[VGL EU] 2nd Qualifier Preview

After an exciting 1st qualifier where we saw Team Secret continue their reign as EU champions, the heat is on as the second qualifiers are due to begin this Saturday and this is the last chance to get the points needed to qualify for the live finals in London. Here’s a preview of the top-seeded teams.

CATHERINE BRACKET 

Team Secret (1)

Roster: KValafar, Palmatoro, Mowglie, Saif, ICESword, cOucOu
One to watch: Palmatoro
Current standing: 90 points
First game: Team Secret (1) vs JustTeam (16)

Team Secret, formerly Media Pixel, have firmly established themselves as one of the top teams in the EU competitive scene. With a 3-0 sweep against SNOW Tsunami in the first qualifier finals they demonstrated their unrivalled synergy and pure mechanical skill. Palmatoro, the jungler for the team, closed out the qualifiers with an astonishing KDA of 42-8-36 and some truly fantastic plays as a Krul.

SK Chimaera (2)

Roster: lloH4uK, ADzero, Cr3am, MEDIC, MYQ
One to watch: lloH4uK
Current standing: 10 points
First game: SK Chimaera (2) vs VainKillers X (15)

SK had a disappointing performance last qualifiers with none of their teams making it past the quarterfinals despite the high calibre of players on every team. Admittedly, the brackets were not in SK’s favour and we would have likely seen one of the teams in the finals. In a move to find the ‘perfect’ team there is yet another reshuffle by SK with ADzero joining from SK Odyssey. This was a little bit questionable considering that Chimaera now have 3 support mains on one team in a fold where there is a general shortage of support mains. Nonetheless, lloH4uK and MEDIC make for a potent pair and with some of the best supports in Europe this is definitely a team to watch. In addition to this, MEDIC, Cr3am and ADzero all have experience of playing on an international platform at the Vainglory Worlds which gives them a substantial advantage over less experienced teams. 

G2 Kinguin2 (3)

Roster: TaisukeSan, majestiC, Pips, zamon, LoNaMiSa, Zynthox
One to watch: TaisukeSan
Current Standing: 20 points
First game: G2 Kinguin2 (3) vs VainKillersY (14)

G2 Kinguin2 performed very well in the last qualifiers, beating SK Chimaera in the round of 16 before losing out to eventual third place winners RebelTiger. MajestiC and Pips made their VGL debut at the first qualifiers showing off some fantastic plays as the jungle/support duo thanks to some wonderful synergy and a flair for aggressiveness.

Original Gangsta (4)

Roster: Lemke, SHOWKHAN, ALiAS, wissglory, SBIRO, Tetrisx
One to watch: Lemke
Current standing: 0 points
First game: Original Gangsta (4) vs Classy Bastards (13)

Original Gangsta is one of those teams that have been on the European competitive scene for a while now and have been rising slowly up the seeding system with each tournament. They have some very strong players on their roster however there is very limited tournament footage making it difficult to comment on their playstyle or synergy. 

ADAGIO BRACKET

Snow Tsunami (1)

Roster: PTLam, Sosiska, lookatme, RoccoS, alexmagic
One to watch: PTLam
Current standing: 80 points
First game: Snow Tsunami (1) vs PrimusInterPares (16)

SNOW Tsunami were one of the standout teams from the last qualifier making it all the way to the finals after a flurry of wins. For a relatively young team they did fantastically but were unable to win against the current European champions, Team Secret. No doubt they will be back with a vengeance this time round as they try and claim that number one spot.

Rebirth of Empire (2)

Roster: nettetoilette, UpFyr, GreatkhALI, IroNs, DANNA
One to watch: GreatkhALI
Current standing: 20 points
First game: Rebirth of Empire (2) vs Skengman Society (15)

Without any branding behind the name, this team often passes under the radar despite an impressive record. They lost some of their momentum in the last qualifiers and lost to SNOW Tsunami in the quarterfinals. However, they still remain one of the threats in this bracket and if they can regain the energy that they displayed in the live finals and in the autumn qualifiers they could easily secure a spot in the semifinals.

RebelLion (3)

Roster: TrOY, SLAINE, Nissim, Mr Teriyaki, Arkay
One to watch: Nissim
Current standing: 10 points
First game: RebelLion (3) vs ITAlian Job (14)

There’s some new faces in the RebelLion roster which signals change. It’s been commented on before that although RebelLion are a very good team, they are just outplayed by other teams. With the addition of some rising stars we should hope to see a new RebelLion team, one with improved synergy and superior teamplay.

Divide Et Impera (4)

Roster: OWNato, Bensynos, Peternet, OliverAlex, Chiruco17, Pentaglottis
One to watch: Bensynos
Current standing: 10 points
First game: Divide Et Impera (4) vs Discord Team (13)

This team did unexpectedly well in the last qualifiers with a win against the higher seeded Kraken team. There are many names in the roster that are well known in the EU community as skilled players so it will come to no surprise for me if they make it to the round of 16 or better.

OZO BRACKET

RebelTiger (1)

Roster: Loere, Moalze, ArkLostInSpace, GreenHornet, Apfel123
One to watch: Loere
Current standing: 60 points
First game: RebelTiger (1) vs Dysnomia (16)

RebelTigers have a very consistent performance in tournaments largely due to their excellent synergy. Moalze stood out in the RebelTiger games as a player who was in control of the game and was able to shepherd his enemies into exactly the position he wanted them to be in thanks to his excellent map awareness and knowledge of player psychology. His teammates were also praised for a high standard of performance marking Rebel Tigers as a team to follow very closely in the upcoming qualifier.

G2 Kinguin (2)

Roster: Reddix, Tesfaye, DarkPotato, D1ngo, Face
One to watch: Tesfaye
Current standing: 20 points
First game: G2 Kinguin (2) vs VainDevils (15)

The G2 Kinguin team is joined by Tesfaye from the G2 Kinguin 2 team, which is a nice addition to the already strong roster. It was disappointing not to see Tesfaye starting for G2 in the last qualifier so hopefully we will be seeing more of him this time round particularly considering the strength of early game junglers such as Koshka in the current meta.

Rebirth of Kingdom (3)

Roster: KaiMaiBrei, WickedJr, GangTurk, muhme
One to watch: KaiMaiBrei
Current standing: 10 points
First game: Rebirth of Kingdom (3) vs PhantomsTeam (14)

Rebirth of Kingdom were seeded 4^th in the previously qualifiers, finishing in the round of 16- a respectable position. However, they’ll have to go through G2 in the round of 16 for a higher finishing position which will be a very tough matchup for them.

Angry Pandas White (4)

Roster: DaniReborn, xinyi, Daniir
One to watch: Daniir
Current standing: 10 points
First game: Angry Pandas White (4) vs Banh Quay (13)

Also boasting a higher seed than the previous qualifier, Angry Pandas White are off to a respectable start as a new team but will have to take after their sister team and learn how to take down some of the giants if they want to get noticed.

RINGO BRACKET

SK Prometheus (1)

Roster: L3oN, Raph29, Redwolf, Bayu, jetpacks, WalDeMar
One to watch: L3oN
Current standing: 20 points
First game: SK Prometheus (1) vs Project UMBRELLA (16)

SK Prometheus, one of the titans in the competitive scene of Europe, have proved time and time again why they are one of the best. Unfortunately, they came up against Team Secret in the quarterfinals and were knocked out, perhaps prematurely had they been in a different bracket. We were wowed by L3oN’s performance on Skye in the SK Prometheus versus SK Odyssey and we could see just why he was the only Vainglorious Gold of Season one. However, SK Prometheus do need to work on their synergy, and whilst individual skill is all very well and good they need better coordination to get that number one spot.

Snow Avalanche (2)

Roster: HFGuy, Bashn, araxi, Kentysik, ColdICE
One to watch: Kentysik
Current standing: 40 points
First game: Snow Avalanche (2) vs Goat Boys (15)

SNOW have had an excellent season so far; both SNOW teams made it into the semifinals, their website launched recently and their stream has been growing rapidly. SNOW are the superstars of the Russian community and quite rightly so considering their coordination as a team and their precise and aggressive plays.

Angry Pandas Black (3)

Roster: InvokerEEW, TonyLuo, LeyaLeya, XuanXuan, legendARIEs, Tombraider
One to watch: TonyLuo
Current standing: 10 points
First game: Angry Pandas Black (3) vs DaRkJokeR (14)

The angry pandas black team are well known for their aggressive early game. XuanXuan, the roamer for the team, is known for his innovative strategies which could be extremely useful in the upcoming weeks. However, they do need to focus on expanding and diversifying their hero pool in order to come out top in the drafts.

RebelJaguar (4)

Roster: XxJohnxX, FredTheBakerEU, Grath2, Simixster
One to watch: FredTheBakerEU
Current standing: 0 points
First game: RebelJaguar (4) vs Knights of Arez (13)

RebelJaguar is the newest Rebel team on the block with a relatively strong roster. They lost out to the Angry Pandas Black in the round of 32 in a 2-0 defeat. There’s no doubt their more experienced sister teams, RebelLion and RebelTiger, will have been giving them some guidance and advice for this qualifier. We should expect the Jaguars to make it further this time but as to whether or not they can make it to the live finals is yet to be determined.

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The round of 64 will begin on Saturday, February 13th at 2pm CET. You can watch the streamed matches on the VaingloryLeague Twitch channel.