This Week in SC2ITL America - Week 1 Preview
SC2Improve Team League America is finally beginning - after a hasty planning period and a hectic two weeks of registration we have twenty of the finest American teams ready to battle it out over two round robin groups! With over $1000 worth of prizes on the line there is everything to play for every week as teams aim to reach the playoffs.
Our official broadcasts for Week 1 are :
Team Gravity vs Integrity Gaming - Thursday 1930 EDT
SEED Gaming vs Solaris Gaming - Friday 2000 EDT
ROOT Gaming vs Miraculous Gaming - Saturday 2000 EDT
Team Gravity vs Integrity Gaming - Thursday 1930 EDT
Team Gravity are a team we are very familiar with here at SC2Improve. They have just finished top 8 in the European edition of the SC2ITL, falling to AT Gaming in the playoffs. Integrity Gaming most notably recently finished fourth in the SC2CTL, falling to Miraculous Gaming in the semi-finals and No Dice Gaming in the third-place match.
Interestingly enough Gravity also fell to MirG in the same tournament, only in the RO8. Both are well established teams over in America, which makes this such a great match to launch our official SC2ITL America broadcasts with. Realistically I can see this going either way and it may very well come down to which team gets the momentum going for them at the start.
My prediction : Team Gravity 4 - 2 Integrity Gaming - but there is no doubt I am biased having seen so much of Gravity before!
SEED Gaming vs Solaris Gaming - Friday 2000 EDT
SEED Gaming - the academy team for ROOT - are always strengthening their roster. In SC2CTL they lost 3-4 to MicroGamerZ who went on to be the eventual champions. The combination of solid American players and promising Europeans on SEED makes them a scary team to face up against.
Solaris Gaming are the hottest American team around right now - since forming a month or slightly more ago they have won the hearts of many through their great community interaction. With recent addition binski they have a well rounded roster backed up by Guitarcheese and JonSnow who have notably been in WCS Challenger.
I feel these teams will bring us a pretty close match and it could ultimately come down to who SEED will send out from their vast roster.
My prediction : SEED Gaming 3 - 4 Solaris Gaming - the individual results of the soL players suggest to me they are slight favorites!
ROOT Gaming vs Miraculous Gaming - Saturday 2000 EDT
Well, ROOT need no introduction. We all know who they are and who they have playing for them. As I type this they have MajOr competing in the RO16 of WCS America. They placed second in the DETL a few months ago, falling only to IvD Gaming. They go up against Miraculous Gaming in Week 1 of SC2ITL America.
MirG just came off of a second place finish in SC2CTL which suggests they are not to be taken lightly. They stomped through the bracket (4-1 Ascension, 4-2 Gravity, 4-0 Integrity) before falling 1-4 to MicroGamerZ. I don't know much about their players but I can see from the results of the team that they will be contending for a place in the playoffs.
My prediction : ROOT Gaming 4 - 2 Miraculous Gaming - while MirG have looked strong in other tournaments, this is ROOT we are talking about!
We hope you manage to catch some of the games from the first week of the SC2ITL America and that you are excited for these games as much as we are!!