teammates became know as the TSM slayers as they rose all the way from challengers to find themselves in the finals of the Summer Unified Championship. They play well on stage, so why wouldn’t they be considered for the wild card spot. They have not being playing as well in split one, but they are still competing at a high level. Split two will also showcase 2.9.1 for the first time with a lot of teams needing to find out what is meta. We may see a team play particularly well on this patch. The other team that should be considered for the wild card spot and has the greatest potential at Worlds in my opinion is Rogue. They have a strong laner in Hami, a strong jungler in PON, and a god-like captain eVoL. They have a great team behind them with manager adreN. He has put a lot of work into this team so it would mean a lot for them to travel to worlds. They also have a great sub/coach, Sibs and what seems to be a drafting genius out of Brian ‘otter’. This team has all of the components it needs to become a dominating team in NA and have a good showing in Singapore at worlds.

So here is my final prediction coming into the last 4 weeks of Vainglory8