As the NA Pro League season nears its conclusion, no team has punched a ticket to Rio or been relegated. North America has been tightly contested, with SK Gaming and Evil Geniuses currently in the LAN final spots, but neither team is guaranteed to stay there. The path to the top of NA will be much clearer after EG plays SK on Monday, but the second spot will be very much in contention depending on how Spacestation and Rogue do in their games. At the other end of the table mousesports are secure in the mid-table, while Cloud9, Obey, and Noble can still finish in the dreaded 8th position.
1. SK Gaming - 23 points
Highest possible finish: 1st with 29 pts.
Lowest possible finish: 4th with 23 pts.
SK enter the final two weeks as our leaders holding a tiebreaker over Evil Geniuses from their 6-2 victory during their first meeting on playday 3. Another win over EG on Monday will guarantee them a spot in Rio, but if they lose it gets more complicated. A loss with a Spacestation victory means SK will still be in second, due to their earlier victories against them, but leaves them needing to pick up points on the final playday. SK will play a hungry Rogue team who will need a win themselves if they want to make it to LAN. Overall, the fate of SK’s season lies on their next game on Monday.
2. Evil Geniuses - 23 points
Highest possible finish: 1st with 29 pts.
Lowest possible finish: 4th with 23 pts.
Evil Geniuses had roster changes for the first time in a year...but it didn’t seem to affect them. Geoo has performed brilliantly for them, and they look strong heading into these final two weeks. Much like SK, Evil Geniuses’ path to Rio becomes much clearer with a win over SK, meaning they will be guaranteed to go to the finals in Rio. However, to finish second despite a loss, EG will need a victory over an Obey Alliance team needing points to avoid relegation in their final game. Just like SK, EG’s season hinges on their matchup Monday night.
3. Spacestation Gaming - 20 points
Highest possible finish: 1st with 26 pts.
Lowest possible finish: 5th with 20 pts.
Spacestation have performed better than many expected going into this season, but they need help in order to make Rio. With a win over Mouz on Monday, they would equal the point total of the loser of the SK and EG matchup. However, both teams hold tiebreakers over Spacestation, due to them only winning 1 match in 4 against those teams. Therefore, another win against Cloud9 on matchday 14 would be necessary to qualify, but C9 will be playing to avoid relegations, leading to a tight contest. If Spacestation were to fail to win either of their last two games they could drop all the way down to 5th, if Mouz and Rogue are able to get results. If this is the case, a promising season could end in the bottom half of the table.
4. Rogue - 18 points
Highest possible finish: 2nd with 24 pts.
Lowest possible finish: 5th with 18 pts.
Traditional regional powerhouse Rogue have had a disappointing second half of the season, only winning 1 out of their 5 matches, leaving them very unlikely to make it to the LAN finals. In order to finish second they need Evil Geniuses to defeat SK on Monday, then to beat SK the following week, all the while hoping Spacestation are unable to win their games. It is possible, but very unlikely. On the other end of the spectrum they could be passed up by Mouz who are only two points behind them.
5. mousesports - 16 points
Highest possible finish: 3rd with 22 pts.
Lowest possible finish: 6th with 16 pts.
Mousesports have been rejuvenated this half of the season by replacing Neptunez with England. Unfortunatly for England and mouz, his revenge tour was unable to get the win on his final stop against Rogue last week, eliminating mouz from LAN contention. During the final two playdays mouz will look to play spoiler, first against 3rd place Spacestation, then against Noble, who are in a relegation battle. If everything goes mouz’s way they could finish in 3rd place. However, the more likely outcome is them remaining in the 4th or 5th positions.
6. Cloud9 - 12 points
Highest possible finish: 5th with 18 pts.
Lowest possible finish: 8th with 12 pts.
Cloud9 are the first team on this list who could still be automatically relegated by finishing in last place. However, they have a great opportunity to secure safety from last with a win over Noble in their next match. If Cloud9 are only able to tie Noble on Monday, and Obey lose to Rogue, they would be safe due to the tiebreaker mentioned above. Cloud9 holds this tiebreaker thanks to their 10-8 round differential against Obey from their two games this season. Cloud9’s final match is against Spacestation, who will be searching for a win in order to possibly make LAN. Cloud9 just needs one win to stay up.
7. Obey Alliance - 10 points
Highest possible finish: 6th with 16 pts.
Lowest possible finish: 8th with 10 pts.
After an impressive showing at the Paris Major, Obey have only been able to accumulate 5 pts from 5 games, leaving them even on points with Noble for last place. Luckily for Obey, they lead Noble due to an 11-9 round advantage from their two games. Unfortunately, Obey have an extremely difficult two playdays ahead, first against Rogue, who have to win to stay in LAN contention, and Evil Geniuses, who also are playing for a LAN spot. This means Obey have to either pull off a memorable victory, or hope Noble is unable to get any points.
8. Noble esports - 10 points
Highest possible finish: 6th with 16 pts.
Lowest possible finish: 8th with 10 pts.
Noble started the season with their only two victories, and have really struggled since. They sit in last with two playdays to go and hold no tiebreakers over the bottom 3 teams. But it looks better for Noble than Obey, as Noble’s remaining schedule is not nearly as difficult. Therefore, if Noble even get one draw, they could be safe from auto relegation as there is a chance Obey don’t pick up any points. Noble, with a win over Cloud9, pushes Cloud9 into the relegation spots, and Noble might not even have to play relegations if it all goes their way.
Matches to Watch Out For
October 15 - Noble vs Cloud9 - 7pm CST - Who finishes 6th?
October 15 - SK Gaming vs Evil Geniuses - 9pm CST - First seed decided?
October 22 - Evil Geniuses vs Obey Alliance - 7pm CST - Obey’s last chance?
October 22 - Rogue vs SK Gaming - 8pm CST - Who else goes to Rio?