Rocket League’s most expansive non-RLCS series continues with the DreamHack Pro Circuit: Dallas beginning Friday at 1 P.M. EST. This weekend’s pool is very competitive with 13 RLCS teams, four RLRS teams and OCE giants Renegades and ICON Esports all in attendance.
Dignitas look to defend their DreamHack crown after winning the LAN in Leipzig in February. NRG Esports, Spacestation Gaming, Team SoloMid and FC Barcelona qualified via the closed qualifier. G2 Esports, Cloud9, PSG Esports and Renault Vitality were invited to the event after successful RLCS Season 7 campaigns. The other 24 slots for the event were filled by open signups.
DreamHack Dallas will implement the same format used in Leipzig with four teams advancing from four groups of double elimination tournaments. The 16 teams that advance to Day 2 will sort into two groups of eight for a double elimination tournament that will determine the final eight participants in a single elimination tournament on Day 3.
Renault Vitality and Spacestation Headline Group A
Group A hosts an impressive collection of four Season 7 RLCS squads (Vitality, Spacestation, TSM, mousesports) and RLRS contenders, Method. Clappage, beepboop and y0 fill out the rest of the group. Clappage features YouTube personality and former Allegiance coach Virge as well as solo duel star King Ranny. Birds and the Beez player Raul “Roll Dizz” Diaz leads an upset hungry y0 squad. Beepboop is the lowest overall seed in the tournament, and will have their hands full in Group A.
Vitality, Spacestation and TSM are the favorites to advance here. The fourth spot is up in the air, and one off LANs always have upset potential. Mouz are playing with The Bricks player Jack “Speed” Packwood-Clarke in place of Alex “Alex161” Ernst who couldn’t make the trip. Mouz, Method and y0 will likely battle it out for the final spot in the group.
Vitality finished as runners-up in Leipzig and are among the favorites for this weekend’s play. TSM didn’t make it to Day 2 in February, but played well in qualifiers and face a slightly weaker group this time. Spacestation have a good chance at top eight after they just missed out on Day 3 in Leipzig.
NRG and Renegades Face Potential Group of Death in Group B
Four RLCS teams and OCE Regional Champions Renegades all find themselves in Group B. NRG and Dignitas reached the semi-final in Leipzig, but, barring and NRG loss, likely won’t face each other on Day 1. Splyce and Evil Geniuses face off in the first round just one week after Splyce eliminated EG from the RLCS in the Promotion Playoffs. The future of both squads is uncertain, and this weekend may be the last time fans see these two rosters together.
There are five RLCS quality teams in the group, and only four teams advance. NRG have dominated every team they’ve faced in NA this season, and are the co-favorites in Dallas with Vitality. Whoever wins the Splyce/EG match up should have an easier path through the loser’s bracket assuming they lose to NRG in the Winners’ Finals as the rest of the group (Uncharted, 303 Esports, SMISS) are inexperienced against RLCS competition.
Assuming Dignitas and Renegades win in the first round, they’ll battle in a likely epic semi-final. The loser will then face (again, assuming the RLCS teams perform well) either Splyce or EG with a Day 2 spot on the line. Group B is perhaps the most competitive group at the event.
Barcelona, G2 and Recent Promoters Battle in Group C
If Group B is the most competitive group, then Group C is the most compelling. Barcelona and G2 are heading to the World Championship in New Jersey this June and are the favorites to qualify for Day 2, but it won’t be an easy road. Promotion Playoffs champions Complexity Gaming and The Peeps are playing their best Rocket League. NA Renegade Cup champions Afterthought (Ty “TyNotTyler” Helewa) and Upper 90 Esports (Chris “Dappur” Mendoza) feature former RLCS players.
U90 is also bringing one of the most exciting prospects in the game in Jason “Firstkiller” Corral. Firstkiller is one of the most mechanically impressive players in the game, but hasn’t played in the RLRS/RLCS because he hasn’t reached the 15 year-old age baseline. How will Firstkiller play on the big stage?
Monkey Business and Advance Gaming fill out the rest of the group. FC Barcelona, G2, The Peeps and Complexity are the favorites to advance, but if there’s a Team Echo Zulu-like Cinderella squad in this tournament then it could come in the form of Upper90 or Afterthought.
Cloud9, PSG Favorites in Soft Group D
Group D features three RLCS squads, former World Championship qualifiers ICON Esports from OCE and RGB Esports from the NA RLRS, but doesn’t pack the same punch as the other three groups. Handsome Beavers and Nitrox Esports have never played at such a high level and are long shots to advance. Rogue qualified for Worlds but didn’t make Day 2 in Leipzig and struggled in League Play.
RBG finished mid-table in the RLRS for the second straight season. They are bringing on former NRG player Jacob “Jacob” McDowell. ICON missed the World Championships after they lost in the OCE Regional Championship, but should have a solid chance at advancing.
Cloud9 and PSG should advance comfortably. ICON and Rogue are probably the favorites to advance from the lower bracket, but RBG could knock one of them off. The last team in the group is a bit of a wildcard. Former RLCS players Ronin “PrimeThunder” D’Auria and Sebastian “Sea-Bass” Becerra teamed up with Soulflarz to form Pink Hair Fan Club, and the team has upset potential. They’ll compete for the last spot with RBG and ICON, and anything can happen in one five game series.
The action begins Friday at 1 P.M. EST on twitch.tv/dreamhackrocketleague. Full schedules are available here. Full bracket and team information can be found on Liquipedia.
Featured image courtesy of Rocket League Esports.
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