EU Fall Cup: Will Team BDS bounce back?

The European RLCS returns this week with the Fall Cup, as sixteen of the region’s finest duke it out for valuable RLCS points and potentially a spot at the Fall Major in Rotterdam. Last week in North America, Gen.G Mobil1 Racing became the world’s first team to clinch their spot at the Fall Major. This week, reigning European champions Oxygen Esports and runners-up Karmine Corp can both qualify without help. A top-two finish and a Regional win, respectively, would qualify the two teams for Rotterdam.

Fall Open Recap

In the Fall Open, Oxygen Esports and Karmine Corp dominated on the way to the Grand Finals, as neither even faced elimination during their Playoff runs (before Oxygen Esports knocked off Karmine Corp in the Grand Finals, of course). Moist Esports and Quadrant finished tied for the 3rd-4th spot, a spot from which 50% of European teams reached the Fall Major last year. GamersFirst, Team Liquid, Tundra Esports, and Team BDS also all reached the Playoffs, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals. Each of these teams is still in Major contention, but will be looking for a top-four finish (at least) to help solidify their chances to reach Rotterdam.

Last season, it took Team BDS until the sixth Regional of the season to finish outside of the top four, and they had already clinched their spot in the Winter Major at that point. It was the only Regional all season in which they finished so low. This season, they’ve already picked up their first such distinction, as they finished 5th-8th last time out. Team BDS are still the reigning World Champions, as well as the reigning Fall Major champions, so there’s no need for the team to panic yet. If they can’t find a bounce-back performance in this event, however, Team BDS may not get the chance to defend their Fall Major crown.

Swiss Round One Matchups

Oxygen Esports vs Turboclappers

The reigning European Champions Oxygen Esports will be looking to clinch their spot in Rotterdam this Regional, and will hope to get off to a better start than last time, when they opened their run with a loss to Aogiri. After that series, they rattled off six straight wins in dominant fashion, going a combined 21-5 to win the Fall Open. Their first round opponents are Turboclappers, who qualified all the way from the Open Qualifier. They made it through the Closed Qualifier by picking up each of their series wins in Game 5, including two one-goal games. They’ll be hoping to pick up at least one win to reach the Fall Invitational, or at least a tiebreaker for the event.

Karmine Corp vs HEET

Karmine Corp finished the Swiss Stage last time out by going 3-0, and will be looking for a repeat performance to bolster their chances of reaching Rotterdam by winning the event. The new trio looked dominant in their debut together, but there were still some kinks in the system. If they’ve worked those out over the last two weeks, they have as good of a shot as any team of winning the Fall Cup. HEET are making their RLCS debut this season, as the all-French squad triumphed over Williams Resolve in the fifth round to qualify.

Moist Esports vs Team Vitality

Moist Esports looked strong in their first event together, reaching the semifinals before losing out to Karmine Corp. They’ll be hoping to build on that performance, and reach their first Grand Finals of the new season. If they can do that, they may clinch a spot in Rotterdam, depending on other results. They’ll open the Fall Cup against Team Vitality, who are making their season debut after shockingly missing out on the Fall Open. Team Vitality have replaced Alexandre “Kaydop” Courant with Thiméo “saizen” Corcuff, and are looking to return to their dominant ways from seasons past.

Quadrant vs Team GO

Quadrant put in a strong performance last time out, reaching the semifinals after beating Team BDS in a thrilling seven-game quarterfinals matchup. Last season, Lucas “RelatingWave” Rose reached every Major and the World Championship with Endpoint CeX, and will be looking to repeat that record with Quadrant this season. Another top-four finish would put the team in an excellent position to qualify for the Fall Major, and their run will start against Team GO. Team GO are making their season debut after going 3-1 in the Closed Qualifier, a run highlighted by their fourth-round victory over Team Vitality.

Team BDS vs Solary

As previously discussed, Team BDS will be looking for a strong result to ensure they aren’t in danger of missing out on the Fall Major. Their run in the Fall Cup will start against another all-French team, Solary, who finished a disappointing 1-3 in the Fall Open. Solary consists of three longtime RLCS veterans in Kaydop, Victor “Fairy Peak!” Locquet, and Thibault “Chausette45” Grzesiak, who all qualified for the Fall Major last season. They’ll need a strong run in this event to have any hope of reaching Rotterdam this season, and an upset against the reigning World Champions would go a long way towards that run.

Tundra Esports vs Evil Geniuses

Tundra Esports impressed last time out by reaching the Playoffs, where they lost to Karmine Corp via 4-1 scoreline. The organization will be hoping for at least a repeat performance, as they look to reach the Fall Major in Rotterdam. Evil Geniuses struggled to a 1-3 finish in the Fall Open after dominating the Invitational Qualifier, and will be looking to bounce back in excellent fashion to keep their hopes of Rotterdam alive.

GamersFirst vs Monkeys

GamersFirst had a strong debut event in the Fall Open, reaching the Playoffs before losing to eventual champion Oxygen Esports in six games. They put up a strong showing against Oxygen Esports, and looked as though they could go even further in this event. They’ll certainly be looking to do so, as a top-four finish would greatly strengthen their chances of qualifying for the Fall Major. They open against Monkeys, who went 2-3 last time out to barely miss out on the Playoffs.

Team Liquid vs Aogiri

Team Liquid, the young guns who took Europe by storm in last season’s Spring Split, had their worst finish in RLCS last time out by finishing 5th-8th. They reached the Playoffs after going 3-2 in the Swiss Stage, but lost this season’s first edition of El Splashico to Moist Esports, 4-2. They’ll need a strong performance to reach the Fall Major, but are certainly capable. They open against Aogiri, who started the Fall Open by going 2-0 before floundering to three straight losses and a 9th-11th finish. They showed flashes of a Playoff-caliber team, and will be looking to finish the job in the Swiss Stage this time out.

The Swiss Stage starts tomorrow, with team streams supplementing the main stream on twitch.tv/rocketleague, at 3 p.m. UTC (11 a.m. EDT), with the Playoffs occurring Friday and Saturday at the same time on the same channel. Throughout the weekend, and all season long, make sure to keep up with Shift for your RLCS news!