RLCS 2022/23 Winter Split Major Tournament Preview & Tips - Will Gen.G defend the title?

Tit Krajnik

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Last updated: 04 Apr 2023

Tit Krajnik 04 Apr 2023

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The RLCS 2022/23 Winter Split Major kicks off on April 6
The tournament is the first Rocket League Major of the 2023 season
Can Gen.G Mobil1 Racing defend its title?

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Rocket League Championship Series (Getty Images)

RLCS Winter Major Predictions

The first Rocket League Major of the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) 2023 season, the RLCS Winter Split Major, is set to kick off on Thursday, April 6, featuring 16 esports teams vying for the lion’s share of the $310,000 prize pool and RLCS Circuit Points.

RLCS Winter Major Predictions
RLCS Winter Major Betting Odds
A Couple Of Dangerous Outsiders
Gen.G Mobil1 Racing Favoured To Defend Their Throne

The tournament will take place in San Diego, USA and run until Sunday, April 9, when the top two Rocket League teams will clash for the $100,000 winner’s share and 40 RLCS Circuit Points, counting towards the RLCS World Championship qualification.

Can Gen.G Mobil1 Racing defend its title?
Strong contenders from North America and Europe.
FaZe Clan underrated despite their regional success.

RLCS Winter Major Betting Odds

Stake betting site have already released the outright betting odds for RLCS Winter Split Major, and according to the offer, the reigning Major champion Gen.G Mobil1 Racing (5.50) are the clear favourites to do it again.

But the North American squad are closely followed by a handful of candidates that can dethrone them, including FaZe Clan (7.00), Europe’s Karmine Corp (7.00), Team Liquid (9.00), and G2 Esports (10.00).

All the eyes for this tournament will be on Gen.G Mobil1 Racing, FaZe Clan, and Karmine Corp, but it’s easy to ignore a handful of other squads that can make some noise.

In this category, we can exclude bottom teams such as Pioneers, KRU Esports, and Gaimin Gladiators, but as we move up the list, a few squads are worth our attention.

A Couple Of Dangerous Outsiders

Although less strong or dangerous than the leading trio, plenty of teams can make a deep run and challenge the title. But out of that group of squads, I’m mainly interested in Complexity Gaming (12.00) and Team Liquid (9.00).

Complexity Gaming are one of the best teams from the North American league, and even though they’ve not won a single regional event this season, they placed second in Winter Open and reached the semifinals in Winter Cup and Winter Invitational. Unfortunately, in both semifinals, Complexity was crushed by Gen.G (0-4) and FaZe Clan (0-4).

On paper, those results look worrisome, but FaZe and Gen.G are the only two teams who troubled Complexity this season, and if they can get over that hump, then there aren’t many teams left that can stop them.

Hailing from the other side of the Pacific, we have the young and dangerous Team Liquid, who look poised to make some noise in San Diego. Team Liquid had a disastrous start to the season, finishing the Winter Open in fifth-eighth place, but then found traction to claim silver from Winter Cup and gold from the Winter Invitational.

In the Fall Split Major, Team Liquid placed top eight, which isn’t too inspiring, but ahead of the San Diego Major, Team Liquid look like an entirely different beast. Admittedly, this is still a very young squad with an average age of just over 16, but they’re playing like veterans and look the best they’ve ever had.

Gen.G Mobil1 Racing Favoured To Defend Their Throne

According to the RLCS betting odds, Gen.G Mobil1 Racing are the clear favourites to defend their Major title, priced at 5.50 with most esports betting sites. But regardless of what the odds suggest, we must also talk about Karmine Corp (7.00) and FaZe Clan (7.00) when discussing the primary candidates to win in San Diego.

Gen.G Mobil1 Racing are the RLCS Fall Split Major winner and one of the most consistent teams from the region. They’ve made finals of every single regional event, except for the last one – Winter Invitational – where they got eliminated in fifth-eighth place by no other than FaZe Clan.

Gen.G’s recent slump is slightly concerning, although it’s tough to call it a slump, knowing that they’ve lost only against one team, which ended up winning the whole event. Nevertheless, despite their dominance over the last 12 months, it’s fair to question why are Gen.G priced at lower odds than FaZe, who eliminated them from the previous two regional competitions.

FaZe Clan started the year with a ninth-12th place finish at Winter Open but have since added two NA regional titles, the Winter Cup and Winter Invitational, with relative ease. Yet the most important thing to note is that over that stretch, FaZe have not lost against Gen.G once (4-3, 4-1).

So not only are FaZe Clan the hottest team from the NA region, but they’ve also proven effective in dealing with Gen.G Mobil1 Racing.

While it seems like the RLCS Winter Split Major will come down to the battle between two NA juggernauts, it’s impossible to ignore Europe’s titans, Karmine Corp.

If you talk about the reign of superiority in Europe, it’s impossible not to mention Karimne Corp. They weren’t too successful at the Fall Major (fifth-eighth), but they’ve looked nearly unstoppable on home soil, winning Winter Open and Winter Cup and finishing the most recent Winter Invitational in second place.

Verdict

RLCS 2022/23 Winter Split Major

Of the three leading favourites, FaZe Clan look like the most appealing pick at very generous odds. They’re evidently the hottest team from North America, and given their strong record against Gen.G Mobil1 Racing, FaZe, at the very least, shouldn’t be priced at higher odds than their regional rivals.

Karmine Corp look like they can go all the way since they looked unstoppable at the last Major until they ran into Moist Esports – who haven’t qualified for RLCS Winter Split Major. But as much as we can respect Karmine Corp, the North American league is far more stacked, so we must value FaZe’s achievements more.

FaZe Clan

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