With the NA Winter Major looming on the horizon, the Mobil 1 Mountain Classic proved just as thrilling and suspenseful as we had hoped. All eyes were on Version1, Spacestation, Complexity, and Oxygen who were battling it for two tickets behind NRG, G2, and FaZe on the plane to Inglewood, CA, March 23-27. Read below to see the results!
Mobil 1 Mountain Classic Bracket Results
Torrent displayed a high degree of chemistry and took the Lower Round 1 win over the Soniqs; the recent addition of Kinseh again proved worthwhile as the team appears to be coming into their own. An unfortunately early and ultimately close clash with NRG would be their downfall – this despite NRG appearing lackluster for most of the regional.
In a rare siting – unlike EU – a rogue team (you’ll get that joke in a sec) called Randoms not only made it through group stages by beating NRG, but won their first bracket match against Rogue. The squad of Chronic, 2Piece, and Night stunned the ordinarily uniform NA bracket teams. Oxygen, however, had more on the line and competed as such, sweeping Randoms to advance.
The pressure was on as Complexity needed a win to guarantee their trip to the major. Unfortunately, Version1 weren’t so willing, and beat the former South American team in a heated 7 game battle. With this, Version1 virtually locks up their spot at the major, and Complexity is out of contention.
The Lower Quarter-Finals can be summed up with one sentence, the better team won. NRG overwhelmed Complexity who were coming off a loss, and FaZe swept Oxygen, who are prone to struggle against high-ranking teams.
The finals brought with it… apologies, the Lower Semi-Finals brought with it an intense squaring-off between two of NA’s best teams in NRG and FaZe. By securing a close Game 7 win, NRG have allowed themselves some breathing room in the major as they now enter the number one seed.
Version1 with the duo we didn’t know we needed, Comm and Beastmode. Together they played unshackled as Comm took demand of not only the ball, but the pitch, with his increasingly bump-heavy playstyle. G2 on the other hand struggled defensively, and even uncharacteristically offensively as they failed to generate momentum. G2 would now fall to the Lower Bracket Final.
G2 put up a commanding fight – as opposed to what the match score may indicate – but despite 3 overtimes and 5 games, NRG would not fall to this team two regionals in a row.
Rocket League Regional 3 Final (V1 v NRG)
Bootcamping has seen mixed success within the pro scene, but for V1 it appears to be their holy grail. The roster slammed NRG, employing a very aggressive playstyle that overwhelmed the typically level-headed team. No more overtimes or games seven’s for V1, who record their first regional win, and take the fourth seed over Spacestation by one point in the upcoming Major.
Major Standings
Not only do we now have a new team to bring some much-needed competition to the NA Top 3, but we have our 5 teams heading to the Major.
It is nice after so many seasons and attempts at a cohesive roster to see V1 on this list in that number 4 spot. Indeed their winning bracket run secured an overall 1 point lead over Spacestation in the standings. They picked the right time to peak.
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