Picking a favorite to win the RLCS Season 3 Finals is a very difficult task. Sure, you may have a team you support and you hope does well, but who will actually win? Let’s look at all the teams that have qualified and where they stand.

Though they come into this RLCS as last season’s champions, their last few games have not been the FlipSid3 we’re used to. Comprised of Markydooda, Kuxir97, and gReazymeister, FlipSid3 is probably the most feared team in Europe, perhaps the world, and are the favorites to repeat as World Champions, but can they do it?

In their RLCS League Play and the European Divisional Finals, FlipSid3 suffered 2-3 losses to The Leftovers, Northern Gaming, and Resonant, nearly being completely eliminated from the LAN by the latter team in the European Divisional Finals before ultimately losing to Mock-It eSports, which Marky told Red Bull, “They were the better team on the day.” Mock-It would go on to win the European Divisional finals, $10,000, and the top seed at the LAN. FlipSid3 placed 2nd in Europe.

Comprised of Kaydop, miztik, and Fairy Peak, this Mock-It team not only won the European Divisional finals but also earned the top seed of the LAN and a bye – alongside FlipSid3 – through the first round of the World Championship LAN in Los Angeles. These players are extremely talented. In fact, miztik and Kaydop won awards for their performance during League Play. It was Kaydop who won the European MVP award.

I expect this team to do a lot of damage, and their losses to FlipSid3, Northern Gaming, and Gale Force eSports (formerly Pocket Aces) came early in League Play and they have a lot of wins since then. Mock-It could definitely win the LAN if the day is theirs, but can they?

Comprised of Snaski, Sikii, and Ferra. This is a team made up of players who were literally leftover – or left behind by the other teams. Amazingly, these players became one of the strongest teams in Europe. With their only League Play losses to Mock-It and PENTA Sports. They would lose during the Divisional Playoffs to FlipSid3 but would take 2 games off the defending champions and would place 3rd overall in Europe.

Comprised of Maestro, Remkoe, and Deevo, a lot of people expect Northern Gaming to do very well. Will Northern Gaming succeed? They need to deal with one of the OCE teams first but I doubt they’ll have a lot of trouble. If they succeed, they immediately go against NRG, one of the strongest teams in the world. They only have one loss during League Play against The Leftovers but they placed 4th in the Divisional Playoffs, losing again to The Leftovers in the 3rd place match.

Comprised of Jacob, Fireburner, and GarrettG, this is one of the best teams in the world. They are the only team from outside of Europe that Markydooda from FlipSid3 Tactics is concerned with and rightfully so. This team has won the NA Divisional Playoffs three times in a row, but they’ve not won the LAN. The previous team involved Sadjunior, who now plays on Denial Esports.

NRG possibly has to deal with an OCE team or Northern Gaming, both of which should challenge NRG in different ways. I could see NRG taking out whomever they meet in the 2nd round (since NRG has a bye). How they’ll do from there can vary. They’ll likely face off against FlipSid3 next, if the defending champions make it past Selfless                 Gaming. NRG stands the next best chance to win this aside from FlipSid3.

Comprised of Turtle, Matt, and Sizz, Rogue has been a devastatingly underrated team in NA. With League Play losses to G2, NRG, and Denial Esports, the last two they have to face in this bracket at the LAN. Rogue stands a good chance at being very successful here. I’m eager to see them play against a European or OCE team just to see how they perform.

Since G2 was eliminated from the LAN, Rogue looks outstanding even in the Divisional Playoffs where the only team they couldn’t get past was NRG. However, Rogue still managed to take 2nd at the Divisional Playoffs. This is why Rogue is such a threat in the bracket.

Comprised of Dappur, Mijo, Pluto, and Timi, Selfless is one of those teams that could shock the world, even while having a lot of fan support. Selfless is another strong team, regardless of the trio they have active at the time. Dappur, Mijo, and Pluto are just as dangerous when Pluto is replaced by Timi. There’s no saying for sure which 3 they’re going to use at LAN. Either way, whomever plays Selfless first needs to be ready for both flavors of Selfless.

Selfless has the defending champions, FlipSid3 Tactics, in their first matchup of the LAN, so they will be tested right away. If successful, they then have to deal with NRG, Northern Gaming, or one of the OCE teams, depending on who makes the next round. Suffice it to say, Selfless has a difficult bracket. Fortunately, this is double elimination, so there’s no saying who Selfless has to deal with.

Comprised of Lethamyr, CorruptedG, and Sadjunior, Denial is the sort of team that a lot of people sleep on but may end up shocking some viewers. They ended up getting losses to Atelier (now known as Rogue), NRG, and G2, getting swept by the latter, during League Play. In the Divisional Playoffs, though, Denial eliminated G2 but couldn’t defeat Rogue or Selfless Gaming, finishing 4th in NA.

Denial is the sort of team that can win or lose depending on the day. While that may be true for any team, that’s especially the case with Denial, who are nearly impossible to predict. It’s safe to say that if you’re a fan of Denial, your ‘high hopes’ are just as good as anything right about now.

While we don’t yet know for sure which two Oceania teams will make it, the favorites are Alpha Sydney (Torsos, Jake, and Drippay – the OCE MVP) and Just a Minute Gaming (Bango, Montyconnor, and Express), of which I am a part of. JAM Gaming suffered one loss during League Play, a sweep at the hands of Alpha Sydney. AS would also take a loss to Throwdown LAN fellows, Sand Castle.

I don’t expect a team from OCE to win the whole thing, but we’ve never seen these teams play one another in a LAN environment. As is pointed out, OCE plays a lot more LANs than NA or EU does and that could be a major factor throughout the bracket for OCE. But, while these teams may play a lot in the LAN environment, they still need to adjust their playstyle. It’s likely that what works against other OCE teams won’t work against NA or EU teams. The large, booming shots will likely be converted into offensive pressure for their opponents.

Alpha Sydney probably stands the best chance at disrupting the bracket, as they are quite proficient at offensive team plays, making the defense work. While JAM is also good at team plays, it may be something that separates Alpha Sydney from the other OCE teams. Both teams face a very difficult bracket however, assuming they win. We don’t know what the Lower Bracket will contain but we do know that OCE has produced some very talented players.

Overall, the RLCS Season 3 World Championship should be a lot of fun to watch and the results will be very exciting. Be sure to go to rlcs.gg to get your tickets before they sell out, June 2nd through 4th at The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA. If you can’t go, tune in at twitch.tv/rocketleague to catch all the action live.