The Return: NA

VPL is here.

Image taken from vainglorygame.com

120. Saturday will mark around 120 days since we last had official Vainglory competition. That is around 172,800 minutes since we last saw the top players competing to be the top team. April 14th, 2018 is a fabulous day with the return of Vainglory and the start of the Vainglory Premiere League (VPL). It has been a bumpy road to get here. As a fan and content creator, it has been rough sitting back watching orgs take a step away from Vainglory while SEMC has been reworking the esports scene. We have received the official news surrounding the upcoming VPL and which teams we will see on the Rise. While it looks different than it did at the end of 2017, I think it will shape up to be just as exciting. My hope was to do a preseason ranking with eight “judges” within the scene to rank the teams before we see the first competition. Unfortunately, it will be to much to coordinate in such a short time. I will hope to get everyone together before the official start of the VPL season in June.

So who do we have heading into the preseason? Before we received the official announcement, TSM FINALLY released that they were staying in Vainglory and making the Child’s Play team officially TSM.

The squad coming out of TSM(1) is going to be really interesting to watch. From early on, they seemed to have formed some really great synergy. Chuck and Hami have a lot of experience and will need to have strong leadership heading into this season. CozZ is looking like a mad scientist who will for sure cook up some interesting things throughout season one. TSM staying is really great news and I am happy SEMC and TSM could continue their relationship.

We will see another seven teams competing in the VPL along side TSM. Tribe (2) is the other major team that will be competing for that top spot. This announcement came a long time ago and there are a lot of people who have them as early favorites. Let us take a look at the other 6 teams.

3. Vision Gaming

Vision is a team coming off of a really strong showing in challengers and other tournaments like the NACL. They secured a spot in the VG8 at the end of Autumn. Old members CozZ and ShadedTalent are no longer with the team, so 2018 Vision will be a completely different team. Returning member PvPWarrior will have to lead the charge along with notable names like LightningT.

4. Hammers

Hammers Esports is another team from the VG8 that continuously competed at the top level around star laner StartingAllOver. With SAOs departure from the team, they will have some big shoes to fill. With a mixture of subs from the old Hammers and strong players in previous challengers, Hammers may struggle at first. They will need to look towards Starboi himself to lead the team in the 2018 season. Fans will have to be patient with this squad early on.

5. Nova

Nova was a team that was hovering around the 5th/6th position during the autumn season. They started competing well together with TruthofLight being a big play maker for the team. Eeko and Starboi would rotate the captain position with LoneDelphi being a consistent jungler. Now the team has added a few interesting members to try and compete with the top teams. StartingAllOver coming from Hammers is a big move for Nova. Truth and SOA were already the two big play makers during the VG8 that stole a lot of the highlights. Having these two on the same team will make for some entertaining matches. Synergy will be crucial coming out of this young team. Coach LeftSpectrs, has a fun job ahead of him going into VPL. Hopefully the team can realize that they are a team and not focus on getting the spotlight. You know what they say, there’s no “i” in teiam.

6. Rogue

Arguably the most exciting team to watch at the end of 2017, Rogue was a team that many people wished to see at worlds. Falling just short of that goal, they are back for the 2018 season on a mission. The team is shaping up a little different compared to who they were in 2017. Rogue was the one organization that made zero noise during the off season. Seeing the official roster shape up close to what is was before is good news. We did see Hami leave the team to pursue an opportunity at playing for TSM. We will have to watch down the line to see if eVoL and his squad can stand in his way. Speaking of the god roamer, eVoL is no longer in that role. He sent out a tweet a few weeks ago stating that he wouldn’t be streaming as much because he was transitioning to the mid lane. This is an extremely interesting move. We have seen other professional players have success switching roles, but only time will tell with eVoL. It seems that JFMAMJJASOND is now the support and let me tell you, you won’t become a legend with that type of name…oh well. Also, long time support staff and coach adreN is no longer with the team.

7. Slimy Salamanders

The first of our teams that are not represented by a major org, comes from a team that has a lot of well know names. Many of these players were retired Vainglory pros but are taking the opportunity to come back into the scene. CulltheMeek!?!?!? Unfortunately no, he is not on this squad. But names like IraqiZorro, Mische, and R3cKed are. This team is interesting because it has players who are well aware of the game. Are they still able to keep up with some of the young kids on the Rise? I’m not so sure. Time will tell, but this team definitely has time on their side.

8. Tilt Rehab

The last team on our list is a team that I think will finish far from last. Previously known as Misfits before they stepped away from the scene, Tilt Rehab has been putting in tons of work since Worlds 2017. The players have been in challengers fighting for their chance to play in the top league. Now is their chance and I think their time together will show on the Rise. Coming in with a lot of synergy and experience together, I think Tilt will do amazing. Players like Esmei and Maokaii can make big plays, which we have seen them do in the NACL.

This is my quick review of every team in NA. My future plan for the next few days on articles consists of reviewing EU quickly. That scene is shaping up to be rather interesting. I will do my preseason rankings of each team in NA. I will also do my write up of which player to watch for the eight NA teams. All I know is that the VPL is here and the action starts soon. Be ready.

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-Endless