PGL Europe B RMR Power Rankings: Who will qualify for Major

Tomorrow the second RMR tournament for European teams will start in Bucharest. 16 teams will fight for eight slots for PGL Major Antwerp 2022. Among the participants are the leaders of the world ranking in the person of G2, Players, NiP, and ENCE. As well as debutants: ASG, Sangal Esports, and Anonymo Esports.

Here we’ll take you through what to expect from the event: who are the favorites, who will have to prove their strength, and for whom this tournament is a “first big experience”.

Favorites

Three teams from this group will receive “Legend” status on Major. According to the results of the last big tournaments, we can predict that NiP, ENCE, Players, and G2 are the main contenders for these slots.

Ninjas in Pyjamas will debut with Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin on the roster, who joined the team in March. 19-year-old Swede is one of the main players on a local scene. Before this moment, he played in Fnatic, with which won several tier-1 tournaments, and twice reached the top-20 players by HLTV. Brollan signing uniquely boosts the team. But anyone knows how NiP can prepare for RMR in such a short time.

ENCE, the runner-up of EPL S15, had a good month. They finished 1st in the group, beat Movistar Riders and NiP in playoffs, and only lost against FaZe Clan in the grand-final. Maden, who joined the team in early 2022, helped get to the next level. There is no doubt that the ENCE will qualify to the Major, but with what ease, the question remains open.

After a victory at Funspark ULTI 2021, Players encountered problems. Yes, they reached playoffs at IEM Katowice 2022 and EPL S15, but both times lost against FaZe Clan in the first round. But these are still the same Players that surprised everyone last year, none of the players individually did get worse to play. Let’s see if they got over the rough patch.

Finally, let’s talk about super-team G2 Esports. In Katowice, they managed to finish 2nd, lost in the grand-final against FaZe Clan, but fully failed EPL S15, and didn’t reach the playoffs. XTQZZZ’s wards had a lot of time to fix all problems and qualitatively prepared for this RMR. Players were in bootcamp and according to m0NESY’s streams, the atmosphere in the team is good.

Next on Line

This category of teams refers to those who are strong enough to place in the top half of the tournament, but don’t yet have the results to put them on the same level as the biggest favorites. Astralis with Farlig managed to reach the quarterfinals of EPL S15. The Danish team started to play better, but not to make them the favorite of this RMR.

Entropiq, who lost against Astralis in the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 15, has a good chance to qualify for the Major. Since Stockholm, they visited three big LAN-events, received more experience, and are ready to qualify for PGL Major Antwerp 2022.

Copenhagen Flames must prove that their result in the last Major wasn’t an accident. After the brilliant result in Stockholm, some big organizations were interested in Danes. But the transfer didn’t happen, and five players stayed in Copenhagen Flames for this year. The first two months haven’t been successful for a team, but since early March CPH started to play better, won Pelaajat.com Nordic Masters: Spring 2022, and finished 2nd at Pinnacle Winter Series #3 and Pinnacle Cup III. PGL Major Antwerp 2022: European RMR B is a strength test for Copenhagen Flames.

HEET, former DBP Poney, the last hope of the French scene right now. The winners of Malta Vibes Knockout Series #5 and ESL Challenger League Season 40: Europe are coming to RMR in a good mood. Last month, HEET improved their game, gained experience against teams stronger than them, and are ready to defend their country’s honor on RMR.

Dark Horses

These three teams can make a surprise run at RMR. First, Endpoint. This team is an incubator, for young and promising players. Over the past two years, they have managed to sell flameZ, mezii, and Thomas. Now they have BOROS, a 17-year-old, who looks good on tier-2 scene. There are no big expectations from Endpoint, but they can “make noise” at this RMR.

Bad News Eagles, the first team from Kosovo, will compete at RMR. Last year they were under BLINK tag and played a lot of tier-2 tournaments. This year, players managed to qualify for RMR and will try to receive the spot for Major. The main thing about the team is the atmosphere. Each player is a brother to the other, and the fervent nature of the guys helps them overcome difficulties.

The Czech team Sinners will try again to qualify for the Major. Last time they had a good run, but in tiebreakers lost all chance to be in Stockholm. After the departure of oskar, the legend of the local scene, Sinners did not get worse, but managed to hold positions.

Team Spirit, after failing at PGL Major Stockholm 2021, made some changes and took two players from the academy roster. This year they played a little, worth noting only Malta Vibes Knockout Series #6. They were on bootcamp in Serbia for about a month, it’s a good time to prepare for the important tournament.

Underdogs

Finally, let’s talk about the following teams: ASG, Sprout, Sangal, and Anonymo. Qualifying for this RMR tournament is a big achievement for these teams. Before that they had no high-profile successes, in their composition, there are no high-profile names. These are young teams for which it is only the beginning. The experience at LAN, the matches in a studio against tier-1 teams, is what they need to develop and become better as a team, and as players. They are well aware that they are coming here as outsiders, and therefore they do not weigh a lot of responsibility for the result.

PGL Major Antwerp 2022: European RMR B will take place in Bucharest, Romania, from 17th until 20th of April. All matches will take place in PGL Studio Bucharest.