CRL WEST PREVIEW - GROUP A.

It all begins this Saturday, May 23rd, or early Sunday morning for us poor Australians who lose sleep to watch mobile esports. This season of CRL West shapes up to be the very best so far, in my opinion. There has been talk on social media about the lack of teams (Hi Thunder) but I believe this only serves to make the competition better and tighter. As I sat down and began writing notes about each team (I have to do homework, being a CR guru does not come entirely naturally) I realised that you can make a case for just about every team to make the playoffs and potentially win it. This was never true in the past. It's certainly true that some good players missed out on a gig, but that's healthy for the development of CR esports. It's good that players have a hunger and have to work to get into a team. You shouldn't just have to turn up to get a guernsey. I'm not going to deny that sometimes bias and "who you know" has played a part in finalising some selections, but at the end of the day, if you're a team guilty of this, then you're only hurting yourself. There are no successful teams in professional sports who partake in these kinds of practises, and some esports teams will have to learn this the hard way. So, onto the teams we go... Liquid - The reigning world champs are back with an unchanged line-up, apart from the fact that this time they should have Egor for the entire season. They don't have any weaknesses so why would they change? Liquid only faces one threat from having another successful season, and that is complacency. If they've become complacent, which leads to laziness and lack of hard work, they could have a mediocre season, but I am sure Erick has done everything he can to prevent that happening. Dignitas - This is the best line-up that Dig have been able to muster in all their seasons of CRL so far. We know what Lince at his best can do and Bale is an emerging talent. Unfortunately, I still struggle to see them making the playoffs without a proven 2v2 team. If they've managed to develop something in the off season, they could shock us all, but I think they'll mostly be nuisance value by pulling off one, maybe two, upsets. Chivas - These guys surprised many people in the lead up No Tilt event with an outstanding showing to make the final. Anaban demonstrated that he is far more than a simping ladder sniper with some of the best 1v1 play. However, CRL is a different ball game, and much like Dignitas, Chivas lacks a proven 2v2 duo. This will be a challenge for them, but I think they can do enough to reach the playoffs. Tribe - Congrats, Chief Pat. You've finally learned how to build a CRL team. I rate these guys as a serious threat to win it all. They have an excellent 2v2 duo with the Sth Koreans, and then some outstanding 1v1 talent as well. I did have some concerns with Bouefmac's form about 2 months ago, but he seems to be returning to his former self. Azylis is proven at this level, and Jupiter King, on most recent form, has become one of the very best in the world. The scary thing is that they will only get better with time. Cream - I love my boy Beli, and he is definitely CRL standard at his best, but when I look at this line-up, I just don't see a CRL team. It looks to me like a collection of four 3rd best players from a normal team. They don't have a superstar and they don't have a CRL 2v2 team. I expect this to be a learning and development season for Cream. GROUP A FINAL STANDINGS: Liquid Tribe Chivas Dignitas Cream I've given Liquid the edge for first spot simply because of experience, but it would be no surprise at all to see Tribe take it. I think they are certainties for the top 2. The only other potential change is for Dig to take third spot from Chivas, but I think the newcomers should be strong enough to hold onto that last playoff spot.