Red Bull eSports Studio, Santa Monica, Calif. — It’s time for the Winter Live Championships, where the Top 8 teams in North America battle for the title and a massive prize pool. Returning North America champs LiberationX hope to defend their crown from the 6-seed, while the first and current world champions, GankStars Sirius and Alliance, look to continue their dominance and meet in the Finals for the third straight major tournament. It’s sure to be three days of brilliant performances and highlight-reel moments, so let’s set the stage for what’s to come …
ALLIANCE
Players: CullTheMeek (jungle/lane), MICSHE (lane/jungle), FlashX (roam)
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Since the addition of CullTheMeek, Alliance has actually exceeded expectations. In the second Winter Qualifier, Alliance dominated rival GankStars Sirius in the Finals, posting a flawless 3-0 victory. Alliance has shown strong starts, composure throughout matches and has executed late-game comebacks when necessary. Heading into their Day One Winter Championship matches, all eyes will be on CullTheMeek, who has staked his claim as the single best player in North America. If this team has any weakness, it’s a lack of time together to form the type of chemistry that other teams have cultivated over long periods of time, including Rage Pingers.
RAGE PINGERS
Players: AL3X (roam), 12tacos12 (lane), TheBigDog (jungle)
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The first underdog to attempt a huge Winter Championships upset will be Rage Pingers; a newly formed team with players from the former TAS eSports and Liberation rosters. This team is full of veterans in the competitive scene who despite being a relatively new still have plenty of playing time together. Truth be told, these guys have a real shot at knocking off Alliance. The Rage Pingers players have a long history of playing with and against these Alliance players and know their game inside and out. Plus, they seem to walk into battle with no fear, which was the attitude that empowered them to defeat GankStars Vega in a major Winter Qualifiers upset. The player to watch is 12tacos12 in lane; he’ll need to be a real team leader, especially in the late game.
Both teams will be very aggressive and have the experience to make the right moves to turn around matches that aren’t going their way. It is going to come down to which team has the ability to better showcase their talent. Pay close attention to the jungle carry played by either CullTheMeek or MICSHE.
GANKSTARS SIRIUS
Players: IraqiZorro (lane), Foojee (jungle), Gabevizzle (roam)
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Has Gankstars Sirius come back down to earth after the departure of CullTheMeek? Not likely.
It’s true that Alliance defeated Sirius the last time they squared off, but it was the first qualifier Sirius had played with new jungler FooJee. With some time to prepare and reflect, expect FooJee and the entire GankStars Sirius team to be just as powerful and tough to defeat as always.
VERTIGO BLACK
Players: BestChuckNa (lane), Vikson (jungle/lane), RiiKzZ (jungle/lane), xBEOWULF11x (roam)
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Vertigo Black returns to the Live Championships after gaining invaluable experience in Autumn tournament play. This team continues to have incredible promise, but they’ll need to get off to a much faster start than they did in the Autumn Live Championships. Creating opportunities is one of their strengths, and this time around they better create more! With 1 and 1A options of playing Vikson or RiiKzZ, this team can create a number of interesting and dangerous comps and always comes with a game plan in place.
With both teams known for strategic, calculated play, this series should be incredibly interesting to watch. Vertigo Black will need to show immense patience and find the opportune time to attack.
HALCYON HAMMERS VELOCITY
Players: DNZio (lane), Vains (roam), Aloh4 (jungle), Xenotek (lane – sub)
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Velocity laner DNZio has been playing out of his mind and living up to the hype as one the game’s brightest rising stars. But the biggest difference-maker has been the growth of both Aloh4 and Vains, who have become elite players before our eyes. This is a team with a legitimate shot at taking the Winter championship. They have the talent. They have the team chemistry. They just have to keep their composure until the Vain crystal explodes. They key to Velocity’s performance will be Aloh4, who’s stock is skyrocketing, but he’ll need to keep his play sky-high to defeat the reigning North American champs.
LIBERATION X
Players: ttigers (lane), Statusbaked (jungle), martohhh (roam), e36 (roam), Exhail (sub)
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LiberationX may be the North American champions, but they’ve seen a number of elite teams — including HH Velocity — pass them by while LBX fought and clawed for every qualifier point to make it to Santa Monica. Still, this roster is essentially the same one that won the Autumn championship with a breathtaking reverse sweep in the Grand Finals. All the same superstars are still in place, and perhaps LiberationX can recapture the magic and confidence that they rode to the title. We’ll have to watch to see if Statusbaked returns to the aggressive heroes such as Rona and Glaive that were his signature in Autumn, or whether he’ll opt for heroes seeing more play in 1.15.
With transcendent talent at the carry positions on both teams, this series might come down to the play of the roamers. All signs point to extremely well-coordinated engages followed by amazing kiting and hero outplays. Which team will execute better in a matchup that’s truly a tossup?
NEMESIS HYDRA
Players: Hardek (lane/jungle), Chicken123 (jungle/lane), LostBoyToph (roam)
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Nemesis Hydra, the team that stole the Autumn show with dramatic finishes and LostBoy highlights, returns as a 4-seed with the addition of Chicken123 (formerly LBX) out of the jungle. This high-caliber squad has focused on expanding their hero pools and playstyles, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Draft is still a weakness and whether their play is even more dynamic than before. Expect to see MVP plays again coming out of LostBoyToph, who is a true superstar roamer in the Halycon Fold.
HALCYON HAMMERS KINETIC
Players: Suijeneris (roam), Chrisssy (jungle), FearPoseidon (lane), Huskiesrock321 (roam – sub), Inane (lane – sub)
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The Cinderella story of the Winter Live Championships is Halcyon Hammers Kinetic. Twice in the Qualifiers they faced powerhouse VON Menace, and both times they beat the heavy favorite, making a name for themselves and sending shockwaves through the competitive landscape. Kinetic has risen as high as the 5-seed off those amazing Qualifier performances, and it will be interesting to see how they perform now that they’re no longer under the radar. They’ve shown inspired strategic approaches to their play, combined with tremendous team unison. With the addition of veteran SuiJeneris, this team is more balanced and more efficient with their engagements.
The biggest similarity here is team coordination and how well both squads approach rotations and jungle pressure. Nemesis is known for their well-coordinated dives. Kinetic loves the element of surprise and uses vision control to stalk their prey. As always, Kinetic has to respect LostBoyToph’s ability to singlehandedly change the flow and direction of games — especially with those big Ardan plays.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Vainglory viewers are in for a treat, as literally every first-round matchup could go either way. If Rage Pingers either upset Alliance or give them a good scare, it will be a good harbinger for what’s to come later in the day.
Watch all the action at twitch.tv/vainglory, and follow all the matchups and find replays in the in-game eSports tab within the NEWS section of the app.