Well, day 1 of the RLCS Spring Major wasn’t particularly great for European teams, with 4 teams ending up in the Lower Bracket, the ONE team that made it to the upper bracket from EU? Karmine Corp, who saw that one coming? Yeah, me neither. But, it’s not over yet, with their tournament lives on the line the EU teams still have EVERYTHING to fight for.
Unlike Day 1 where we had 12 games, Day 2 & Day 3 had significantly less, but no less important, action. 4 games a piece in fact. So, let’s start with day 2!
RLCS Spring Major Day 2 – Lower Bracket Round 1
- Gaimin Gladiators 0 – 3 FURIA
- Endpoint CEX 0 – 3 OpTic
- Team BDS 0 – 3 Pioneers
- PWR 0 – 3 Team Liquid
A little bit of a theme here isn’t there? In what might possibly be the shortest RLCS broadcast of all time, all 4 games played today on stream ended in 3-0 sweeps. Two games, in particular, I’ll be talking about here, Endpoint/OpTic and BDS/Pioneers. However, it’s worth noting that FURIA were expected to batter Gaimin Gladiators, which they did by the way.
The Gladiators genuinely looked like they were loving every second of their first international LAN experience, it was a joy to see. Even when they got beat 8 (0-second own goal to make it 9) – 0 in game 3! Then as for Liquid, they made it difficult for themselves, all 3 games were 1 goal games, but they got past PWR as they were expected to.
Now, Endpoint Vs OpTic. This was a game between two teams who have looked pretty good in the regionals, they’ve been up there every split. Endpoint has been to ALL 3 majors this season but hasn’t quite found their form once they get on LAN. They struggled to make the top 8 in Stockholm, they were worse in LA and then they had their chance here and honestly, they fluffed it again. Okay they lost Seikoo to BDS but they got Archie from Semper and he has looked great for them, but they just can’t seem to get it going on LAN!
OpTic, formerly Envy, has gone through changes of its own. They lost Atomic to G2 and got Dreaz, the young phenom in trade which on paper is a solid movie, but G2 has been the better team since the trade, winning the Winter Major. Since then they have also dropped Turbopolsa into a substitute role with Allushin taking his spot on the team. Allu was initially signed as a coach, funnily enough.
I don’t really know why Endpoint can’t get things going on LAN, they have flashes of brilliance, moments where they’re the Endpoint we know they can be. But in this game OpTic pretty much dominated the ball. 5-2, 3-2 and 2-1 sort of flatters Endpoint in my opinion but here we are. Poor showing from Endpoint. Consistently qualifying for majors and consistently disappointing at them. OpTic on the other hand looked great on Day 2. Much better than yesterday.
As for Team BDS Vs Pioneers. What is there to say? I want to start by bigging up the Pioneers boys. To sweep Team BDS in the RLCS is no easy feat. This young roster, all currently age 16 at the time of writing, is a real breath of fresh air to watch. They play with high pace, top-tier mechanics and if nothing else, a real love of the game. I have no issues saying that these are THE BEST team that Oceania has to offer and I’m expecting pretty big things from them moving forward.
Team BDS on the other hand? They absolutely dominated the online-only RLCS X. They dominated the Fall Split and made it difficult for themselves but went on to win the first LAN in Stockholm, answering any questions we might have had about their lack of LAN experience. But they were incredibly disappointing in LA and again, here in London. This is AFTER picking up Seikoo to avoid any language barriers they might have had with the Spaniard Marc By 8. They looked incredible this split, but as SOON as they got to LAN they looked absolutely dreadful.
They have a month to get their junk together and figure out what the problem is before they leave for the World Championship. Their place is confirmed for the main event, so they have to knuckle down and prepare, or will they face yet more LAN disappointment? I fully expect BDS to be a different beast at Worlds, surely they can’t keep things going like this? Enough about that anyway, onto RLCS Spring Major Day 3!
RLCS Spring Major Day 3 – Lower Bracket Round 2
- FaZe 2 – 3 FURIA
- Team Secret 0 – 3 OpTic
- Moist Esports 3 – 0 Pioneers
- G2 Esports 2 – 3 Team Liquid
Again, I’ll only be focusing on two games here as I genuinely feel like, even though Team Secret are great and they swept BDS, same for Pioneers. OpTic & Moist were both expected to win these games and win they did. OpTic made it tight but once Moist got going they looked pretty comfortable. That leaves the other two games, FaZe/FURIA and G2/Liquid. Spoiler alert, they’re both pretty incredible results.
So, FaZe Vs FURIA. It’s no secret that both of these teams are fantastic, both amazing in their own rights. FURIA are the current pride of SAM and FaZe is always in the discussion for the best team in NA. But this was no easy task for them. Game 1 was tight, FURIA getting off to a 3-0 lead inside the first half of the game but FaZe showed that they weren’t just going to roll over and let them take game 1, making their comeback with a minute and a half to go caused the last moments of the game to be super nervy!
But, to OT we went and FaZe took it within SECONDS! 8 seconds to be precise, the goal just left completely open and a simple goal for Sypical gave them game 1.
At this point, given the order of the games on the stream, the last SIX games had been 3-0 sweeps. The guys on the feed joked about this being the same, another sweep, in favour of FaZe this time. But that wasn’t all she wrote. Game 2 was a pretty back and forth game with FURIA taking the game, game 3 was similar, very back and forward ending in another OT, this one, however, goes the way of the South Americans! FURIA take a 2-1 lead! This is getting spicy now.
Game 4 never really looked to be out of the hands of FaZe, a goal in the dying seconds from FURIA testing their mettle but in the end, they went on to take a 4-2 win to tie the series. Time for the final game. A 2-0 lead in just over a minute. FaZe flapping. It’s now or never, you have to throw EVERYTHING forward. But doing so is a risk and that risk doesn’t quite pay off.
Caught on the counter, FURIA make it a THREE goal lead! And that’s it, right? NOPE! A huge dunk gives FURIA a FOUR goal lead. Done? NOOOOPE! FaZe answered quickly, 4-1 seconds after the FURIA goal. Another SECONDS later again. 1:18 on the clock, 2 goals? Completely doable. But FURIA held their own! A 00:00 goal makes the final score 4-3 as FURIA takes the series 3-2, sending FaZe home! What a series, what a display from FURIA. Incredible!
Next, I’ll be talking about G2 Vs Liquid. The #1 seed versus the youngsters from Europe! Games 1 and 2 got off to a very rough start for Liquid, they just couldn’t get things going, trying to play too quickly caused too many errors and a team like G2 will punish you every single time for that. Back-to-back losses, 3-1 and 3-0. Atomic putting on a master class, as per usual. At this point, it would take a reverse sweep against the NUMBER 1 seed to advance to the lower bracket. G2 were reverse swept by Karmine Corp to end up in the lower bracket, it couldn’t happen again, could it?
I don’t know WHAT was said between game 2 and game 3, but Liquid came out looking like a completely different team. They slowed their pace, they were somehow tighter on defence when they’re already known for being a very tightly defensive team and honestly, they looked incredible. Whether G2 got too comfortable or Liquid is just THAT good. Liquid comfortably won game 3, 3-1. Games 4 and 5 were tighter but the scoreline of those games don’t particularly do Liquid justice.
Back-to-back 2-1 wins gave Liquid the reverse sweep, but looking at that you’d assume it was very nervy, but honestly, the opposite was true. Liquid looked comfortable, a few errors gave G2 some big chances, but they couldn’t take those chances and in the end, it arguably cost them the win. G2 are a massively experienced, incredibly talented roster. On the other side of the coin, Liquid have no LAN experience and while they are talented they are still young and raw.
Games 3-5 honestly looked like the opposite was true. I’d have believed you if you told me that was the case. Well done Team Liquid. A reverse sweep over G2 is an incredible feat. You made the EU fans proud!
And that’s that, that’s all we have to cover from days 2 & 3 of the RLCS Spring Major! I hope you’re all excited for Day 4! Day 4 is the first day with fans in the Copperbox Arena and I’m expecting the atmosphere to be electric! We’ll be seeing some fantastic teams on the stage, so here are the games you have to look forward to!
RLCS Spring Major Lower Bracket Round 3
- FURIA Vs OpTic
- Moist Esports Vs Team Liquid (The Soggy Showdown)
RLCS Spring Major Upper Bracket Semi-Final
- Karmine Corp Vs Version1
- Spacestation Vs Team Falcons
RLCS Spring Major Lower Bracket Quarter-Final
- Loser U-SF 1 Vs FURIA/OpTic
- Loser U-SF 2 Vs Moist/Liquid
I’m so excited to be there tomorrow at the RLCS Spring Major! Our write-up tomorrow will be a little different as we have been invited to group interviews, meaning we will be present with the teams that make it to Championship Sunday. We will also be present on Sunday for the group interview with the eventual winners! So look forward to that!
I hope anyone who attends the event has a great time. Make some noise, get involved and cheer on your favourite teams. If your favourites are no longer present? Make some noise anyway! Let’s show the world why the Copperbox Arena is such a special venue, not just for the RLCS but esports in general!
For even more coverage of the RLCS: Spring Major, keep an eye on our Twitter page @fullsyncnetwork or our esports news page.
