Moist Moguls vs The Guard Preview and Predictions – VCL NA Playoffs

The Moist Moguls vs The Guard matchup will select the second North American team for Challengers Ascension

The Lower Final of Challengers is here, and this Best of 5 will decide which 2nd team from North America will secure a spot in Ascension Americas. These teams have already faced each other twice in this event, and both instances ended with victories for Moist Moguls, even though The Guard are considered to be a much stronger squad. Therefore, the question now will be whether Guard can finally secure a different outcome and reach the Grand Final. Here are our predictions.

Moist Moguls

Although yesterday’s game against M80 looked like a strong start for the Moguls on Lotus, M80’s brilliance stopped them from closing out any map. The team’s Duelist sym picked Neon, an Agent we haven’t seen him play regularly, and he struggled in that role throughout both maps and had a disappointing 0.39 rating. Going against The Guard, we may expect sym to go back to Jett and find comfort in his regular form.

Players

Brady “thief” Dever

• Role: Controller
• VLR Rating: 1.04
• Average Combat Score: 219.5
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.06
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 72%
• Average Damage per Round: 141.9

Alex “aproto” Protopapas

• Role: Sentinel
• VLR Rating: 1.06
• Average Combat Score: 201.6
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.06
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 74%
• Average Damage per Round: 129.3

Brock “brawk” Somerhalder

• Role: Initiator
• VLR Rating: 1.10
• Average Combat Score: 203.2
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.06
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 75%
• Average Damage per Round: 136.4

Tyler “sym” Porter

• Role: Duelist
• VLR Rating: 0.99
• Average Combat Score: 234.6
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.04
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 67%
• Average Damage per Round: 154.4

Xavier “flyuh” Carlson

• Role: Flex
• VLR Rating: 0.96
• Average Combat Score: 187.2
• Kill/Death Ratio: 0.91
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 72%
• Average Damage per Round: 123.8

Player to Watch

thief

The Guard

After getting kicked down to the Lower Bracket by Moist Moguls, The Guard didn’t have any issue winning their last two matches in a dominating fashion. With tex providing a skillful performance, they eliminated Oxygen Esports in their recent Bo3 with a 2-0 victory. However, doing the same hasn’t been possible facing the Moguls, and we may see a similar outcome here at this Best of 5.

Players

Jacob “valyn” Batio

• Role: Controller
• VLR Rating: 1.04
• Average Combat Score: 206.4
• Kill-Death Ratio: 1.02
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 75%
• Average Damage per Round: 132.2

Jonah “JonahP” Pulice

• Role: Initiator
• VLR Rating: 1.05
• Average Combat Score: 206.3
• Kill-Death Ratio: 1.06
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 74%
• Average Damage per Round: 133.3

Trent “trent” Cairns

• Role: Flex
• VLR Rating: 1.11
• Average Combat Score: 222.3
• Kill-Death Ratio: 1.14
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 75%
• Average Damage per Round: 148.7

Michael “neT” Bernet

• Role: Sentinel
• VLR Rating: 0.97
• Average Combat Score: 197.7
• Kill-Death Ratio: 1.00
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 70%
• Average Damage per Round: 129.1

Ian “tex” Botsch

• Role: Duelist
• VLR Rating: 1.08
• Average Combat Score: 226.5
• Kill-Death Ratio: 1.12
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 71%
• Average Damage per Round: 145.9

Player to Watch

tex

VCL NA Playoffs – Moist Moguls vs The Guard Predictions

Similar to their previous encounters, this will likely end with a victory for Moist Moguls with a 3-1 score against The Guard.

Moist Moguls vs The Guard – Head-to-Head

Moist Moguls 4 – 1 The Guard

Moist Moguls vs The Guard – Maps

• Map 1: Pearl
• Map 2: Lotus
• Map 3: Ascent
• Map 4: Fracture
• Map 5: Split

Moist Moguls vs The Guard – Score

• Map 1: Moist Moguls to win with The Guard>9
• Map 2: Moist Moguls to win with The Guard<8
• Map 3: The Guard to win with Moist Moguls>10
• Map 4: Moist Moguls to win with The Guard<11

Moist Moguls vs The Guard – Top Fragger

thief

VCL NA Playoffs – The Guard vs Moist Moguls Match Links

• Twitch
• YouTube

Moist Moguls vs The Guard – Match Time

June 9, 2023 – 13:00 PT // 16:00 ET // 22:00 CEST