Dreamhack Valencia Preview

By Stax

With Dreamhack Valencia just three days away, rosters and group placements have been released to the public. The Main Event features four groups of eight teams each, which will be narrowed down to two groups of eight for day two, and an eight-team single elimination bracket on the final day.

Each of the top 4 seeds have played in an RLCS World Championship Grand Final. This season's Champion, Renault Sport Team Vitality is the top seed of Group A, Season 6 Champion Cloud9 tops Group B, this season's runner-up G2 Esports is at the top of Group C, and the number 1 seed for Group D is Season 5 runner-up NRG Esports. Vitality claimed one of two open spots through the European qualifiers, while NRG won the North American qualifier. Cloud9 was invited based on performance at Dreamhack Dallas in June, while G2 is an open signup.

GROUP A

With Vitality claiming the World Championship just two weeks ago, they're the easiest favorite to advance to day two. After that, this is one of the toughest groups to survive on day one. The group also features a World Championship attendee from the Oceania region, Ground Zero Gaming, ELEAGUE 2018 Champions, Team SoloMid, and the recently-promoted Complexity, and Splyce (formerly The Peeps) with Karma replacing Arsenal.

Splyce will likely get two shots at qualifying for Day 2, with Vitality claiming the spot from the upper half of the group. TSM and Complexity should be able to qualify on either half of the double elimination pool. Mout Gang does present some upset potential with experienced players up and down the roster, along with the re-emergence of Itachi. But expect Splyce to join Vitality, TSM, and Complexity on the second day.

GROUP B

This group features one of the more interesting first round matchups of the day, with Triple Trouble facing Crazy Crew. The RLCS contenders will face their substitute, Seeb, who teams with Spain's Wolfsonthemoon and Rival Series veteran Godsmilla. Crazy Crew finished 5th in Spain's ESL Masters League.

This group also features a total of three teams that reached the top 8 of this past World Championship, as well as Oceania's Renegades which had a disappointing showing in group play. One would expect the three RLCS/Rival Series teams to join Cloud9 on day two, barring something special from Renegades.

GROUP C

If Group A isn't the toughest group to get through in this tournament, then it is almost certainly this group that beats it. With RLCS runner-up G2, and a dangerous F.C. Barcelona squad, you would expect the maximum allotment of top quality talent to be spread thin among the rest of the group. But then you see The Bricks trying out al0t who, despite being relegated from the RLCS twice in a row, still rates highly among Europe's Free Agents.

Then there's Method adding Tigreee who has shown flashes of brilliance in both the RLCS and Rival Series. And you wouldn't even be surprised to see Bilbo potentially lead Helios to a magical run on a good day, while Ghost Gaming is always unpredictable except you can safely assume they'll hang with whatever competition is put in front of them.

If you had to place a wager on who would survive this brutal group, the safest bets would obviously be G2 and Barcelona, to be joined perhaps by The Bricks and either Ghost Gaming or Aeriality.

GROUP D

If you play the "storylines drinking game," prepare yourself for this group. With NRG playing its last tournament with the retiring Fireburner, all eyes will be on this group to see how they perform in his farewell event. They'll also be watching Randy Gibbons' River Rats featuring the hybrid NA-EU roster of Klassux, CorruptedG, and Turbopolsa. Their first round match? Naturally, an Oceania team - Chiefs Esports Club (formerly ICON). Between Klassux, Turbo, and CJCJ, the buildup to this match would be worth pay-per-view buys alone. TCS Esport League's Champion, Servette Geneva eSports, is also lumped into this group with Virt listed on the roster.

Then there's the rest of the bracket, with Dignitas selecting Aztral to replace Turbopolsa for this event and potentially the next season of RLCS. Their first round opponent contains the combination of Calix and Oscillon, who have teamed together previously in the Rival Series. They'll add RLCS & Rival Series veteran Pwndx to the mix. Rogue should be fine against the lesser-known qualifier winners RCD Espanyol. The team is owned by one of the largest Spanish soccer clubs, and won the first season of Dreamcup to qualify for the Main Event.

A lot of teams in this pool will have very little chemistry overall. This could be the most volatile group in the event, which ultimately favors some of the longshots. NRG and Rogue should comfortably reach day two, while upsets could really throw a wrench into the plans of the other veteran players in this pod. On paper, you'd expect both Dignitas and the River Rats to emerge. But don't discount the new Chiefs or the Rival Series contenders on "Fillers."

The action kicks off on Friday, July 5th, at https://www.twitch.tv/dreamhackrocketleague