Expect the expected

EU RMR A is officially underway, and we can’t wait to sink our teeth into some Bo1 upse- What do you mean there were no upsets?

The biggest surprise of the European RMRs so far has been the lack of surprises. Every favourite won their matchup in the first round, from NAVI, to Vitality, to even FaZe.

Yeah, FaZe won their opening game, in an RMR, against Cloud9. Is this even a Major anymore? Seriously, Falcons won, what timeline is this?

It gets even more… ordinary. At what point does being super ordinary become extraordinary?

After their round 2 games, MOUZ, Vitality, NAVI, and FaZe are all 2-0. Even despite FaZe trying their best to make things interesting. They gave up a commanding early lead built up on CT side Nuke thanks to equal parts choking and equal parts Falcons skill. But it wasn’t to be, FaZe won 4 straight rounds in OT to prevent any malarky against s1mple and his gang of hawks.

The only “big” names with 0-1 starts were C9 and Fnatic, thanks to unfortunate opening matchups against FaZe and NAVI. But they won their second matches, killing any possible early-round elimination games for a big team. booooo

Well, GamerLegion is 0-2, and seeing a recent Major finalist in that position is obviously jarring. But it’s just not the same.

The good news is, those 2-0 teams now all play each other, so it’s going to get interesting real fast. They might even be done when you read this newsletter.

Vitality run the rumour mill

There’s good and bad news for Vitality this week, but we’ll start with the good. flameZ has extended his contract ‘til 2027, despite - according to French streamer KRL, which will be a running theme - saying he had an offer from G2.

To be fair, KRL was the first to report about the contract extension, and he was right.

Therefore, one wonders, if flameZ is staying, why did Vitality (allegedly) bid for Jimpphat alongside G2 and Team Falcons?

Don’t get us wrong, Jimpphat is bloody brilliant. There’s few better players in the world, and he’s still so young - if you can sign him, you probably should. Anyway, Vitality signed flameZ because they ‘could’ and replaced dupreeh after winning the Major, so they’re no stranger to this.

Who would Jimpphat be replacing then? Is it new Dad mezii to give him some paternity leave? Has apEX finally gone insane? Well, more insane than before?

No, it would have been Spinx. Though it’s kind of an immaterial question, as Jimpphat is apparently joining Falcons. Bombshell.

Bombshell two - the Spinx bit. There were rumours of Spinx’s unhappiness bubbling beneath the surface, but now it seems like he will be plying his trade elsewhere, again, if KRL is correct.

Jimpphat would have been a great replacement, actually. Now that we think about it.

There are very few other people who can replace Spinx’s firepower and experience, and even fewer who are available for transfer for an amount of Euros that can fit on one line of a normal calculator.

Good luck, Vitality. You better win this Major.

Skyesports Shenanigans: Episode II

From the studio that brought you dreadful conditions and phone call vetos, comes the next thrilling chapter in the saga, leaving you with one burning question: Where’s the prize money?

Skyesports seems to have taken a page out of BLEED’s playbook, as several Skyesports Masters participants - the $345,000 prize pool online event - are speaking out, claiming that after seven months they’ve yet to see a penny of their winnings.

Former Gods Reign coach ToH1o and OG’s current Head of Esports, Mike Schwartz, have both confirmed that the respective amounts - $15,000 and $70,000 – have yet to be paid by the Indian TO.

But it seems not everyone is in the same boat.

ENCE’s CEO confirmed that they received their prize money months ago in a reply to ToH1o's tweet.

Skyesports has since addressed the situation, clarifying that they “have disbursed $257,500 in prize money for the Skyesports Masters 2024.” They explained that some payments have been delayed due to issues “in onboarding documents for international transactions.”

Skyesports also claims they’ve been in communication with the affected teams about these issues, but the tweets from those affected suggest otherwise.

Another mark on an already questionable reputation.

Absolutely no way G2 go 3-0

Look, there might not have been many upsets so far in the first European group, but if any good teams were ripe for an upsettin’, it’s G2, Spirit, and Astralis.

Honestly, predicting the EU RMR B group is a completely futile endeavor. You might as well put 16 plates of food in front of Moo Deng and get her to pick seven.

There is literally no world where G2 don’t lose to B8 at some point before 2025, and a BO1 at the RMR seems like the most likely time for that, so that’s our one prediction.

You’ve got a nice pool of good quality teams who can easily make it through, like Eternal Fire, HEROIC and VP, a sort of third tier of teams you don’t want to play against, like B8, Aurora, and BIG (sort of - they have 1/5th of the BNE chaos emerald), and then another tier of probable losers.

That’s like, TSM, Sashi and NIP. We’re not even joking anymore when we jab at NIP. Would you rather play against Passion UA, PARIVISION, 9 Pandas, or 3DMAX than NIP?

Be honest.

Group A was really predictable, but this one is the exact opposite. All the chaotic fun teams are here. G2 are the best team here. Just think about that. Think about what normally happens when G2 are one of the best teams at an event like this.

This group is destined for some sort of disaster, and we cannot wait. We love the RMRs.

This starts on Thursday, by the way. The day after the other one finishes. Amazing. Every day is a blessing.

✨ Just sticker things

🇨🇳🏆 Perks of the tournament

📰 In other news…

This TL;DR was written by aizyesque, shoko, Horizzon and napz.
Welshy coded the email and Incipiens copy edited.

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