NACL '23 Winter Playoffs: Round 1 Preview

The regular season has officially wrapped up for the NACL season, and we now look forward to the playoffs. We started with 45 teams, and we are now officially down to the top 24 teams battling out for the top spot, and more importantly, the ticket to the World Finals in Helsinki.  The groups have been extremely tight, with only a few points separating teams in each group. The tight play will hopefully continue into the playoffs, for some high octane matchups! 

We’ll start with a quick recap of all of the groups and how we got to this point in the playoffs, followed by some quick predictions and previews of the matchups ahead.

Group 1

There is no surprise of who would be at the top for group one, as Scary Hours and IslesGT would top the group easily and earn that bye into the second round of playoffs. Both teams combined for only four losses in out of the entire regular season out of 44 total games,  and   looked dominant throughout the competition.  The rest of the playoff picture was very competitive,  with seeds 3 through 6 separated by only three points. Teams like Supremacy and TST have certainly proved themselves in this right,  coming in as slight underdogs in the group but most certainly made an impact and have shown that they are able to compete at this level. 

Group 2

A very competitive group at the top, with Legacy soaring to the top after finishing most of their games in the final hour of the season. Teams like Underdogs and Instinct had to settle for third and fourth respectively after very impressive campaigns out of Entourage and Legacy to lock up those top two seeds.  Both teams should have no trouble getting through their first-round matchups, as both teams have made deep runs in the past. The remaining 2 teams, Kingdom and Ohana, are newer squads looking to make their first splash as a roster. Both teams have some familiar faces across the board, and shouldn’t be considered slouches with so many quality teams above them. Both teams are capable of stealing games if their opponents are not on the top of their game.

Group 3

One Unit has to be one of the best stories this event, topping their group and earning that bye in the playoffs. The team has been making waves in recent events, and their trajectory has been soaring as the months have gone on.  They pushed down some title contenders to lower seeds, and have proven they can compete with the cream of the crop in North America and come out on top. No big surprises either way, with Caps Gaming earning  the other bye, followed by Ducks Gaming, Eclipse, No Mercy, and Tropics. Another tight group, with teams only separated by a few points. 

Group 4

Group 4 felt more like the wild west aside from the top 2 seeds, as Composure and Strictly Business cruised to the playoffs with relative ease. With top teams like Flawless, Heroes, and Catch 22 not in playoffs, the door was wide open for other teams to prove themselves in the spotlight. Veterans being at the top of these teams will have a tall task of taking this opportunity in stride, as they have proven before they are a tough team to put away, and will look to do just that heading into the post season. 

With the first round of the playoffs set, we’ll go over each matchup briefly and give a prediction each series. Playoffs will start with seeds 3-6 from each group facing off in round 1 in a best of 7 format. The top 2 seeds from each group will wait for the first round to complete before selecting their opponent to face in round 2.

The Underdogs  (9) vs Ohana  (24)

Underdogs is the clear cut favorite here. Ohana have some talent and have shown promise, but Underdogs should have a relatively clean series here. They have already made top 8 this year, and a loss in a best of 7 series here would be a complete surprise for all.

Prediction: Underdogs in 4.

Anaheim Ducks Gaming  (10) vs JOFA  (23)

One of the PSN teams joining thanks to newly added crossplay, but I think Ducks Gaming is a couple steps above JOFA. Too much chemistry and too much experience in such an early round to go up against. The PSN teams will be fun to watch develop with cross play allowing for more opportunity, but going up against one of NA’s best will be too much to close out. 

Prediction: Ducks Gaming in 4.

Hidden Potential  (11) vs Turning Point  (22)

A very interesting matchup, and one that is much closer than the seeds suggest. These teams played in group play and split the games with tight 2-1 scores in both games. Hidden Potential did have some roster turmoil during the season, and revamping their lineup mid season cause some potential issues. Turning Point are as steady as ever with a ton of chemistry, and their tight checking style could be tough to beat during the playoffs. Overall I like HP’s ceiling more than Turning Point’s, and as long as they can avoid the 2-1 overtime games too many times, they have the edge here.

Prediction: Hidden Potential in 6.

Veterans  (12) vs Tropics  (21)

Veterans comes from a depleted group 4, and will need to prove themselves every chance they get from here. @AgentSook613 has had an arguable MVP level performance for the team, dragging them forward with 18 more points than the next person on his team. He’ll need to continue this pace to advance any further.  I think Tropics is a deeper team with more skill across all positions, and will come out on top here.

Prediction: Tropics in 6.

Eclipse  (13) vs I n t e r s t e l l a r  (20)

Another PSN team that will be intriguing to watch how they stack up against some of Xbox’s best. While Eclipse has been in a turbulent period recently, they still have a good team that is capable of being a dark horse if they click at the right time. They finished 14-6-0, which is by no means a push over team. Their revamped roster has tons of skill,  with players like @Twistafied and @CaLL Me Jakoo joining @rickchelup front to lead the charge.  I think Interstellar will be competitive in the series and more competitive than others may think, but it will ultimately fall to Eclipse.

Prediction: Eclipse in 6.

Supremacy  (14) vs Kingdom  (19)

A true wildcard matchup, as both teams came into the event with question marks, and now face each other to see where they stand among the top teams. Supremacy is a PSN team reunited under an old banner, but they have shown good placements in the past before. Kingdom has some great talent, with top 1v1, 3’s, and 6’s players amongst their ranks. The big question was how will it click in a 6v6 environment, and so far it has looked pretty good. They still haven’t quite shown enough to warrant moving forward past another team similar to their level, but it will be fun to see the potential grow from this squad regardless.

Prediction: Supremacy in 6.

Instinct  (15) vs TST  (18)

Brothers matching against each other in @oHeroism and @Yetdi gives the matchup a little extra fun to experience. These 2 teams share a ton of connection to each other, which may be TST’s biggest asset heading into the series. They've had to scrim this team many times before, and will be TST's x factor to the unthinkable. I still think this is Instinct’s series to lose, but would be fun to see some tight games in the process. Instinct had a rough group play in my opinion, but still finished 13-6-1. They are more than poised to do well here.

Prediction: Instinct in 4.

Eruption  (16) vs No Mercy  (17)

Similar to Veterans, Eruption is coming from a wild group and will need to compose themselves here against swift competition. They deserve to be here, but the competition only gets tougher and will need to show they belong against a veteran brand in No Mercy. No Mercy has been fairly inconsistent recently, but is finally starting to return to their old form, one that saw them as staples in the late stages of events throughout EASHL’s history in North America. With their roster solidifying, the time is now to show what they have.

Prediction: No Mercy in 5.

Those are all of the matchups for the first round of the playoffs of NACL ‘23: Winter! All of these teams will be battling out for not only the title, but also the chance to take on Europe’s best to be crowned EASHL’s world champion for the first time ever!

Be sure to follow twitch.tv/SportsGamerGG to watch the action live, primarily on Sundays and Thursdays at 9pm ET.