Disclaimer: As of writing this, Reignite vs FENNEL already finished map 1, so some analysis might be skewed.
The following 4 teams have qualified for Week 2:
Group B:
Reignite (RIG) : As one of the newer teams in the scene, RIG made a big splash by signing Korean prodigy Foxy9 a.k.a. SeolHwa. This young gun has a NASTY Jett, and is considered as a “freakishly good” talent in the KR community. Joining him is fellow Korean star eKo, formerly of TNL. Although he was considered as one of the weaker parts of TNL, eKo made a lot of noise here in JP, as a great Sova at RIG’s disposal. While RIG has great Korean talent, their Japanese pickups leave a lot of questions, as all three of the players hasn’t played since July 2021. Kuro is the flex for the team, and while he boasts good fragging output and a great KAY/O, he leaves more to be desired compared to the Korean stars. Hyouka, a later addition to the team, is solid to say the least. His switch over to sentinel has been alright, although nothing too crazy. Dhimoruto, formerly of REJECT, plays as the controller, and like Hyouka and Kuro, he has been solid as well. Reignite plays against FENNEL, and while RIG aren't slouches by any means, it will be a tough test if they can go toe-to-toe with a darkhorse, and not relying on their Korean stars.
Duelist: Foxy9 (🇰🇷)
Flex: Kuro (🇯🇵)
Controller: Dhimoruto (🇯🇵)
Initiator Flex: eKo (🇰🇷)
Sentinel: Hyouka (🇯🇵)
FENNEL (FL) : The favourites of the group, but a darkhorse in the scene. Their match against IGZIST last week went to all three maps, but it was not a very close affair in the maps that they lost. Mittiii, the duelist, performed pretty well. His Jett and Raze were super impactful for taking space for the team, and capitalizing on the opportunity. CLZ, the controller, was the real star for FENNEL last week. He was fragging out on the first two maps, putting up really good numbers; his performance was akin to Marved in my opinion. Sadly, CLZ cooled off at the last map, but showed his worth as a top controller in Japan. TENSAI and Envy were pretty solid, they had their moments but it wasn’t anything otherworldly. Derialy was a bit of a letdown, he performed well last year, but he has been near invisible this year. FL has a lot of potential, and they can make some noise come playoffs. But for now, they have to get past Reignite, and FL’s chance for redemption.
Duelist: Mittiii (🇯🇵)
Flex: TENSAI (🇰🇷)
Controller: CLZ (🇯🇵)
Initiator Flex: Derialy (🇯🇵)
Sentinel: Envy (🇰🇷)
Inactive players: Jinx (on leave for family) (🇰🇷)
Crest Gaming (CG) : A well known Japanese team in other games, Crest Gaming hopes to make their mark in the scene with a “ragtag” roster. CG recently beat Jadeite in the qualifiers, the team with Allow and Hate at the helm. The star of Crest Gaming is the Russian ranked demon, Jemkin. His Jett is really, really good, and can cause havoc to teams if they aren’t prepared for him. Keep your eye out for KuuKai as well; a player that you shouldn’t sleep on, because he dealt a lot of damage to Jadeite and SCARZ in the qualifiers. SamuraiDeeper might sound familiar, as he was the nutty Jett player on REJECT that made a lot of noise at APAC LCQ last year. Sadly, he won’t be playing Jett for CG, but instead will be playing Initiators such as Sova. I don’t know much about NeruFi, Alpha, Syouta as they haven’t played an official match in a long, long time. In spite of that, CG has a lot of potential to be decent, but shouldn’t be too reliant on KuuKai or Jemkin. Their upcoming match against Sengoku Gaming will prove if CG has what it takes to be a decent team in the scene.
Duelist: Jemkin (🇷🇺) , Alpha (🇯🇵)
Flex: KuuKai (🇯🇵)
Controller: Syouta (🇯🇵)
Initiator Flex: SamuraiDeeper (🇯🇵)
Sentinel: NeruFi (🇯🇵)
Sengoku Gaming (SG) : The team with the most upset potential. Sengoku Gaming played against Crazy Raccoon and put up a good fight but ultimately lost. Kobra is still the star of the team; his Jett is really impactful, and can get really, really flashy. One thing that is a bit of a concern for Kobra is that he can be inconsistent, so much so that it affects the team as a whole. Thiefy, the sentinel, can pick up the pace if Kobra goes invisible. His KJ has been exceptional for the team, and his fragging stats makes him look like a duelist rather than a sentinel. Art, the controller, has been very solid thus far, always anchoring a site with an Odin. While it may be a bit whimsical, it’s not a very good strat, because it can be easily countered. Misaya and GangPin has looked unimpressive, which I’m surprised, as these two were the cornerstones of the old Feeling squad. Granted they both changed roles, but I expected better. SG has a tough game ahead against Crest Gaming, and it will be a slugfest.
Duelist: Kobra (🇰🇷)
Flex: Misaya (🇯🇵)
Controller: Art (🇯🇵)
Initiator Flex: GangPin (🇰🇷)
Sentinel: Thiefy (🇯🇵)
Group B Matches: All 3 games are on Sunday, March 13th
Match 1: Reignite vs FENNEL (12:00 AM EST)
Match 2: Crest Gaming vs Sengoku Gaming (3:00 AM EST)
Match 3: Winners of both matches (6:00 AM EST)
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