So it begins.. The Spring Split Major of the RLCS (2021-22) is the last big stop before the World Championship. Sixteen teams are confirmed for the major kickstarting on June 29 at the Copper Box Arena, London. With $300,000 USD on the line and points to qualify for the World Championship, this is the final showdown.

Let’s take a look at all the team that booked their tickets and the opening duels ahead of us.

The powerhouses at RLCS Spring Split Major

North American powerhouses, such as G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, Spacestation Gaming, and Version1 are highly-regarded for good reasons. They occupied the top-five finishes at the Winter Major, which is a testament to NA’s prominence in RLCS.

Amongst these titans stood the biggest fish of them all, G2 Esports, the champions of Winter Major. The win is G2’s first international championship victory as well, which makes it all the more special. While G2 continued their dominance throughout the regional events in NA, the other regional candidates are in tip-top condition too. Now, the competition is tense in NA itself, but G2 has formidable opponents outside NA, so that’s the highly-anticipated match fans are aching to watch.

Moist Esports, formerly Team Queso, was the first runner-up at Winter Major, falling just short of its NA rival. Considering it was Queso’s first debut in the RLCS, it’s nothing short of a miracle run. Besides Moist, other EU candidates need to redeem themselves after their poor showing last major, notably Team BDS, Team Liquid, Karmine Corp, and Endpoint CeX.

With the bracket already set, we can already get a feel on some of the matches.

Moist Esports’ first taste of NA rivals

While Moist’s rematch with G2 will not be anytime soon, they are facing a NA underdog with good records in its book. Team Envy is the other candidate of the five NA contestants, replacing fan favorite, The General NRG this time around.

Envy’s consistent strategies in each Regional Event managed to put them on par with Spacestation Gaming in terms of RLCS Points. Although it’s not a good look for NRG to miss out on a major, they are already guaranteed for World Championship.

Anyways, back to Envy vs Moist, it’s looking to be an uphill battle in terms of popularity, but Envy has the potential to rival Moist. Envy recently welcomed the power-forward, Braxton “Allushin” Lagarec back to their active roster, so that’s a massive upgrade.

Unfortunately, Envy’s probability of securing a World Championship ticket by RLCS points is looking grim. The point gap between Envy and other hopefuls is 521 points, which is not an amount Envy can earn even by winning the major.

One-sided brackets at RLCS Spring Major

Overwhelming odds are bad news for any team hoping for an easy starting round. Although this might just be the underdog run that Rocket League Esports fans are anticipating at the Spring Major. After all, we do have quite the number of new teams, even those from less prominent regions, such as Gaimin Gladiators (APAC), PWR (OCE), and Team Falcons (MENA).

G2 Esports vs Gaimin Gladiators

One notable match is G2 Esports vs Gaimin, which from the get-go is in favor of G2. However, looking back at Gaimin’s runs in Regional Events, they have always been the APAC region’s top candidates, falling short of Tokyo Verdy Esports’ points. In fact, Gaimin never directly lost to TVE before because both teams are in different regionals, APAC South and APAC North respectively.

It is Gaimin’s first major debut, and to kick off with one of Spring Major’s toughest opponents.

PWR vs FaZe Clan

Another honorable mention is PWR vs FaZe, which is expected to be one-sided too. Yet, PWR’s regional event runs were phenomenal and even managed to win one of the three, surpassing the Oceanian staple, Renegades. Thus, we might be overlooking a potential powerhouse killer in the making, or it could all just be a fluke.

That said, FaZe is a force to be reckoned with, and among the top opponents in the RLCS Spring Split.

On a side note, Pioneers, a local rival of PWR, weren’t too shabby either during the regional events. While fans justify the Aussie team’s strong start in the last major, placing ninth. It was nothing to call home about since they were fortunate that their group didn’t have eliminations.

Having several newcomers is always a breath of fresh air during an exciting event, such as the Spring Split Major. Hence, consider catching the tournament live on Rocket League’s Twitch channel or stay updated on the plays and results via our Rocket League News section.