SEMC Wild Card: Did They get it Right?

Rogue vs Tribe

Going into the last weekend of autumn season, I was a little worried about how the final spots were going to be filled. We had Rogue with a chance to win out and secure a worlds spot by finishing first. They unfortunately drop to Cloud9 and are not given that chance. Tribe was another team that if everything worked out in their favor, they would win out and secure their rightful spot in worlds. TSM was the difference maker in these situations. TSM was obviously the team that ended up beating Tribe and blocking that first place spot from them. TSM as well were in search for that first place spot in order to make sure they were 100% going to worlds. In my opinion, if they did lose that first place spot to a team like Tribe or Rogue, SEMC would still send them to worlds. If they thought they got some flak from people for not sending Rogue, I can only imagine what fans would do without TSM. So let’s take a look at my “Endless Opinions” along with other respectable people within the community.

So first of all, congratulations to Tribe gaming for securing the wild card spot. I know they have worked hard throughout the year no matter what organization they were technically playing under. Rogue has been a team that has not necessarily received the respect they deserve in the competitive scene. I think this past autumn has really shown people that they have grown greatly and deserve some respect.

But when picking for the last wild card spot, it was not completely made clear to all people that this decision was going to be based on how the teams performed ALL year long.

Going all the way back to spring, we see Tribe (then immortals) placing fifth and sixth in the VG8, which qualified for spring unified live finals. They went on to struggle in London with a rocky roster. SuiJeneris, who was technically their coach, had to sub in and play. This resulted in the very first NA team losing to an EU team. Personally I think this should of disqualified them from the rest of VG8 forever….kappa. Not really, but they did make it to London unlike Rogue. In spring, Rogue finished 6th and 8th during the splits forcing them into the challenge battles. They did drop out of VG8 during this time and would have to battle their way back in through the VIS league. One thing that is interesting, is that Tribe as well had dropped out of VG8 for summer split one and had to fight their way back in through VIS. They finished first, and reclaimed their spot along with Rogue for summer split two. Here is where the big difference begins. Tribe made some big moves in the second spilt of summer finishing fourth in that split. This allowed them to qualify for the second unified finals this year. Rogue still had not qualified for any yet. In LA for the summer finals, Tribe was able to take down TSM and finish second behind back to back champs Cloud9. Now, while I wish I remembered all of this off the top of my head butttttt I didn’t. Thanks to my favorite Dev, I was able to quickly look at a table of this information.

So going into autumn, Rogue was going to have to play a lot of great Vainglory in order to qualify for worlds. Since there was not a unified live finals in autumn, whoever placed first overall throughout the splits would qualify for worlds. Rogue had a great season and was truly looking like one of the best teams in Vainglory. They were setting the meta, playing a lot of exciting matches, and most of all winning. Tribe, on the other hand, did not look like the “TSM slayers” that they were labeled as from summer. Rogue was actually sitting in first place periodically, but they could not hold that spot. Like PlayoffBeard said, “Rogue peaked (a) little too late in 2017”, so Tribe was awarded the last spot.

I really love Rogue as a team. I think they are a great organization overall and I was really rooting for them. They were one of the teams playing that I looked forward to watching each weekend. I do truly believe that they would of had a great chance in worlds as well. So my heart did sink a little when I did not hear their name called. There biggest down fall is their lack of experience on stage. They have the few times in the gauntlet tournaments, but those do not come close to the pressure in a live finals. When we look at Tribe, they absolutely thrive on the live stage. They become different players. They can literally achieve anything behind DNzio’s live buff. So as much as I think Rogue worked so hard to get to where they are now, I cannot be upset with the decision for Tribe going to Singapore over Rogue.

Did SEMC get it right? Based off of the whole year and on paper they did. One way SEMC could of just completely avoided all of this drama was by awarding the team who ever got second in summer behind Cloud9 a worlds spot. Since Cloud9 had already qualified, instead of running wild cards, maybe just pick the second place winner. Which, of course was Tribe’s roster anyways so I guess it all works out in the end!

We can look at Tribe’s group in worlds and speculate how Rogue may finish if they were there instead. I have Tribe finishing second behind current Vainglory World’s Champions Rox Armada, which I wrote about in my last write up. I cannot foresee Rogue doing any better in this group since it is a pretty difficult group. I do not want to see people saying things like “oh we should of had Rogue” if Tribe does not win groups. Now if Tribe does not get out of groups? Then fine, maybe give SEMC some crap but I do not see that playing out.

One thing that would be awesome is just one more group at worlds. JUST ONE MORE. Look, the fans would not mind SEMC, I promise. It is literally meant to be! There are three great teams in my opinion that missed their chance at worlds. Who would that group be? Rogue from NA, SK Gaming from EU, and Renegades from SEA. These are all really strong teams, in which I would actually be interested in seeing these teams go head to head. So out of everything I have typed up in this write up, this is the most important. LET GROUP E IN!!!! This group would probably end up with Rogue taking first and SK Gaming finishing second. I wouldn’t actually be surprised if Renegades would take second. But all speculation that does not actually matter.

I hope you enjoyed my second edition “Endless Opinions”. I have a really fun time just sitting down for a few hours and just typing until I run out of things to type. As always, if you would like more discussion in audio form, you can follow our podcast on soundcloud and keep up with us on twitter.

-Endless, Time For Rolling