Rogue vs exceL

For our second match of the day we have an absolute doozy. Saying such a thing feels strange, and with good reason. After all, both Rogue and Excel were some of the worst teams the region had to offer last year, and yet they've either changed considerably over the course of the off-season (in Excel's case), or have improved and grew in many unexpected ways (in Rogue's).

So right now, as things stand, this is actually -- at worst -- a fight between two mid-tier challengers, and at best at least one of them is a shoe-in for the playoff (at the very least). Heck, it wouldn't be strange if both teams eventually qualified. Talk about a surprising twist!

2020 has, then, given both of these two teams a chance at redemption, and they're already delivering. Rogue are entering today's match after dismantling Misfits Gaming with relative ease yesterday, whereas Excel made the world take notice by spoiling FORG1VEN's return.

Who would've thought that this would actually be a match worth watching? Perhaps even one of the most fascinating ones of the day? Rogue is, at the moment, predicted to be a Top 4 team in the region, which makes their every upcoming game an absolute must watch. They've displayed incredible synergy and mechanical prowess in their opening game, with Larssen's spectacular Qiyana plays being the highlight. They were in sync and constantly on the offensive, and it was truly a pleasure to watch. With Hans Sama by their side, it feels like this Rogue line-up has all that it takes to compete at the highest of levels and perhaps even leave a mark in the grand scheme of things.

The fun things is that we'll get to see new layers of Rogue as the split progresses, and it seems that they have quite a lot to show. They don't have any huge, glaring weakness (which doesn't mean they're without fault), and watching them rise through the ranks should provide us with more than enough entertainment over the coming weeks.

Excel, on the other hand, looked far better than anyone expected yesterday. They were losing handily against Schalke 04, but they waited things out, played to their strengths and focused on the late game. Even though both of their solo laners had isolated deaths, they never crumbled which is commendable for a team that was just assembled. Once the going got rough, however, everyone carried their share of the weight. Patrik, in particular, had a spectacular performance throughout the game and certainly overshadowed the Greek veteran phenom who was looking to make a statement.

They certainly made a ton of mistakes throughout the game, but they fought back and and had a stellar late game-oriented team comp that would eventually outscale what Schalke had to offer. In the end, it was a fantastic, albeit flawed showing. In any case, they proved their worth right out the gates. They might not have any superstar within their ranks, but they're all well-rounded players with a lot of potential, and it seems like they're a perfect fit stylistically as well.

Predicting this one is incredibly hard because both roster have what it takes to get the win. That said, Rogue definitely has more power under the hood and if they play as well as they can, they shouldn't have too big of a problem winning.