Here are my thoughts about the SCL. Everyone is welcome to weigh in!
Barrage and RivaL were above exceL (previously CleanUp Crew) and eXcellence (previously Team BM) in the Summer Qualifiers. RivaL and Barrage traded 1st place wins each week - no week was won by a team other than these two - but RivaL 2-0ed Barrage in the finals.
exceL and eXcellence (wow those are going to be confusing as hell) played a number of times in qualifiers. eXcellence won all 3 games they played (one game in each of Week 2, 3, and 5).
exceL defeated Barrage once in week 4 of the qualifiers, again only in a best of one. eXcellence defeated Barrage the same week in the 3rd place match, also in a Best of 1.
Based on some of these stats, RivaL seemed to possibly be the best team by a slight margin over Barrage leaving the Qualifiers, with exceL and eXcellence following slightly behind.
Predictions for Week 1:
exceL v. eXcellence: 1-1. Neither roster is close to the same as their qualifier roster. exceL mostly dealt with role swaps with the joining of Kaajee, while eXcellence had to deal with roster swaps. Since both rosters are relatively untested in their current forms, and since both teams were similar in rank in qualifiers, split is a safe option.
RivaL v Barrage: 1-1. Game count between these teams in the qualifiers was 7-4 in favor of RivaL, with them winning 3/4 of the BO3 sets between them (RivaL won in Weeks 3, 5, and the Finals). Half of their BO3 sets went to 3 games, with each team winning one such set apiece. If either of these teams has the chance to 2-0, it's likely RivaL, but I think these teams are very close in prowess.
exceL v Barrage: 2-0 to Barrage. Barrage won the only BO3 these teams played in qualifiers (Week 1), and despite losing the BO1 in Week 4, they feel like a generally stronger team when you look at the overall numbers. This set has a slight potential to split, but with exceL coming in with a lot of roster changes this set seems much more secure for the team in blue.
eXcellence v RivaL: 2-0 to RivaL. Each team won a BO1 against each other in the Qualifiers, but RivaL made a statement when they won the Qualifier Finals with a resounding 2-0. On top of that, eXcellence's roster swaps may make this set harder for them.
Eager is the best team in the league right now. This statement is hard to contest. They won every week of the regular qualifiers that they played, and the only set they lost (to SoaR, previously Erry Day Carry, in the Qualifier Finals), they had to play without a majority of their main roster.
SoaR was easily a top 2 team when Weak3n and Zachsy were on the roster, but it will be interesting to see if the team still is as strong with two new members and at least one role swap since Finals.
Team eLevate (previously COGnitive Gaming) and Most Wanted eSports are considered the next two best teams in the NA League right now. These two teams traded games throughout the qualifiers, with an even 2-2 between them in terms of game count.
Noble eSports and Kingdom eSports (previously the SamBams) are alright teams, but are not at the level of the other 4. With the exclusion of Eager, SoaR, and MW from the final week of the qualifier bracket, the last two spots in the league were open to whoever showed up the most that day, and these two teams did just that.
Predictions for Week 1:
Kingdom v Noble: 1-1. Kingdom took the only game that these two teams played in qualifiers, but they have also gone through some roster changes, most notably losing the namesake for their former team name, SamBam. This set should be close, and either team has potential to theoretically take a 2-0, so giving it a split is a safe bet.
Most Wanted v eLevate: 1-1. eLevate is a massively different team from Qualifiers, losing both Uzzy and Keegs to SoaR. Most Wanted has also had some roster changes, however, losing Wubbn and Adjust.. Because of these changes, and because these teams were even in games during qualifiers, it seems best to give this set a split.
SoaR v Eager: 2-0 to Eager. Eager was up 8-1 in Qualifiers (not counting the aforementioned Finals) over SoaR's qualifier roster. The pickups of Uzzy and Keegs should be solid for SoaR but likely will not be enough to topple Eager.
Kingdom v Eager: 2-0 to Eager. These is very little chance for an upset in this set. Possible, but very unlikely.
Noble v Most Wanted: 2-0 to Most Wanted. MW never placed lower than Noble during Qualifiers, and their team on paper seems much stronger even after roster swaps. Upsets are more likely here than the previous set, but probably not by too much.
eLevate v SoaR: 2-0 to SoaR. They acquired two of eLevate's players after losing two of their own, and eLevate was forced to role swap to accommodate the roster changes. This set has a fair amount of potential to split, but with role swaps on top of roster swaps a week before the split, eLevate may need some time to find their footing.
What do you guys think? Any other opinions out there? I'm still venturing into the Console scene myself, so I would love to hear more. I'm also looking into getting more people giving their predictions for the thread, so stay tuned!