The second regular season of the Rocket League Championship Series' (RLCS) has come to an end with the playoffs looming over the next two weekends. While the top two teams from the regular season from each region simply play for seeds, teams three through six are looking for their shot to make it to Amsterdam and play for $250,000. The first week of playoffs on Nov. 5 is a double elimination best-of-five bracket. Here's how the North American bracket could play out.
Team names are followed in parentheses by the team's regular season standing.
Genesis (3) vs. Revival (6)
The first match of the day in North America will feature two of the more exciting teams from the region with the boys from Genesis being on the cusp of automatic LAN qualification. Revival comes in as the bottom seed and with a possible roster shuffle it could be in a tough spot. If Genesis can play at the same level it did during the regular season, it should move on with no issues. Revival, on the other hand, will need a resurgence to move on, and it certainly would start the tournament out on an upset if it were to make it through.
Coming into the match, Genesis finished 5-2, only missing out on automatic qualification due to tiebreakers. Revival, on the other hand, snuck through 2-5, only making playoffs due to tiebreakers.
This match should be pretty one-sided but there is potential for a shock start, if Revival can bring something new to the table.
Prediction: Genesis 3-1 Revival
Take 3 (4) vs. Vendetta (5)
The second match of the day is an exciting one and should be a chess match to watch in a way. Take 3 is one of the lowest-scoring teams in the RLCS, averaging only 1.85 goals per game. Vendetta, on the other hand, is the highest-scoring team in the entire RLCS averaging an incredible 2.57 goals per game. Don't expect a whitewash though; despite scoring the most goals in RLCS, Vendetta only managed a +6 goal differential.
Take 3 should be the favorite in this matchup especially with Vendetta having made three roster swaps over the course of the four-week-long RLCS regular season. Everything about this matchup screams upset though, with a 4-3 Take 3 facing off against the 3-4 Vendetta which seems to have found a roster it's comfortable with. If Vendetta can keep the level of offensive firepower that it has sustained this far, it can pull out the upset.
Prediction: Vendetta 2-3 Take 3
Picks to advance
Shadowboxing a bracket fully is certainly not a science, but the teams who should make it to top four on Nov. 12 and play for their seeding at LAN should be Genesis and Take 3. Genesis simply looks a class above anyone else who is in this section of the tournament and should comfortably make it through assuming something horrible doesn't happen.
Take 3 is an interesting team. Despite going 4-3 in regular season it only had a 44.4 percent win rate, which means it either wins close sets, or gets smashed. Expect Take 3 to grind out the wins and take it slowly, qualifying through calm and collected play.