Gwent Challenger #2: Semis and Finals Predictions
Yesterday saw the first round of matches taking place for Gwent Challenger #2. Four players were left in the dust as TailBot, kolemoen, Freddybabes, and Lifecoach advanced to the semi finals.
Ten different community members made their predictions, in order to try and get a flavour for who was expected to win. These ten were:
- crokeyz - A Gwent streamer who covers the early morning shift. He’s won a Gwentlemen Open in the past, and is known for his penchant for mill.
- Insangpha - Representing Korean Gwent. Insangpha won Gwent Mania Korea, and his team reached the finals of The Gwentlemen Invitational.
- Jaggerous - Resident host of the Gwentlemen talk show, Jaggerous hosts and commentates for Gwentlemen events. She also makes deck guides on YouTube and streams on Twitch.
- Merchant - Official caster of Gwent Challenger and the previous two Gwent Opens, Merchant is also known for his YouTube videos, Twitch streams, and spicy memes.
- Petrify - Representing Australia, Petrify is a competitive player and streamer who recently competed in GwentSlam #3.
- ImpetuousPanda - Player turned caster, Panda will be commentating Gwent Challenger along with the recent Gwent Open. He also played in GwentSlam #1.
- Raikou - Seen by many as a deck building god, Raikou represents Japanese Gwent and is a staple at the top of the pro ladder.
- Swim - Analyst for Gwent Challenger, and well known deck builder, Swim is known across the community for his innovative play and popular live streams.
- vaysh - Well versed with factions across the board, vaysh can commonly be found in the top 8 for Gwentlemen Open events. Another skilled player, he is often seen in the pro ladder elite.
- Lamios - A hardworking Gwentlemen, Lamios keeps the meta snapshot up to date, and stays on top of the Gwent meta. He’s also a common name on the Gwent reddit.
While nobody got 100%, many successfully predicted 3 of the 4 matches. Furthermore nobody predicted all of the losers. With that said, the same group of panelists made predictions for the semi finals, and were asked who they ultimately thought would win.
For TailBot vs kolemoen TailBot is once again seen as the underdog, with just 30% of the vote. This was the case in the quarter finals however and he came out on top. With that said, kolemoen efficiently dispatched of Adzikov in the quarters in a clean 3-0. He has a reputation among the competitive players as a powerhouse, and is currently looking unstoppable.
Freddybabes vs Lifecoach is another one sided match-up from our predictions. 80% of panellists think that defending champion Lifecoach will beat Freddybabes. Freddybabes went 3-1 against J0rah, a match-up many felt was going to be a 3-0. On the flipside, Lifecoach 3-0ed GameKing in a match which many expected would go to game 5. With Freddybabes struggling, and Lifecoach’s efficient victories, it’s unsurprising most favour Lifecoach to win.
For the finals the predictions are mixed. The 2 panellists who think Freddybabes will win his semi think that he will go on to win the tournament. The remaining 8 are split, with 4 for Lifecoach and 4 for kolemoen. Nobody thinks TailBot will win the finals, but given his history of coming second, this is maybe not surprising. Lifecoach is a LAN veteran. He is known for being hyper focused, calm, collected, and very competitive. Kolemoen is a new face at LAN, but his dominant performance in the quarters have shown people he might just be unstoppable. It will be a great match for sure, and it looks like it’s anyone’s game.
Overall our panel favour kolemoen and Lifecoach, but as in the quaterfinals, they aren’t always right. Tune in to watch Challenger on the CDPR Twitch channel at 4pm CET to see who will emerge the victor.
This article was written by Francesca “Jaggerous” Jagger. You can find more from her on her YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter.
