Tribe continue their NA reign

NA was the last of our Monthly Finals and produced some magic moments like the other regions. Tribe continued their reign over the region with STMN absent, but let's see how they got there,

First up was Tribe Gaming vs Real Dudes. There was not much to say about this match; Tribe dominated with a 3-0 sweep against this fairly rookie team. Still, Real Dudes has really impressed us this month and could possibly qualify for more monthly finals in the future.

Whilst the first game was on the B Stream, we were treated to this spicy matchup on the mainstream: SSG vs JCT. Coming off a loss at LCQ, Spacestation (previously Chasmac Gaming NA) was looking to finally prove themselves as a team to be reckoned with in North America. Their opponent, Juan Carlos Team. The match went back and forth between these two teams with the match going to set 5, but SSG edged out JCT with the help of RBM’s crazy R-T plays in knockout. Don’t count out JCT just yet though, they could definitely be a serious contender for Worlds/LCQ.

Next on the secondary stream was Remaining 7 vs Real Ones. A matchup that looked to favour R7 heavily, many thought this match would easily be over in 3 sets. However, Real Ones surprised everyone by taking not one but two sets away from a heavy favourite in NA. They were able to just barely edge out R7 on Bounty and had a convincing win in Heist. Being up 2-1 against R7, Real Ones looked like they would upset the match and send R7 home, but a few amazing drafts by R7 allowed them to beat Real Ones in a 3-2 scoreline.

In the last quarter-finals, we had a repeat match from NA West, but Luminosity just seemed to be the better team that day. Although West Coast were able to take a game in Knockout against Luminosity and made the match close, they were unable to turn those games into sets and lost by a 3-0 scoreline.

Moving onto the semis, we had an NA east grudge matchup between Spacestation and Tribe. Spacestation dominated the first Gem Grab set with the help of RBM’s Ash. A close set 2 in Belle's Rock led to Tribe evening out the scoreline, and it went all downhill from there for SSG with some bad drafts ultimately leading to their demise. Tribe was able to close this match with a 3-1 scoreline, moving on to the finals.

On paper, Remaining 7 vs Luminosity looked to be a very close match, but Luminosity coming off an insane Worlds run just showed how much of a force they are to be reckoned with. They quickly took set 1, had some close calls in Gem Grab in set 2, and stole all of R7’s stars in Bounty. A 3-0 scoreline from Luminosity over a very good team set them up for what seemed to be an intense match against Tribe.

Luminosity vs Tribe was set up for an insane grand final. The number 1 seed from NA West and NA East facing each other in the grand finals of the NA Monthly Finals was a matchup sure to be back and forth and intense. At least, that's what many of us thought. Luminosity was only able to win a game the entire match, and Tribe swept them in a 3-0 fashion, winning the first NA monthly finals in a nearly perfect 9-1 scoreline. 

NA came up with a couple of underdogs this month, but none were able to usurp Tribe, who seek to retain their spot at the top of NA for the 5th consecutive year. With STMN returning for month 2, will there be a change of winners in North America?