The first DreamHack Pro Circuit event of 2019 kicks off in Leipzig this weekend. The event features a $100,000 prize pool and $50,000 will be awarded to the winner.
A record 32 teams will compete in the event, making it the largest Rocket League LAN in history.
The 32 team field includes every Rocket League Championship Series team and most of the serious Rival Series contenders from EU. Many have described the event as the largest collection of Rocket League talent in the game’s four year history.
Given the location of the tournament, many local teams will be making their debut on the major stage. All German teams like Polaris eSports, Aequilibritas E-Sports and 1UP ESPORT will rub shoulders with the game’s finest players.
Image Courtesy of Psyonix
DreamHack Leipzig also allows for the opportunity to evaluate all of the roster movement that has gone on throughout the off-season. With Season 7 on the horizon many teams will relish the experience they’ll get while playing with each other at a high stakes event.
Renault Vitality will finally get to trot out Alexandre ‘Kaydop’ Courant in front of a live audience. Matthew ‘Drippay’ Den-Kaat will participate in his first LAN since leaving Chiefs Esports Club to join Evil Geniuses. The Mountain Cameron ‘Kronovi’ Bills will also make his debut with a new look Rogue side.
Triple Trouble, mousesports, compLexity Gaming, and Ghost Gaming will all be playing with new members at a LAN for the first time this weekend.
Day 1 features a group of outstanding semi-finals. Each of the four groups of eight features two mini groups of four that won’t match up on Day 1. Only two of these mini groups feature RLCS quality teams.
Cloud9 headlines Group A with Savage!, Rouge and WarKidZ rounding out the rest of the first group. Rogue and Savage! will be fun to watch. Kronovi has a lot to prove and Savage! has a lot of momentum coming off their win in the Renegade Cup.
Group B’s first group features NRG, Splyce, Tainted Minds and Hi5 Gaming. Tainted Minds and Splyce will be a splendid round one match and whoever advances to face NRG will give them a run for their money.
Image Courtesy of Psyonix
A lot of how the bracket shakes out will depend on Day 1. If things fall just right Dignitas could take on Renault Vitality on Day 2. Were there any hard feelings surrounding Kaydop’s departure? Will Dignitas play with a chip on their shoulder? Can the 1v1 gods of Vitality out muscle their EU rivals?
Many teams that kicked a player may have to face him again in Leipzig. TSM could run into compLexity, G2 could face Kronovi and Rogue and Flipsid3 Tactics could face Triple Trouble. Drama is sure to ensue.
It’s hard to argue against NRG Esports right now. Garrett ‘GarrettG’ Gordon and Justin ‘JSTN’ Morales are two of the game’s most skilled players. Jayson ‘Fireburner’ Nunez perfectly compliments their skills and can take over games as well.
There are too many talented teams here for an unknown Cinderella to make a deep run her a la The Muffin Men at DreamHack Atlanta. It’s impossible to rule out though. There were plenty of talented teams in Atlanta as well, and Mariano ‘Squishy’ Arruda burst on to the scene anyway. Something similar could happen in Leipzig.
Flipsid3 are the team to beat coming off their win at WSOE. Francesco ‘Kuxir97’ Cinquemani is playing like it’s 2016 and when he’s playing his best F3 are tough to beat.
Dignitas, Cloud9 and TSM are the other obvious favorites, but with a tournament of this size anything can happen.
Follow all of the action starting at 5:00 a.m. EST on twitch.tv/dreamhackrocketleague. Keep up with the bracket insanity on Liqupedia’s DreamHack page.
Feature Image Courtesy of DreamHack.
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