The Rocket League Championship Series Kicks off its third week on Saturday. The North American Region begins play at 3 p.m. EST and the European region begins play at 11:30 a.m. EST.
The season will pass its halfway point and the races for top two will become abundantly clear once plays wraps on Sunday. It’s also the first week of the season with six series instead of five for NA and EU.
NRG Esports begin the NA action with a test against Spacestation Gaming. NRG are 2-0 and a win against SSG would place them comfortably in the top two. A win for Spacestation against one of NA’s big three would give them a great chance at qualifying for LAN after they swept Evil Geniuses last week.
Splyce take on Rogue in a match dripping with relegation consequences. This series could determine who finishes bottom. The loser of this series will pick up their third loss and the winner will keep their postseason dreams alive.
Cloud9 face Evil Geniuses in the third series of the day. The defending champs have lived up to expectations thus far and could move to 3-0 on the season with a win. With the competition for the fourth playoff spot heating up, EG need to at least take a couple of games off C9 if they can’t beat them.
G2 battle Ghost Gaming in the fourth match of the day. Ghost sits at 0-3, but have faced two of the big three already and will complete the trio on Saturday. An 0-4 start doesn’t doom Ghost, but it is a pretty deep hole to dig out of.
Cloud9 play Rogue in the second match of the day for both teams. Rogue may have momentum after playing Splyce earlier on the day. Nicholas “Wonder” Blackerby will need to play his best game for Rogue to have a chance against the world champions.
NRG finish the day with their series against EG. This week’s match of the day highlights two teams that have a history. EG walloped NRG 3-1 in Week 3 of Season 6, but NRG is a different team now. Can they keep pace with G2 and C9 or will EG stake their claim for the last playoff spot with a win against an NA giant?
Triple Trouble kick off the EU action with a series against PSG Esports. PSG are coming off a massive sweep of Dignitas and face The Bricks later on Sunday. Could this be a trap game for PSG? TT have struggled early on and need every victory they can get to fend off relegation.
The Bricks challenge Renault Vitality in the second match of the day. Vitality have looked dominant to begin the season after adding Alexandre “Kaydop” Courant in the offseason. A win against The Bricks would virtually punch their ticket to the playoff LAN in New Jersey as they’d move to 4-0 and no other team has won more than two games in EU.
Image Courtesy of lol.gamepedia.com
Team SoloMid continue the weekend’s action with a match against FC Barcelona. TSM have started the season strong with wins against mousesports and Triple Trouble. They’ve yet to really been tested however, and Barca are coming off 0-3 trouncing by Vitality. Barcelona have something to prove in this game. TSM’s defense better be sharp.
Dignitas will attempt to turn their season around against mousesports in the fourth series. Much has been made of Dignitas’ struggle, but Mouz present a good chance to turn things around. Mouz have outperformed most expectations and could inch closer to a LAN bid with a win against Dig.
The Bricks confront their playoff dreams against PSG in the penultimate series of the day. Assuming The Bricks lose to Vitality, they’ll be 1-2 and a loss to PSG could put them in a pinch. This may be foreshadowing for a three vs. six matchup in the Regional Championships.
TSM close the EU action with a series against Vitality. These are the top two teams in Europe right now and the winner will announce themselves as the king of the region. Vitality’s offense is on a historic run, but TSM have one of the most organized defenses in Rocket League. This series has huge implications for the playoffs.
INTZ eSports and Erodium continue to lead South American Rocket League and sit undefeated at the top of the table. Lowkey Esports pulled off an impressive sweep of Lotus last week and the teams sit in third and fourth respectively.
The Lowkey/Lotus matchup is the only cross of the South American giants thus far, and they won’t face each other on Sunday either. INTZ vs. Orchid and Lowkey vs. Fantasy Death highlight the day’s matches in SAM.
The Grand Series will be broadcast on twitch.tv/rocketstreetlive beginning at 8 p.m. EST on Sunday.
Over in OCE, ICON Esports look to continue their winning ways against EDGE. Chiefs Esports Club will look to move to 2-0 against a strong 1NE eSports squad that could challenge for top two. Justice Esports are also undefeated on the season and face EmproX on Saturday. All matches will be streamed on twitch.tv/gfinityau beginning Saturday at 8 p.m. EST.
NA play kicks off on twitch.tv/rocketleague with the preshow beginning at 2:30 p.m. EST on Saturday. EU’s preshow will begin at 11:30 EST on Sunday on the same channel.
Featured image courtesy of DreamHack.
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