The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) has come roaring back from last season with upsets, tight series and some incredible comebacks even before League play begins. This past Saturday, the top 64 of the North American RLCS Open Qualifier played out to give us the eight teams that will move on to League play, and further, in the next three months.
The winners' bracket seemed to be going according to plan early on with the expected performers -- G2, Kings of Urban, Exodus and Revival -- looking to go through easily. That is, until G2 Esports, the current world champions, ran up against the boys from Take 2. In what was possibly one of the biggest upsets in the entire tournament, Take 2 managed to bring G2 down with a convincing 3-1 win, and qualify for League play.
Following that shock, Kings of Urban comfortably sent Selfless to the losers' bracket to qualify, reestablishing business as usual. In the third qualification match, Revival, gifted a qualification due to the previous weekends' troubles of Trinity and Genesis, faced off against That's Pretty Neat (TPN). In what was expected to be a clean victory for Revival, TPN managed to take it to game five before Revival found their form and closed out the set. The final winners' bracket qualifying match, featuring Exodus and the upstart Deception, ended in a rather expected win for Exodus.
The losers' bracket was a much more unexpected wild ride for the teams and viewers alike. In qualifier match 1, G2 pulled their own "take 2" and rode the 3-0 over Classic Stanley to move into League play and avoid a very lackluster performance overall.
Qualifier match 2 ended up being the match of the tournament. Vendetta, who had lost to Deception in an upset, found themselves playing Selfless, who were the clear favorites. In a very tight five-game series, Selfless, the rising stars of the Rocket League scene, were defeated by Vendetta. Vendetta qualify off the back of a shaky tournament overall, but the win over Selfless will give them the hope to perform much better in League play.
Qualifier match 3 pitted Genesis against TPN with Genesis coming off the back of a strong 3-0 against Trinity and TPN coming from a very tight 2-3 loss to Revival. Genesis took the match 3-1 and qualified into League play hoping to continue their recovery of form. The final match featured the high-flying Deception who sought to qualify when in reality no one had expected them to even come this close. Wild Card were in a similar position, but in the end Deception took the series 3-0 and in the surprise of the day managed to qualify for RLCS League play.
RLCS is most definitely back in full force with the underdog stories and upsets ready to wow once more. Can G2 show the level of play they have showed in the past when it matters? Can Take 2 continue playing at the very highest level? Will Deception manage to rise to the challenge of the League play? All of these questions will be answered over the coming months as teams from North America and Europe compete for $250,000 in prizes over the season.