NA: The Region of Insanity

A titan toppled, new faces, and old organizations return with one of BSC's most entertaining regional storylines, North America & LATAM N.

The first monthly finals are just around the corner, and players from NA aren't stoked about the ways that the qualifiers proceeded. It turns out that brackets are fully randomized, as we might have gotten one of the worst scenarios imaginable. World finalists Tribe Gaming, Luminosity Gaming, AND STMN Esports all appeared in the same qualifiers bracket, along with other strong teams like Octos (Alex, Falcon, Jheart, kye) in LB and Homeless (EveX, tacos, Steel, Vegeta) in both the UB and LB. STMN and LG faced in UB round 6 with STMN taking the 2-0 victory while losing 1-2 to Tribe Gaming in round 8 to qualify for the monthly finals. Luminosity clawed their way out of the loser's bracket and were out for revenge. They took the round 13 LB victory against their old rivals at STMN 2-0, a flip of the script from earlier and managed to qualify for the first monthly final. With fewer events throughout the year, more is on the line each month than ever, and this loss is a blow to the World Finals runner-up roster. We hope to see STMN come back next month with renewed spirit, ready to make a name for themselves. 

Outside the bracket of death, Spacestation Gaming and West Coast both had relatively free brackets, comfortably qualifying for the monthly finals from the upper bracket. Following frixi's retirement, West Coast has reunited with old teammate Alec26, while Chasmac Gaming NA's former roster has been acquired by SSG along with ex-STMN and ex-UB player Tuni. 

Remaining 7 had a relatively easy road to the last round of the upper bracket, but faced a few hiccups dropping a set to Octos. They made it nonetheless with a close 2-1 victory over Juan Carlos Team. JCT went on to qualify with a 2-0 victory in the lower bracket over Delay Team, a team consisting of former monthly finalists Alyanys and Betuchiz joined by coach turned-player Roledu. 

Last but not least, we have two surprising teams joining the monthly finals. Real Ones consists of former finalists Nathan and ToxicGenie joined by Rauzen and Square. Real Dudes was a true dark horse roster, consisting of three first-time monthly finalists. Nala, Joah, and Nobody have a lot to prove this month as newcomers to the scene. Nala stands as the first female to qualify for an NA top 8 monthly final and the second to qualify in general, after Nat from last year's NA East subregion. 

The final qualified teams are:

1) West Coast | Shine (c), Chepo, Alec26 

With a relatively easy road to the monthly finals, a lot is riding on this first month for West Coach joined by old teammate Alec26. While they consistently qualified for the top 4 in 2023's NA West subregion as Reconic Esports NA, this roster failed to wow the world and consistently lost to the top 2 teams. Facing a familiar rival in Luminosity in the quarterfinals, can WC find their way to glory this year?

2) Remaining 7 | Zeus (c), Killer, Luffy, Shuckle (M), Peter Jeck (C), lukluk23 (A)

This roster remains consistent from last year, and it seems that the organization R7 wanted to run it back with them. Zeus, Killer, and Luffy won 2/6 monthly finals in NA East last year and the last edition of Queso Cup NA before its discontinuation. Joined by a strong staff team in Shuckle, Peter Jeck, lukluk, and an arguably easy road to the semifinals, R7 is a team to look out for with a lot of raw talent ready to burst into action. 

3) Tribe Gaming | Zoulan (c), Tyrant, Ezlivi, Cori (C)

Tribe is back once again, and their roster has been built on consistency. They started out somewhat weak, heading into the last monthly finals at 3rd place with 1 grand final victory under their belt against CMG and R7's two. However, they came out swinging to sweep through R7 3-1 and CMG 3-0. They looked strong at the world finals securing a 2-0 first-seed placement in their group before a disappointing exit in the quarterfinals of the playoffs stage against SK Gaming. This team is a favourite to make the semifinals for sure, and perhaps even win the event with their stellar performance in the qualifier!

4) Spacestation Gaming | toast (c), Fade, RBM, Tuni

Another roster staying true to last year, the former CMG NA squad has parted with the org following a plethora of scamming allegations. Adding Tuni, a longtime NA veteran to their ranks, will be a confidence boost along with a spiffy new but old organization, Spacestation. They finally got their pin, but can they finally get their full NA region victory?

5) Luminosity Gaming | Patchy (c), Charlz, Chino, Quinaia (A)

Tough bracket can't stop this squad. Luminosity Gaming made it out of their group 2-0 with the first seed at Worlds 2023, but nobody was surprised against the likes of Mainland China and India, two historically underperforming regions on the world stage. Although they lost to ZETA DIVISION in the quarterfinals, they came the closest to beating the future world champions and had a great run in NA West throughout the year with 4/6 monthly final victories. They're looking to repeat history with their match against West Coast and make it further than ever before!

6) Real Dudes | Nala (c), Joah, Nobody

Real Dudes is undeniably an underdog roster going into this monthly final. None of these players have seen the big stage at the highest level, and they're up against regional titans Tribe Gaming in the quarterfinals. A lot is on the line with a lot to prove, and let's hope that Real Dudes are up to the task in giving us a show. 

7) Real Ones | Nathan (c), toxicgenie, Razuen, Square

It has been a long time since Nathan has seen a monthly final. Doing fairly well in 2022, he had a dry year in 2023 failing to qualify for the top 4 even once. He's back now though, joined by an old friend and streamer toxicgenie. With new talent Square and Razuen, can this roster upset LATAM favourites Remaining 7? 

8) Juan Carlos Team | Juan Carlos (c), PaiN, SecondBest, Filip47 (C), Sebas (A)

This may not be the most creative name, but it certainly is funny. Former Vatra Gaming members Juan Carlos and PaiN reunite from 2022 for the 2024 season joined by SecondBest, a BSC veteran. While Second has never found his way to the LAN stage, his raw talent has always been the talk of the town. Maybe this will finally be the team for him to showcase his skills and find greatness. With a tough opening match against Spacestation Gaming, all eyes are on this team to pull an upset and shock the world.