Here we go again. Ten teams competing for four available spots at the world finals in China, covid permitting. The split earlier in the year gave us a good indication of where the teams are at, but some of these orgs have undergone major changes in an attempt to become champs, and some, possibly to their detriment, have kept the same rosters. Fortunately you have me, the CRL guru, to tell you who will do well and who will suck balls. CHIVAS - Adrian, DiegoB, KevinRA and Pompeyo Chivas have made a couple of major changes to their roster. Anaban is the notable departure. Unfortunately, you can't snipe at this level and he was found wanting when it mattered. He was also found to be batshit crazy. Coming in to replace him is DiegoB, one of the hottest free agents of the off season. I was in complete shock when Liquid decided to let him go. Joining him is KevinRA. Who? Does he even play CR? If I knew they were picking randoms off the street, I would have walked down that street. I honestly don't know anything about the guy. Despite picking up Diego, I don't hold out a lot of hope for Chivas. I put Adrian in my washed list at the end of the last split, and seeing him go 0-7 in the Bren Chong Cup hasn't changed my mind. Okay, so he didn't actually play any games, but that 0-7 still can't be ignored. I see this as being more of a learning and building split for this team. They will need to develop a strong 2v2 unit and determine roles for the other two players. Chivas might pull off some shocks, but I cannot see them making the top 4. CREAM - St Belikin, DiegoE, Michifu and xPedro15 Traditionally, people tend to see Cream as one of the less fancied, underdog teams. Do that at your peril this split. They have put together a serious unit capable of anything. Recruiting "bad boy" Michifu is the type of team management I like to see. The kid can legit play. How Cream will fare this split comes down to 2 things: 1) Will Michifu accept bribes to lose? 2) Can they find settled roles for the players which work? Although the threat of Michy lining his pockets is very real, the real issue is who is going to do what at Cream. If they build a 2v2 which can run at 60%, these guys will be tough as hell to beat because their KOTH and 1v1 will be super strong. Definite chance for Shanghai. DIGNITAS - Flash, Kodigo, Lince and Bale See last split's review. Then see the review before that. Nothing much has changed at Dig and nothing much will change in their results. They'll be down near the bottom somewhere and teams who just miss out on the playoffs will be asking themselves, "How in the fuck did we lose to Dig?" Next... MISFITS - Airsurfer, Wings, Schwarzen and Bobtherock Misfits stunned everyone, except me, by making the final of the previous split. Was it luck? A fluke? I don't think so. They had one of the key elements which seems to be crucial to a successful unit, that is, roles for every player. Razz and Dip killed in 2v2, Surfer did his bit in 1v1 and Wings was a KOTH monster. I imagine it was $$$$$ which lured Razzer over to Liquid, and with George stepping into a backseat role, new players were needed. The result was some very astute recruiting. Needing to replace their 2v2 unit, Misfits picked up Bob, who is somewhat of a specialist. They also added May The Schwarz Be With You, who is one of the form players in the game right now. If these two can do the job in the duos, Misfits will be up there right again. I think they might need a little more time and some experience under their belts, but I am not prepared to write them off. PAIN - Sweep, Lucas, Vitor and Wallace If you told me that All Kill Sweep would be giving up his 70s porn career and lining up with three other new faces for Pain, I would have had you certified with Anaban and his imaginary girlfriend. Seeing them together was completely unpredictable and that is also how I expect them to play. I don't doubt the individual talent here. Lucas and Sweep have been yearning for a chance at this level and Wallace has showing some talent in the recent individual events. Who will do what for them? Fuck knows. How will they go? Fuck knows. All I know is that I am going to enjoy the show. SK GAMING - Javi, Morten, xOPSAMx and SergioRamos The only people left on the planet who have faith in Sergio all work at the SK organisation. I know he's a great guy and everybody loves him, but he has been holding these guys back. Did they sign him on a 10 yr deal or something? As I said earlier, to be successful in the current format, each player must have a role, and it just doesn't work if one player cannot do his role. To be fair, I have seen some recent improvement in Sergio, so maybe he has been grinding his arse off, and that is why he was given one last chance. It all comes down to that, because the other guys are beasts. I expect SK to threaten, with Morten leading the way again, but they're more stale than the game itself at the moment. SPACESTATION GAMING - Ah Craaaap, thegod_Rf, Sammy B and Lapokati Can a line-up look any more monstrous on paper than what SSG looks like now? The most famous 2v2 duo ever to play the game, the enigma which is Lapo, and the hottest player in the game right at present. Only one thing can stop them, complacency. However, seeing RF and Sammy in form in the recent Bren Chong Cup tells me that they have been anything but complacent. Trainer Luis can chill, grab himself a cocktail, and set it to 'auto-pilot'. I doubt he will even have to deal with any turbulence. I only have one question, What were you thinking, Immortals, when you pulled out? TEAM LIQUID - Kanny, Egor, Razzer and Surgical Goblin After a poor showing in the last split, by their standards, changes were made to the reigning world champs. Bringing in Razzer was a major coup, but I feel like letting Diego go was a mistake on the same level. He was singled out as the scapegoat, but I put the blame on the 3 senior members of this team. Surge, Kanny and Erick. They shuffled with their 2v2 line-up when they had a proven duo. Further to that, Surge and Kanny played like they had been grinding other games in the off season. They would be so good at 'Among Us' because they were impostors who fooled everyone into thinking they were CRL pros. I feel like Surge is now the weak link, much like his namesake at SK, but fortunately for Liquid, I think they can carry him by hiding him in the 2v2 with Razzer. If this works, and it should, they become a serious threat again. TEAM QUESO - Beniju, iAmJP, Cuchii Cuu and Ruben. Of all my opinions on this game, the most contentious has been my rating of Ruben as a competitive player. I am going to say it one last time... I think he is an outstanding individual player. However, I cannot rate him amongst the very best COMPETITIVE pros UNTIL he stops making mistakes in big pressure games AT CRL LEVEL Last split the Cheese were a massive flop when everyone expected them to be beasts. The reason for this was simple. They lacked balance and the roles I have been constantly talking about. Their 2 big guns, Rubes and JP, have to accept that one of them will play a lesser 1v1 role, because using either of these guys in 2v2 is a mistake. It wouldn't be a mistake if they didn't have Benny and Cuchii, but you have to play that pair in the 2v2 because they wouldn't get a 1v1 start in Grampa Gaming. Queso face the same issues they did last split. Thus, despite the outstanding individual form of their two big guns, this is a team game and I see weaknesses. They will be hard to beat but not a serious threat for the title. TRIBE - Jupiter King, Boeufmac, Azilys and TNT. I picked these guys to win last split and they came so close to proving me right. They were dominant in the group stage before getting steamrolled by SSG in the playoffs, their only loss. I consider that defeat to be more of an aberration rather than any kind of indication of weakness. Jupiter is God tier and will continue to dominate in 1v1 whilst Boof and Azilys are a formidable 2v2 unit. Tribe's biggest setback is the change in format. I rate them just below the very best KOTH teams, so there will be a lot more pressure on the 2v2 to win. Can go all the way. FINAL POWER RANKINGS SSG Team Liquid Tribe Cream SK Misfits Queso Pain Chivas Dignitas