By Red Bull Esports
Last week marked one year since the release of Rocket League — and Psyonix celebrated its thriving community in grand fashion this weekend by spotlighting its best and brightest in the Rocket League Championship Series online final.
The RLCS kicked off in late April and had a previous online final for the first qualifying round, but this one held much more weight: The larger point bounties would determine the last couple teams to make it to the live championship in Hollywood next month.
And as the final showdown before the LAN, it lived up to the hype: Across seven series and two days, we saw Rocket League played in peak form, showcasing incredible team coordination, frantic aerial play and a seemingly endless stream of tense moments and dazzling shots. If you’re not paying attention to competitive Rocket League, the end-to-end action of the RLCS online final showed why it should absolutely be on your radar as the finale nears.
America’s up first
With North American RLCS points leader iBUYPOWER Cosmic narrowly missing the online finals after the previous group stage, Kings of Urban was the favorite — and the team did not disappoint, handily beating Lucky Bounce in Saturday’s first best-of-seven showdown. Lucky Bounce put up a strong effort and played aggressively, but didn’t have enough defensive polish to withstand Kings of Urban’s constant assault.
Urban took the first three games pretty easily, looking totally in sync with intense pressure and great rotations throughout. Lucky Bounce grabbed game four via a pair of quick goals early, but Kings of Urban locked up the series in game five with sensational late goal from Fireburner, who lightly tapped in a pass that SadJunior placed right above the net.
Given the team names, Genesis vs. Exodus promised to be a battle of biblical proportions, and sure enough, the matches were close throughout — but Exodus consistently had the edge, prevailing in five games. Genesis went on to face Lucky Bounce in the third-place series, and momentum swayed back and forth, with Lucky Bounce taking the first three games and Genesis dominating the next trio. However, Lucky Bounce roared back to secure the series win in seven.
Likewise, the NA online championship went to seven games, as Kings of Urban and Exodus traded games until the brilliant last match. Fireburner put Urban on the board quickly in game seven following back-to-back demolitions that hobbled and disoriented each team. GarrettG tied it up for Exodus seconds later with an empty net, and SadJunior returned the favor for Urban almost immediately: That’s three goals in the first minute, and they would be the only ones for the rest of the game as both sides frantically battled for more.
Still, those stressful few minutes amounted to no further damage, and Kings of Urban pulled out the series and online final win with the 2-1 game victory, securing the $3,500 first-place NA prize and the region’s No. 1 seed in the live championship.
Europe’s tough teams
The top European teams are widely considered the best in competitive Rocket League, and they showed their prowess with an amazing set of matches on Sunday for the region’s online finals.
In fact, Europe’s four best teams were so evenly matched that both initial series went to seven games, starting with top-seeded FlipSid3 Tactics against Supersonic Avengers. FlipSid3 showed spurts of sheer dominance, taking game one 6-1 and game six 8-0, but Supersonic Avengers went into overdrive for game seven. The match went back and forth until Doomsee teed up a ball for Snaski to slam in for the goal with 0:59 remaining, allowing Supersonic to drive home the 5-4 game win and take the series.
Initially, the battle between We Dem Girlz and Mock-It EU looked like it would be a lopsided victory for Mock-It, which won the first three games in a row. Stunningly, however, We Dem Girlz shut out Mock-It in the next three games and ultimately finished off the last game 4-3 to win the series. Both series were among the most memorable in the entire Championship Series to date, and set the tone for what to expect from the live final in August.
In fact, the rest of the day couldn’t quite match those highs — and the third-place game didn’t even happen. Perhaps soured by the near-victory in the previous series, FlipSid3 couldn’t get its full team to sign on in time for the follow-up. According to a league statement, they were “forced to forfeit competing in the match due to not being able to field a full three-man roster at the time of the required check-in.”
However, the RLCS decided not to deduct points from FlipSid3 for the no-show since two members were trying to “remedy the situation” all the while. It appears that m1k3rules was the player who didn’t show, and he tweeted last night that he was leaving the team (via Reddit). However, now his Twitter account is gone, and an official statement from the team claims that “changes have not been made.”
After all that controversy, yesterday’s EU final ended up being less of a battle than the earlier matches: Supersonic Avengers couldn’t keep up the momentum from its FlipSid3 upset and lost to We Dem Girlz in five games. Still, all credit to We Dem Girlz for the dominating win, as they took over the top spot in the EU points total and earned the region’s top cash bounty.
One last battle
Due to the Rocket League Championship Series’ cumulative points structure, a couple teams that didn’t get into the online final will compete at the live final on August 6-7. However, that means the teams that performed the best all season long — not just this weekend — will have a chance to fight for ultimate victory in person.
Kings of Urban leads the NA points total, followed by Exodus, iBUYPOWER Cosmic and Genesis, while We Dem Girlz reigns above FlipSid3 Tactics, Mock-It EU, and The Flying Dutchman in the EU. The double elimination bracket will see Kings of Urban face up against The Flying Dutchman, Exodus battle Mock-It EU, iBUYPOWER Cosmic contend against FlipSid3 Tactics, and Genesis try to withstand the force of We Dem Girlz.
The Avalon Hollywood will be ground zero for the Championship Series finale in just under a month, as these teams show off their speedy and spectacular play on the game’s biggest stage. We’ll see if Europe really is the home of Rocket League’s best, or if an American team can upset that notion with a victory on its home soil.