The RLCS X Championships finals participants are gearing up for the last stretch of the tournament. This weekend, four regions –Oceania, Europe, South America and North America – will each play a final to finish off the season. After ten months of high-stakes competition and a final week of intense action, we now know who is facing off at the event’s conclusion. They won’t be playing for international glory, but that doesn’t make the competition any less fierce.
On Saturday, Oceania and South America will both duke it out among themselves. On Sunday, the European and North American champions will be crowned. Here’s what to expect from Europe and Oceania, but make sure you don’t miss North and South America.
RLCS X Oceania: Ground Zero Gaming vs Cringe Society
Saturday, June 19 at 9 p.m. EDT
Oceania would have had just two spots at the RLCS X Championships, so their only match this week is between the top two of the regular season. Ground Zero Gaming and Cringe Society both consist of veterans from Australia, with just Luke “Amphis” Riddell from Ground Zero as a relative newcomer. The seventeen-year-old made his RLCS debut in season nine, but is already considered as one of the best players in Oceania. In the final rankings, he and his team were over 1300 points ahead of number two Cringe Society.
Their head-to-head record in main events this season is 7-3 in favor of Ground Zero Gaming. With the new format, where a team will have to win two -best-of-7s in order to take home the victory, it looks like Ground Zero is at an advantage. But Cringe Society has proven that they are no pushover.
OCE has a $100K prize pool, where the victor takes home $70,000.
Europe: Team BDS vs Team Vitality
Sunday, June 20 at11 a.m. EDT
Team BDS versus Team Vitality is a matchup we’ve often seen this season of the RLCS. Although they finished in first and second place in the regular season, the difference between them in points is bigger than the difference between second place and tenth place in Europe.
They have faced each other in many finals, but most of the time, Team Vitality drew the short end of the stick. In 12 main event series this season between the two, Vitality won just one. Team BDS has reigned over Europe and even the number two team could not stop them. However, the series that they have played were often close. Vitality’s Victor “Fairy Peak!” Locquet is confident they can take the W this time.
“This time we’re ready, it’s the final match of the season,” the season 7 world champion said. “We’re gonna put everything we have to beat them. We know they are really good and the favorite. I think this format is pretty good because it favors being consistent much more than winning like two games because you pop off.”
Team BDS are newcomers in the RLCS, but have immediately cemented themselves as the top dog. Meanwhile, Team Vitality’s Alexandre “Kaydop” Courant will play his eighth consecutive world championship final. Of course, the current season and last season’s world championships were cancelled and played regionally online, but even then Kaydop made it to the final once more. The three-time world champion and company are in top form, and if there was ever a time to stop Team BDS on the finish line, now would be it.
Out of the six players on the pitch, five are French. Team BDS’ Marc “MaRc_By_8” Domingo is the only Spanish player in the final. The European Championships, which featured six teams, has a $400,000 prize pool, where the first and second-place finishers earn $160K and $80K respectively.
