WePlay AniMajor Wild Card Predictions

WePlay AniMajor is starting today and its first stage will be the Wild Card. A total of 6 participants are about to face this harsh eliminatory round and only 2 of them will survive it.

WePlay AniMajor Wild Card Participants

The WePlay AniMajor Wild Card participants are the following:

Team Nigma
Vici Gaming
Invictus Gaming
Team Secret
Execration
AS Monaco Gambit

Among these teams, 4 of them have a real chance of qualifying for the Group Stage. These 4 teams are Nigma, Secret, Vici Gaming, and Invictus Gaming.

The reason why Execration and Gambit have no chance is simple: the first comes from a weak region and the second one lost its best two players right before the Major. With No[o]ne and SoNNeikO out, the CIS squad will most likely lose every match except perhaps the one against Execration. Keep in mind that the matches are Bo2.

Team Analysis

Here’s a brief analysis of the 4 favorites.

Nigma

Nigma finished season 2 of Western Europe’s Upper Division in 3^rd place with 4 wins and 3 losses. They could have done better but somehow managed to lose against Tundra in their final match.

KuroKy’s big advantage in this race comes from the fact that he knows how to defeat Team Secret and is also an expert against the Chinese teams. He fought them many times before and knows how they like to play. I expect Nigma to draw against Vici Gaming, and defeat everyone else.

Secret

Puppey may have finished 4^th in Western Europe’s Upper Bracket, but he’s not the kind of player who stagnates or can’t recognize his errors. Over the last 2 weeks, he’s probably been training hard with his team and improving at a rapid rate. If that’s the case, I would expect Secret to pose a big threat to everyone in this race. The only concern I have for them is that they might not be strong enough to win enough matches. They probably won’t lose more than once. But if they can’t win either, finishing in the top 2 will be hard.

Vici Gaming

Vici Gaming is in great shape right now. The Chinese squad defeated Aster, Elephant, RNG, and Invictus Gaming in recent weeks. Some of them twice. Quite clearly, they’ve improved a lot during the month of May and will probably do well in the Wild Card of WePlay AniMajor.

Vici Gaming finished season 2 of China’s Upper Bracket in 3^rd place with 5 wins and 2 losses. I think it’s rather unfortunate that they only made it to the Wild Card with such an impressive record in one of the world’s strongest regions. But because of it, their odds of qualifying to the Group Stage are huge.

Invictus Gaming

Invictus Gaming may have won the Singapore Major but they lost much of their strength since then. The team finished 4^th in China’s Upper Division with 4 wins and 3 losses, and then had an average run in i-League 2021. Their last 5 matches, however, ended with a victory in their favor. This suggests that they’re in great shape for WePlay AniMajor. Can they survive the Wild Card? I’m not sure. But they’re certainly one of the favorites.

Photo credit: Valve