With Nerd Street Gamers’ Last Chance Qualifier(LCQ) starting up on Monday, March 22nd, 2021; I thought it would be a good idea to go through the teams and provide a brief synopsis of their journey up to this point, as well as their chances in this tournament. As a brief disclaimer, I will do my best to approach each team objectively given my existing history with some players that will be competing. Additionally, with the recent news of Sola Fide pulling out of Proving Grounds, an extra spot has opened up for one of the LCQ teams to qualify through, potentially changing some of my considerations.
Barrage:
Arguably the favorites to win the entire LCQ, Barrage is a roster with immense mechanical skill in every role allowing them to play through any lane. Having consistently challenged the likes of Zoo’s Gaming and Sola Fide throughout the Proving Grounds Circuit, Barrage is a shoo-in for Proving Grounds assuming they don’t have any more unfortunate power outages.
Expected Finish: 1st
CLG Academy:
As the only remaining academy roster not qualified for Proving Grounds, CLGA have a lot to prove going into the LCQ. With losses in the last tier 1 tournament only coming from other academy rosters, CLGA is expected to be head and shoulders above every other team in this tournament with the possible exception of Barrage.
Their strength as a roster comes from a consistent playstyle and strong mechanical plays from the likes of Thien and Katsurii. However, when matched in mechanics, their consistent play style can be exposed in the form of punished side lanes and pressuring carries onto uncomfortable champions such as Jayce and Tristana.
Expected Finish: 2nd
Cloud9 Amateur:
C9 Amateur has been a quiet team outside the occasional roster drama. Other than to occasional highlight-reel-worthy play, C9 AM snuck into the tier 1 tournaments under the radar after an uncharacteristically high finish in BIG. They have since struggled to find success against other top teams, with a highest finish of 7-8 in the tier 1 tournaments so far. When all is said and done, this C9 AM roster has a ton of potential but ultimately just is not yet at the level they need to be to consistently compete with top amateur and academy teams.
Expected Finish: 7-8th
Dignitas Mirage:
As much as I want Dignitas Mirage to succeed and qualify, I don’t expect them to be able to do so this time around. This roster has a ton of great talent on it, potentially most notable is long-time amateur jungler Hyami, but can’t seem to find consistency throughout the different stages of the game. Every time this roster picks up an early game lead, it feels like they throw it away in the mid-late game. Couple that with their previous results falling to Winthrop and dropping a game to an inconsistent Supernova, DIG MIG is just too much of a coinflip this time around.
Expected Finish: 5-6th
Maryville:
To be perfectly honest, I don’t know what to think about Maryville University. Their players are plenty good, although, down a step with the loss of Niles and Iconic, their coaching staff is proven, and when they’re playing at their best, I’m not sure they’re even beatable. Yet, they have failed to qualify for proving grounds, they have fallen short time and time again, and if I’m honest…I’m unsure why. By all measures, this team should be a favorite to win the LCQ, but their inability to perform makes them a team not even competing for a podium spot.
Expected Finish: 5-6th
Revival:
This is the part of the article where I am going to struggle the most to be objective. Between my knowledge of Revival from my Overwatch days and the fact that I go to school with their bot lane, I am admittedly biased towards this team. And this team has had its ups and downs, to say the least. With a roster of young inexperienced players, Revival surprised a lot of people with their solid macro and high-energy playstyle that helped secure them a spot in the tier 1 tournaments.
Despite having to replace their bot lane mid-way through the tier 1 tournaments, Revival’s playstyle still hasn’t changed. I genuinely believe that, when this team is on, they can be a dark horse and surprise everybody by snagging a spot in Proving Grounds. The only thing holding them back is how little they’ve gotten to play together as a roster.
Expected Finish: 4th
Supernova:
Supernova has been…well, underwhelming. This team has both a solid history in amateur and players with immense potential but just can’t seem to string together wins. With 8-12 finishes in the last two tier 1 tournaments and a recent loss to Revival 3-1 in the Upsurge Premier League Semi-Finals; Supernova is a team destined to come up just short. They could definitely show up on the day and make a run in the LCQ, but it isn’t expected.
Expected Finish: 7-8th
Winthrop:
The new collegiate gods? Winthrop has surprised time and again throughout the proving grounds circuit, landing them a top placement in this list just behind Barrage and CLGA. While their playstyle is a tad one-dimensional, what they can do, they do exceptionally well. Couple that with their results against other teams in this tournament and it is hard to see anyone except CLGA, Barrage, and maybe Revival truly testing them.
Expected Finish: 3rd
When the dust settles on the Last Chance Qualifiers, three teams will walk away having qualified for proving grounds. And while expectations are great, any of these teams could show up on the day and cause an upset. The stage is set and only the best will make it through.
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