ZETA DIVISION has just started to bounce back recently, and after a win against GenG they have secured their spot as 4th seed in playoffs. However, what’s next for the squad? Can they even make Tokyo? Short answer? no. Long answer? hopium is on the horizon. Let’s take a closer look at ZETA DIVISION’s chances of at least grabbing that 3rd place in playoffs.
Currently, ZETA is the only team to have a negative round differential AND map differential while still having more match wins than losses. Is that bad? Good? I guess you could say bad, but guess what? At the end of the day, playoff matches only care about if you win the bo3 or lose it. So, I think this is an advantage for Japan’s last hope.
I know I’m kind of going all over the place, but I want to talk about ZETA’s first opponent: Seed 5. With the Regular Season coming to a close, there are two potential opponents: RRQ and TS. ZETA have beaten both of these teams, but I’m not that naive to say that ZETA will win based off that alone. But guess what? It doesn’t matter. ZETA will drop to the lower bracket regardless because of the Korea powerhouse DRX waiting for them in the Upper Semifinal. This is exactly what ZETA DIVISION need, though. Let me explain.
PLAYOFF BUFF + TOKYO BUFF + LOWER BRACKET BUFF = RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
From multiple instances, we can see that ZETA DIVISION thrives under pressure (Reykjavik 2022, League Play). Although they are slow starters, when they wake up they WAKE UP. Not to mention, Dep, SugarZ3ro, and crow (yes, crow) have already woken up. For crow, yes, he’s kind of trolling with his stats. But, there have been a LOT more bright sports for him as of late. I think with playoffs he will bump up that <1.00 rating to a 1.00 (hopefully). Laz is a good player, but the role change has made him seem somewhat uncomfortable. He has started to get into the groove, though, and I think he will shape up. And then there’s TENNN. He’s unstoppable during one match and he has ratings worse than crow during the other. His rating will be more consistent during playoffs. He is the 4th quarter player for ZETA DIVISION.
Most likely, ZETA DIVISION will play either Paper Rex or T1 for a Tokyo qualification spot. PRX is a tough opponent, and their aggressive style is the complete opposite of ZETA’s more passive play. something has their number, so I think it is a 25-75 in favor of PRX. However, ZETA has countered PRX’s style before and I believe they have something (no pun intended) cooking. So, not all hope is lost. How about T1? I think it is 60-40 in ZETA’s favor, honestly. The buffs combined with the earlier loss to T1 buff I feel tips the momentum in ZETA DIVISION’S favor.
To be honest, most of this is speculation but here’s my humble opinion.
Chances of making Tokyo:
DRX - 95%
PRX - 75%
T1 - 45%
ZETA - 45%
TS - 30%
RRQ/GenG - 10%
Let me know what you guys think! :D
TLDR - ZETA DIVISION’S ticket to Tokyo lies in their multiple activated buffs. Their chances are not as slim as one might think.
Discord