FaZe Clan and Team BDS enter this lower bracket round two match-up coming off equally surprising results in their round one series’. FaZe Clan are coming off a surprising yet impressive 3-0 win in their round one BO5 against Group B’s top seed Endpoint CeX. Whereas, Team BDS struggled to get past Group D’s bottom seeded team Pioneers, eventually taking the series 3-2.

Group A have the most participants in the playoffs, as they have all of the three teams that qualified still alive. FaZe Clan is the third ranked squad that entered playoffs, but if they were to take out this series against Team BDS they would potentially match-up against Version1, if they were to lose, in a round three BO5. FaZe came into the 2022 RLCS Winter Major ranked number four in the current LPRatings, so there is still high expectations for this team to go deep in this tournament with some of the bigger and higher ranked teams from EU and NA now out.

Team BDS have had a very interesting tournament to say the least. They flew out of the gates early in Group C with a 3-0 demolition of Team Secret, but since then they have played 15 out of a possible 15 maps. They finished Group C with a 2-1 record, and won their lower bracket first round game 3-2 over Pioneers. Team BDS had massive expectation on them as they entered the RLCS Winter Major as the number one ranked EU team and have won 10 of their last 11 tournaments they had entered. Team BDS will want to keep that run going and by doing so they will have to get past FaZe in what sets up to be another nail-biting series.

Given the potential that Team BDS have shown in recent times and their tough series they have played, Team BDS will be ready for another tough series against FaZe Clan here. BetOnline is giving us -163.93 for Team BDS to win, we think this is a fair price, so we will be investing our money here.

The first of our upper bracket semi-finals brings us the top ranked teams from Group B, in FURIA and Group C, in G2 Esports. Both teams had highly competitive groups, with FURIA having to play a tie-breaker against Endpoint CeX for top spot and G2 playing Team BDS in their last pool match to decide who would take top spot in Group C.

FURIA were very underrated coming into the 2022 RLCS Winter Major as they were $21 outsiders to take out the Major and they now currently sit in the top four teams and in the upper bracket playoffs. During the pool matches for FURIA they convincingly despatched of NRG and Endpoint in 3-1 wins but then lost 3-0 against Renegades, which turned out to be Renegades only win for the Group Stage. FURIA have been playing really well as a team and they will have to keep playing well if they want to beat G2 and continue this great underdog run throughout the playoffs.

G2 on the other hand, have been nothing short of impressive and one of the outstanding teams to come out of the Group Stage. They were challenged by both Team Secret and Team BDS, taking them to five maps, but G2 were able to hold them both off and finish undefeated at 3-0 atop of Group C. The G2 boys will be out to add to their impressive finish to 2021 and start to 2022, by winning this Major, after they won both the NA Fall Regional Event and the NA Winter Regional Event in the last four months.

G2 will start the series as -250 favourites and they could very well take out this series, but we believe the $1.40 is a little under the odds. As the upper bracket semi-finals are best of seven series, it is anticipated that this series could go the whole way, so we suggest taking the -151.52 for over 5.5 maps, with BetOnline.

The top two ranked teams in regards to record and map differential are these teams here, Version1 and Spacestation Gaming. Version1 finished off their Group Stage as the real surprise package, ending their pool matches undefeated at 3-0 and only dropping one map for the entire stage. Spacestation Gaming did what many expected them to do by finishing top of Group D, with an added surprise going undefeated with a +3 map difference.

Version1 came into the RLCS Winter Major ranked fifth in the current LPRatings for NA, making them the lowest ranked team in Group A but exceeding all expectations and beating every team in the group with relative ease. The team’s success probably wouldn’t be a surprise to them as they took out the RLCS 2022 Winter NA Regional Event 3 – Mobil Mountain Classic, beating NRG 4-1, in the last tournament they entered in February of this year. If Version1 do continue their run into the upper bracket final, it could be the first time they have made it to the point end of a Major and one of the stories of the entire tournament.

Spacestation Gaming have taken everything in their stride so far this tournament, taking their only two pool matches 3-2 against Dignitas and 3-1 over Pioneers. Spacestation Gaming are continuing their steady climb up the LPRatings ladder as they now sit at third in the current NA LPRatings moving from fourth since the last ratings changes. Spacestation Gaming have won four of their last six tournaments that they have entered since August of 2020 winning four in a row in over the end of 2020 and start of 2021 then finishing second in back to back tournaments to finish 2021 and start 2022.

Spacestation Gaming will be looking for a change of fortunes and go all the way at the RLCS Winter Major, but Version1 will be looking to continue this fairy-tale run and make it to the pointy end of a Major for the first time. The odds that we are getting for this series to go over 5.5 maps with BetOnline is very fair, therefore, we suggest taking the -163.93 on offer.

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?Team Queso take on FaZe Clan in the last series for Group A. With Version1 beating both of these teams on day one and leaving their last game against the bottom team in Detonator, these two sides will be fighting for second spot in the group.

Team Queso come into this series at one win and one loss with a 3-0 win against Detonator and a 3-1 defeat to Version1. Team Queso came into the Major with high expectations of going deep into the playoffs, after having three great tournament results entering this Major. They achieved two first placed results and a second place result in their three tournaments that they have taken place in this year.

FaZe Clan also come into this series with one win and one loss, with a 3-1 win over Detonator and 3-0 defeat to Version1. FaZe Clan have shown their capabilities in previous Majors, finishing in third-fourth position in the last two Majors they have participated in recently. Many people believed that FaZe Clan would push to finish in top spot in Group A but they really struggled against Version1 and eventually got past Detonator, which is by far the bottom-ranked team in this group.

Given the importance of this game and the seeding potential for both of these teams, we believe that Team Queso is a deserving favourite at -138.89 and that is the suggested way to go for this series.

?Both G2 Esports and Team BDS come into this game sitting at 2-0 and are only separated by a one-map differential in favour of BDS. This series sets up to be an absolute cracker and it could be one of the better BO5 series of the group stage.

G2 are coming off two gruelling series on day one. Playing four maps against Evil Geniuses (3-1 win) and five maps against Team Secret (3-2 win). Even if G2 do not win this series against Team BDS, there is still a lot of hope that they can make it to the pointy end of the tournament as they have really put themselves into the conversation as one of the favourites to take out the RLCS Winter Major.

As for Team BDS, their strong form coming out of 2021 and into 2022 has continued. This team has won 10 of their last 11 events they have participated in. They have won the last three EU Majors over 2020 and 2021, as well as the last World-Wide Major in December of 2021. If Team BDS brings that same form we have all seen over the last 18 months to this Major, there is a strong case to be made for this team. They started the tournament on the fourth line of outright betting at +850 and should definitely be in the conversation to go all the way.

G2 and Team BDS will be throwing everything at each other in a bid to take out the top spot in Group A, so we believe this series will go the distance and take us to a fifth and deciding map. The +162 for over 4.5 maps at BetOnline is way overs and that is where our money will be going.

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?The General NRG are favourites to take out the 2022 RLCS Winter Major, currently sitting at +150 with BetOnline. This team is stacked with talent and includes one of the best Rocket League players of all time in Garrett “GarrettG” Gordon, who at the end of 2021 was ranked number one in the world; and Justin “jstn.” Morales, who was ranked number three in the world. Both of these players have amassed over $400,000 in total prize money throughout their careers. Even though these two players take the spotlight, don’t forget about Mariano “SquishyMuffinz” Arruda, who sits at number two in the world and himself has earned over $400,000 in prize money.

FURIA come in as a +2000 outsider to take out the 2022 RLCS Winter Major. Given the talent on the other side of the pitch for NRG, this FURIA team will find it tough in this contest. FURIA do have a relatively new addition in the form of Yan “yanxnz” Xisto Nolasco, who signed with the team in late 2021, but that will not be enough to make NRG worry about facing them on day one of the RLCS Winter Major. We suggest taking The General NRG at the match line -1.5, currently sitting at -188.68, as NRG will be (and need to be) way too good for a team of FURIA’s standard.

G2 enter the 2022 RLCS Winter Major coming off of a first-place result in the RLCS 2021-22 Winter NA Regional Event 2, where they beat NRG 4-2 in the final. This team has a lot of talent with Reed “Chicago” Wilen ranked 11th in the world, Jacob “JKnaps” Knapman ranked 14th in the world and the new arrival Massimo “Atomic” Franceschi ranked 13th in the world. The talent that is now on this roster is going to give G2 a massive boost in their first Major together and put them up there with the best of the best in this tournament.

Evil Geniuses enter the Major coming off of a third-placed finish in the RLCS Premier Cup and a fourth-place finish in the RLCS Copa de Rocket League. Evil Geniuses have shown that they can match it with some of the best in world in recent tournaments, but we still believe that G2 will be too strong for them in this encounter. The -111.11 we are getting for G2 at the -1.5 match line is slightly overs, in our opinion, so that’s where the money should be going.

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?Version1 are one of those teams that are much better than many people give them credit for. They’ve been performing well this season, placing fourth at the first NA Region event, and they won the third NA regional event in February.

Furthermore, Version1 field a solid roster, with Kyle “Torment” Storer, who is known for his “LAN buff”, arguably one of the top North American Rocket League players in Landon “BeastMode” Konerman, and Robert “Comm” Kyser, who has his fair share of solo carry performances. With those players, Version1 are clearly built for LAN events, but despite all that, they will struggle against FaZe Clan.

As seen recently, Version1 tend to struggle against fast Rocket League esports teams, which won’t help their cause against FaZe Clan, whose playstyle is kryptonite for Torment and his crew. V1 are good, but playstyle-wise they pair poorly with FaZe (and even Team Queso).

?Renegades enter this match as +162 underdogs, which seems fair, but they might do better than expected. Endpoint CeX are stronger, but they don’t do well against teams and players that can create chaos and are not afraid to go all out, which perfectly describes Cameron “Kamii” Ingram.

But while Kamii will be the player to watch, Renegades’ success will heavily rely on Cameron “CJCJ” Johns, who can be a bit inconsistent, but if his accuracy is on, he could be the difference-maker in this bout. In contrast, Lachlan “Fever” Aitchison has always been a solid player, so you know what to expect from him.

Endpoint should win this bout more times than not, but Renegades have the tools to cause an upset, and that’s good enough for us to side with them at +162. Alternatively, a bet on over 4.5 isn’t a bad choice either.

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