Gears 5 Esports Circuit: Split 2 Challenger Power Rankings (Week #1)

The 10 Pro Teams are locked in and ready to start the battle against one another, but how about those Trenches? With the talent that recently moved on from Gears Esports, you better believe that we are currently entering a new generation of talent in the circuit. Yet that new generation of talent… what will it bring to the scene? Who will prevail through the next several weeks of online tournaments to put their team in a position that will get to participate in the Gears Winter Major? Hell, even more importantly, the next Gears Esports Relegation Tournament? These questions are always hard to answer; with constant teams breaking up, rosters shuffling, the usual snakes in the grass, and all of the smack talk you know to grow and love with Gears of War, you never know how the results or rosters will pan out.

The most exciting part that we get t witness starting with this split is new faces reaching new places in Gears Esports history. There are plenty of hungry talented individuals looking for their chance to make their first trip to the Gears Pro League, while others are trying to reclaim what they lost the prior split. Although I’ve seen a great deal of talent throughout the scene the last several tournaments and splits I was a part of, this will be the time for all players to hit the ground running and make the most of the opportunity ahead of them. The Gears Esports Circuit is wide open for new faces, which means more chances for those working to achieve new heights in the scene or even those just a match or two away. We always love to appreciate those trying to fight their way out of the dog pound and get the recognition they feel they deserve in the scene. So with tomorrow starting the war of the challengers, let’s give them the same love we do with our Pro Teams with the first edition of the Challenger Power Rankings.

Note to Readers: The Power Rankings for the Challenger Series are time-sensitive, as teams can sign up for the tournament just a few hours before it starts. Therefore, we take the time to evaluate the current teams that are signed up for the tournament to create the Power Rankings. We might sometimes wait until after the tournament finishes to publish the ranking because of the constant roster shuffling and other team issues that could make the rankings inaccurate.

#GetJipped OLT #1 Challenger Power Rankings

1. Team Enemies (Rocky, Pushyz, Zoom, Bodiez)

Team Enemies has gone through some minor changes here and there leading up to the kick-off week of the Challengers Series. Team Enemies  To dig a little bit into the history of this roster before they became Team Enemies (which for a brief time was Primal Instinct), many might remember the roster that played in the Relegation Tournament known as Zero Tolerance. This prior roster was the other team that could have qualified for the Pro League instead of Discipline if they stayed together. Still, the roster in some part originally disbanded from one another. To clarify, the roster was Bodiez, Shawn8,  StompJ, and Flames NRC at the tournament time. Once the Relegation Tournament ended, this team broke from one another, with Flames NRC and StompJ becoming free agents, as the other duo of Bodiez and Shawn8 stuck as a duo, creating a new roster with the likes of Zoom and Triggers.

Yet if you keep your eye on the prize as we have, this roster would eventually go under another transformation, one that makes it a powerhouse heading into the competition. Ex Oxygen Esports player Rocky and Ex Elevate player Pushyz have now joined this roster, with Shawn8 and Triggers relieved their duties. Now let’s be honest; this shouldn’t surprise the minor roster shuffle this squad had. If you recall, Rocky and Pushyz have played together on a team before for a split, but so have Rocky and Zoom, all three players at one time being a part of the recently departed Oxygen Esports. So with likely trying to build a powerhouse that already has chemistry with one another, it seems Primal Instinct and the original last standing member of the Zero Tolerance roster Bodiez thought it was best to grab three prior pro players put them onto the squad. So without a doubt, this team is looking to be one of the top dogs of the Challenger Series heading into the split. They have all the tools in their cabinet and know how to use them to make a splash at any given moment, so let’s see the fireworks fly.

Keep An Eye On: You know how we spoke about how Bronny being on the Kansas City Pioneers was in a “win now” mode to a degree since he joined an elite roster and has to hold down his own with the team. To win, what could be his first championship? Well, let’s apply that same pressure and gusto to Bodiez. Being in the trenches myself, I get a ton of time to see these players grow through matches I have against them or, in more situations, scrims I watch of them through their respective Twitch channels. In this scenario, Bodiez will be the player that needs to come every day, show up, and impress. Being surrounded by three players who have identified and shown themselves to be Gears Esports Professionals is something that has eluded Bodiez. This will also arguably be the first time he is on a team where he doesn’t necessarily have to be a leader but a support player. It will be interesting to see how this dynamic grows, but this is hands down the best opportunity to date that Bodiez has made it to the Pro League and can’t in any fashion squander the chance. He’s been waiting for a moment like this, so now it’s time to show your worth.

2. Certified (Emissive, Exceedingz, SpeedyIsBad, Flames NRC)

Flying under some radars, some might remember that the roster of Certified was also a part of the Gears Fall Major. They could finish 9th in the tournament but eventually fell to the Oxygen Esports roster. However, looking into this roster, most of them could stay intact, except Jmxbs being swapped out for Flames NRC. So what to make of this roster overall might be the question that some from the outside looking in are asking.

You can start with the storied career of the former champion SpeedyIsBad, who continues to show up in the Gears Esports long enough for us to see him try and climb back into the Pro League, but he usually doesn’t stick around long enough to see it through. This could be from past reports of his behavior when he is on teams or just people unable to connect with him regarding his passion and seriousness of every detail of the game. Some will always state SpeedyIsBad is just toxic (which I’ve heard more times than I can count), but the man also wants to win and let the faults and mistakes of his team be easily heard through his voice. This isn’t every bodies style of a teammate, but some are right in the same mindset, which brings us to our next point.

I truly believe that Emissive, Exceedingz, and Flames NRC possess the same mindset as SpeedyIsBad. Suppose you’ve ever had the chance to listen to them on stream, through scrims, or other instances. In that case, all three of these players will not only tell you what you did wrong, how they see you’ve done it wrong, and how to fix it for a situation even if they are yelling it at you, but they will work through the passion and aggression they got to continue moving forward and towards victory throughout the match. It’s one of the more wild styles of gaming I’ve seen from a team (and being in Gears, you’ve seen this type of team play out more than a few times), but something is truly clicking at the right speed, tempo, and attitude between the core three members, but I believe this is also the same mindset Flames NRC comes equipped with. So before you comment on if you see a team as calm or toxic, think about how both of those styles could play in favor or against before you believe it’s a team’s downfall. Some can stand the heat of the kitchen and if this team all stays as chefs inside of it, be on the lookout for a great showing and split.

Keep An Eye On: As addressed above, sometimes, the heat in the kitchen or the powder keg can explode and create a whole new set of issues. Throughout the last few seasons of Gears Esports, even dating back to Gears of War 4, we’ve seen SpeedyIsBad go through multiple successful rosters because his teammates couldn’t stick with his style of leadership, passion/aggression, or play style in general. Now, most might have seen this since he was on the grand stage of the circuit, but amateur players Emissive and Exceedingz are also two players who have had their teams fall apart for the same reasons. So far, this has worked between the three, and finding the fourth piece of the puzzle (Flames NRC?) will be crucial to them becoming a dominant team. However, just that one wrong explosion could cause a top roster in the Challenger Series to cease to exist.

3. TheSaviors (Perfections, Yogurt, Tactix vz, Birdy)

Bring on the old crew. Plenty of the players on this roster in the past has been on teams that played in the Gears Esports League. Which put brings the experience, methodologies, and chemistry that you could imagine from a team chalked with talent throughout the Gears of War franchise in general.

Yogurt has always been a shot caller and a well intact IGL for his teams dating back to the Synergy days of old. Still, you complement that with the slow and methodical styles of Birdy in regards to his expertise in Execution (which Yogurt also knows extremely well, mind you), but then you bring in the fire and slaying power of Perfections and Tactix. On paper, this is a solid roster that, if they stick together, could have a shot at reaching the Pro League when all is set and done. Yet one has to ask, is this just a “fun run” for the quartet, or are they truly “in it to win it” this time around.

Keep An Eye On: During my Challenger Watch Stream after my team was eliminated (which we finished Top 16 with arguably what is a two-day team and the last series we played we had a sub), I was able to tune into a few matches that The Saviors played against NX, Casa De Papel R2, and eventually Supra. Although the team’s talent has shown, the composure tends to be in every game they are in; this team has to be careful with being disqualified.

Although I’ve seen him play well throughout the many events and series he has been a part of, a team with Birdy leads to heavily delayed matches for reasons I can’t explain or put my finger on. I sat waiting a full hour for TheSaviors to play NX, which according to Gears Esports and UMG Gaming, should have resulted in a forfeit multiple times over.

As per rules: If a team doesn’t show up in ten minutes, an administrator can be requested to give them a five-minute warning before they forfeit the match. Or, if you want to make it a bit more spicy with truancy, if a team is done map picks and bans and the match doesn’t start within 15 minutes, an administrator may be contacted to give a five-minute warning before the team who isn’t showing up is forfeited.

So be wary of this team possibly losing a match from delaying the games. This didn’t just happen with the NX game, but it continued to happen in the next two matches against Casa De Papel R2 and Supra. It got to the point that by the time their Quarter Final match began, the top side of the bracket was finished to paint the picture of how much time was officially torched. It will come down to teams reporting this behavior, or some teams will wait for the match to start to “prove themselves.” Not all teams will wait, so this team has to be ready to show up on time. They got everything else going for them, but this could be a huge detriment if it does interfere.

4. New Blood (Yachty TQ, Loagy, Vino, Sulables)

Here is a sneaky team that I didn’t expect to see rise from the ashes. Welcome back, Loagy (Flawitude) and Vino from the abyss, as they entered this week’s Challenger Series with another proven talent in Yachty TQ and a hell of a support player in Sulables. When trying to break down this roster, one has to understand that all players on this team can slay out the opponents they see across from them rather easily (especially with two of them participating in the Pro League at one point, and maybe even three?), but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the style of play this team wants to partake in.

With Loagy and Vino on a team, you have two high-caliber players that we haven’t seen in a while back on a battlefield. They love to cause chaos. Throughout the Challenger Series, the duo was able to work well in this manner with IGL duties mainly in Yachty’s wheelhouse while Sulables filled in with support fire and map awareness. However, as they noticed, you can’t get away with that play as easy when you hit a higher caliber team, and that’s what this squad ran into when they met with Team Enemies and suffered a swift defeat.

It’s exciting to see talented players, especially young ones that came back after taking a break back in the thick of things. Yet this team has some growing to do in the coming weeks, and I hope we get to see them prosper as they continue to impress those around them.

Keep An Eye On: New Blood will only go as far as they allow. As depicted above, I’m confident this team can finish Top 8 or higher week in and out, but they will need to use more professional strategies and tactics when they hit above that marker. One could even say that you will need that type of playstyle with even fewer teams than that, but you never know who you’ll meet on the bracket and where. This time around, New Blood met Team Enemies in the quarter-finals, but there are arguably a few teams above them that this squad could beat and likely implement their current style to win against them.

Yet it will take the whole team to come together and learn how to play and outlast the few teams that are higher than them in skill throughout the Challenger Series. You can easily head down your way through some of the less experienced teams that you will see throughout the brackets, but is that good principle playing that way throughout Sunday’s tournament, only having to somehow play a very strategic and different way against the top teams? I bring this up because there are more times than not that a team doesn’t flip that switch between one play style and another but become stuck in a trance of what they’ve done all day. So will New Blood learn from what they take and groom a battle plan to be victorious in the coming weeks against those that currently sit above them in the standings or, some would say, just in skill?

5. Supra (KrabzTR, Agartha, ESG Madboy, tanak1ng)

I got the opportunity to scrim and play against this team a few times throughout the week leading up to the main event of the Challenger Series (which my team may have won a map or two, but Supra took many more from us than just a few and they also were the ones that knocked us out of the tournament this week). I can tell you one thing; this team has the talent to make some noise. Supra and its players haven’t been an identity of amateur play. You see that much with the recent meta competitors have adopted in Gears 5, and it’s truly something special in its own right.

Although KrabzTR, Agartha, Madboy, and tanak1ng can hit shots with their gnashers and play aggressively, which we’ve seen many teams elude to as of late, they mix a lot more team play, crossing angles, map control, and other basics at you extremely well. It might sound like a simple science, but the number of amateur teams that continue to fly into battle and hope for the best compared to those who’ve taken the time to sniff out every advantage a map has and exploit it against their opponent is something you haven’t seen in a while from a Challenger team

These guys did finish runner up to Team Enemies this week of Challengers, so I’m curious to see what they bring back over the next four weeks as they continue to hopefully improve their skillset, arsenal and be prepared to take out the only team that was able to eliminate them on Sunday in Team Enemies. Still, they got work to do to make it happen.

Keep An Eye On: Stick to the course. Many teams in the amateur side of Gears will watch VOD of the Pro Teams playing the maps and seeing how they go about it. Although these are tips, tricks, and strategies one can learn and add to their playbook, originality and surprise could catch even the best of teams off guard and become useful to an amateur team making to look a splash. Currently, Supra has already shown they are not a team that follows others’ footsteps with how they showed themselves this tournament, so why not stick to what works instead of falling into what others have shown and done beforehand? A team is at its best when it uses the skills and values of all four individual players to make something great, and that is something Supra has shown they can do with limited action.

6. Casa De Papel R2 (Sammy, Karma, Laxuz, Reaptz)

During the watch party, Casa De Papel R2 pulled out all of the stops against the Gears of Old in the form of TheSaviors. Still, it didn’t have enough enthusiasm to end their run at the end of the match, falling to TheSaviors Round 9 on Training Grounds in a way that the word of confusion can only explain.

When watching these two teams go back and forth throughout all of the maps they played, it seemed that Sammy was leading the charge for the team as a playmaker and possibly the IGL. Karma continued to be all over the map in the right positions at the correct time for some of the best playmaking stops he could on TheSaviors. Add the swiss army knife known as Laxuz into the mold, who seemed to be a master wielder of all the weapons he picked up on the map, and Reaptz, who we were able to watch from his point of view, being a team player and helping out everywhere on the map for his teammates to get the most bang for their buck.

7. Appamigos (Brutalize, Kuga, Mannik, Morttals)

Familiar names in a different environment. Names like Brutalize and Mannik have been well known in the Challenger side of Gears Esports, as they tend to make a good run in the Challenger Series with the teams they form and tend to knock out a few of the heavyweights in The Trenches. Along their path, the team of Appamigos was able to take out a brand new but skilled North American squadron in Savage Nation (Triggers, ChadHandlez, Shawn8, Merks CH). Still, it was also able to continue that run and knock out another favorite in the series with the likes of War Xplosives (Gera, Togyee, Bullet, and Sleaze), a team that looks to wreak havoc as well on Sundays.

Yet Appamigos was able to use their aggressive playstyle to overwhelm the two teams they defeated on the way to what became their Round 5 loss against the runner-ups of the tournament in Supra. Which for a team that plays hyper-aggressive like Appamigos, it isn’t a surprise that a team like Supra that holds down the fort and sets up on multiple maps became their eventual downfall, as a team more prepared for what’s coming at them will likely win the battle more times than not. Yet, I don’t see this team going anywhere, and I believe they will continue to make noise that some might not have initially expected.

Keep An Eye On: This team of Appamigos will most likely continue to get Top 16 or higher places, but watch out for when they have to go against the occasional team that wins initial and holds on to rotations, playing for their lives, and getting cross angles for their squad. This is when a team like Appamigos would likely fall in the tournament unless they get back to the drawing board and plan their aggressive attack as a unit and not in a staggered motion, as we saw multiple times when they were eliminated from the tournament on Sunday (01-09-22).

8. Superiority Gaming (Creepyy, Acid FIDELL, Falsetto Sy, Wxlfz Sy)

The definition of a team that was rather sneaky and not on any bodies radars heading into the tournament, the team was known as Superiority Gaming came into the first Challenger Tournament of the split and made some moves and took out some good LATAM teams before they fell a map short of moving to the Semi-Finals as they lost against Certified. Teams like Buscando Org (Vecy, J0nySSJ, Zorlack, Ryuks) , SZN (Craid, Kimy, Xura, phyxial), and Abyss (Hqssan, Nightly, Bestrafer, Aleatories) who could have been argued as favorite in all three of these maps ended up getting the smackdown from what could become a team ready to show their worth to the rest of the Challengers.

They were also one map away from beating Certified but will need to go back to the tape and see how their Respawn game modes are currently their week point. As they went against Certified, this squad seemed to have difficulty keeping up with their opponents’ play on the Control and Escalation maps. It’s always hard to truly know where you need to put more time and effort into until someone can show you the weakness your team has. Still, Certified showed that against the top of the ladder teams, this team of aggressive shooters will need to take a step back and simplify some of their game to hold more map control and angles to take out the enemies easier.

Keep An Eye On: Respawn Modes. Playing with aggression and confidence in a game mode like Execution could be a pro or con, but Superiority took that game mode into their own hands and took down a formidable opponent in that game mode. However, with a game mode like Control or Escalation where map control, holding your lanes, and crossing angles can shut down the best of teams, Superiority never truly had their footing in this sense. Whether it was Certified bringing the house and this team not playing for their lives, but instead engaging number fights they had the minority, players trying to make super moves that were not needed, or running in with close-range weapons instead of holding the line, this team will need to splash that side of the equation into their gameplay to take the next step against the better teams in the Esports Circuit.

9. we don’t need grind (Roms OG, pers, Vetxz, Chippy)

Creating one of the upsets of the tournaments against the Mexus Alpha squad? Check. Running the tournament until losing to a great opponent by one map to the likes of New Blood. A job well done for  Roms, pers, Vetxz, and Chippy. When they went against New Bloods, they came out with a chip on their shoulder and took the Control map. Yet that’s why the current layout of the Gears Esports Circuit is so crucial to success or failure because you go from a game mode that involves rotations, moving constantly, respawns, and many other elements that if you do surely make a mistake, you can always recover on the next of many hills if it isn’t too late.

However, Execution you got to be on point every round to make it a highly contested game; otherwise, you could quickly find yourself in the weeds for Map 2 and lose all momentum and composure going into the final map of the rotation, which is a hybrid of both in my opinion with Escalation. Even with the respawns, they take rather long and could constitute enough time for you to lose the round within that time frame. Being alive and staying up is crucial, which became the downfall of the last two maps.

Although the run ended short of another round, we don’t need grind to have the firepower and slaying abilities to keep it close if they play close to the vest. Yet when you go against a team that understands how important it is to separate a team that depends on the wolf pack, you will find yourself in these bizarre situations that although you want to be right with your brother to the end, that you end up getting separated from a well-placed shock grenade, a secret man your team didn’t think would happen, or many other scenarios that good teams use to break up the group from helping one another. The talent is here, so is the skill, but this squad has to find a way to react when they are set from their prior path and stay alive when some of their comrades fall to the opponents.

Keep An Eye On: Going into next week’s tournament, it will be important for this team to work on the elements explained above. Composure is always a powerful concept in Gears Esports, but it is easy to lose if you drop the Execution map. Some see that game mode as the one that shows the most skill because you only have that one life to make plays with. Plus, suppose you win the first map of the series decisively, only to get shut down by multiple rounds in Execution. In that case, it could lead to turmoil heading into the third map of Escalation if you don’t have your confidence and focus locked in. Speaking of focus being locked in, this team will need to run some Execution maps before worrying about Escalation. I’d like to see them take the time to dissect the maps of Execution, come up with multiple strategies that play well to their style, and commit to them. This will make all the difference going against teams you need to have that extra preparation and edge for.

10. Savage Nation (Triggers, Shawn8, Merks CH, ChadHandlez (Dropped) New Player: Exist JC)

It was a shorter run than we expected, but Savage Nation did lose to an upstart Appamigos, but this was after they had the 1-0 map lead from the Control game. Although a team filled with talented players could out rotate, grab appropriate map positions, and be a step ahead of Appamigos for the entirety of Control, they didn’t have the firepower to keep up with the onslaught that followed in Execution. Looking into this match like the last ranking we put on this list, I believe Savage Nation ended up having the same downfall that we don’t need grind had with losing the second map and not being able to recover when the momentum was flipped on them.

Most in the Challenger Series will know that Shawn8 can do it all and needs the support around him in teammates, which he has a more than capable duo in Triggers and Merks that have worked well together on and off inside a team setting and in other instances of Gears (duos, pickup scrims, even ELO back in the day), so that seemed to click. Yet after one week of matches, it seems that Savage Nation wasn’t the happiest with the play of ChadHandlez, as we can confirm he was dropped off the team, and now Exist JC is back to bring the team to higher heights. Exist JC has a storied history in Gears Esports, holding his own as a pro substitute for multiple teams during a few more recent splits. So can this change make all the difference?

Keep An Eye On: Roster Shuffle. If you can grab a player like Exist and hone him down to a committed team, you could be on to creating a dangerous team that the rest of the Challengers will have to be ready for. Although I firmly believe from a game mechanics scenario that grabbing Exist is an upgrade (which might be the case for most  Challenger teams if they dropped one player to pick him up), it will all rely on his commitment and attitude moving forward.

Exist is one of those players that has constantly been close to greatness but for some reason becomes dismissed, disinterested, or left behind at the end of the day for reasons an outsider can’t pinpoint under their assumptions or thoughts. So I strongly believe if Exist is ready to put the work in, grind the game with this squad, and stick with the script, we will see this team reach new heights and eventually climb the Power Rankings. For now, though, they keep the last position on our list and will look to bring the noise for Challenger Tournament OLT #2 on January 16. 

On The Bubble (Teams Just Outside the Power Rankings)

Hunting Season (Ozby, Crushmo, Flash, Wichy) – Knocked out way too early in the tournament for us to get a good read on, but they are a team consisting of old Gears Pros and one that had to go against Team Enemies in Round 2 immediately. I would expect if this team continues onward moving into next week, they will find success moving forward and likely become a staple in the Power Rankings. Yet, a rough week and truly unfortunate bracketology keep them off the list this week.

Tee Gaming (Dementivez T, Emerxaid, bhyre T, AntiGravity) – Another team that I have high hopes for this split also never got the proper way to start the tournament with running into the likes of Certified in Round 3. However, they did take a map from Speedy’s team. Look to see them make some more noise next week and not have a trip and fall early in the tournament.

War Xplosives (Gera, Togyee, Bullet, Sleaze) – This team was constantly working to the next split but continued to fall shorter than the expectations they set. It’s a great team, and one I think can climb the ranks, but they need to catch their bearings and show that they are more worthy than some amateur teams. They did get knocked out by Appamigos this week, but we are looking for this squad to take out teams that might be considered the ones projected to win these matches.

Majesty Gaming (Artuur, Infernuz, Inzomnia, Antraax) – Other than the rage quit at the end of their run when Casa De Papel R2 knocked them out on Clocktower, this team has all the buildings to make some noise in the scene with several players who’ve reached great heights before. Yet they need to bring their mindset back on point when it comes to going against harder opponents and get more reps in throughout the week to help calm demeanors and stresses the team experienced this Sunday.

NX (Xceptionals, Chris ntl, Zetts, Stomp J) – Going against TheSaviors might have given this team a taste of what they need to work on next, but it’s more of a worry of wondering if this team is ready for a whole split together or if they will find new rosters. This seems to be a team that could make work with the roster, but also one that looked to be put together at the last minute for a pickup. Time will tell.

#CaseClosed

One week is in the books, and we didn’t even get a chance to detail some of the high intense Challenger action we witnessed. I’m also still competing in my unprecedented fifteenth year and still have the support of many in the community, which I’d like to thank from the bottom of my heart. I might not be what I once was, but damn, do I love being here and making my noise throughout the tournaments and scrims. With that being said, though, we got even more to uncover in the coming days, so stay tuned and stick around for some more Gears Esports and action! Feel free to let the discussion continue here or on Twitter @jipperymccloud. Also, make sure to tune in to the stream for your weekly dosing of watching people (and maybe even yourself) #getjipped at www.twitch.tv/jipperymccloud.