It’s that time again! Time for a Rocket League news roundup by your favorite (at least one of you, surely?) Rocket League eSports reporter, Stubat! So, what is on the agenda for today I hear you ask, yes, you in the back there? Well! Today we’re going to be doing a brief rundown of the RLCS X Winter Major for North America and Europe. Since the regionals and their B-tier event, ‘The Grid’ which also earns points towards major and world championship qualification are now over for this Winter split, now is as good a time as any right? Then let’s get on with it!
Europe
The European split has been waiting for this Major to come around for quite a while now. The final regional of this split actually ended on the 17th of January with the major not actually due to start until the 20th of February! That’s quite a gap, especially when you consider all the way through these splits there is basically Rocket League on every single day! ANYWAY, let’s break down the teams who have qualified and their rosters shall we before we talk about the actual major.
| Team BDS | Giants Gaming | Top Blokes | Team Queso |
S) GCR710 C) Kael |
S) Wolf. C) Arleyobi |
S) tehda C) RamS | 1) AtomiK 2) DmentZa 3) VK-Sailen C) ByJesusxEsP |
| Vitality | Dignitas | Oxygen Esports | Galaxy Racer |
| 1) Fairy Peak! 2) Kaydop 3) Alpha54 C) Mout | 1) ViolentPanda 2) Joreuz 3) ApparentlyJack S) Jessie C) Virge | 1) Ferra 2) Chausette45 3) AztraL S) Neqzo C) Moon Phases | 1) eekso 2) Mittaen 3) arju C) ANDYTHEMANDY |
| Guild Esports | Redemption | Endpoint | Team Singularity |
| 1) ThO. 2) noly 3) Deevo C) Gregan | 1) Kash 2) Mikeboy 3) Oscillon S) womped C) Lyaneii | 1) RelatingWave 2) Virtuoso 3) Metsanauris C) Eclipse | 1) hibbs 2) Breezi 3) Scrub Killa S) Godsmilla C) Markydooda |
S = Substitute – C = Coach
So, that’s the teams who have qualified, now, how do we think this is going to pan out? Well, I personally feel like there are a LOT of teams in the EU scene that have really strong rosters but don’t quite live up to the expectation, 2 examples are Oxygen Esports and Endpoint, those guys, among others, have so much incredible talent in their rosters but somehow, always seem to underperform against teams they really should be beating. That being said, is this the time for these teams to step up to the plate? Prove they deserve to be there? I hope so!
The more competitive the Rocket League the better if you ask me! Now, if you ask me who is going to win it? It’s so hard to look past Team BDS, those guys are absolutely incredible. In the Fall split they won 2 of the 3 regionals, as well as the major, so how did they follow up that incredible performance in the Winter split? 2 out of 3 regionals won and 1 3rd place finish. If you want to know who my money is on, it’s absolutely on Team BDS, will the odds be good? Absolutely not, but it seems like a safe bet and just in case you weren’t sure, it is actually possible to bet on esports these days, a lot of the big names have markets for most of the big games, however, if you are new to it, you can always use a Betting Calculator for esports or just betting in general.
It’ll help you figure out how much money you may get in return, they’re helpful tools for sure. Anyway, my rundown of the EU region may not have been the most in-depth, but honestly, I feel like it’s a given how this major is going to go.
North America
With the North American split drawing to a close on the 31st January with the Major being held on the 27th of February, most of the participants for the major have already been decided, I’ll explain that more in a moment, so I guess we should start by doing the same thing we did for the EU, by taking a look at the teams and their rosters!
| Team Envy | NRG | Rogue | Spacestation Gaming |
| 1) Atomic 2) mist 3) Turbopolsa C) furane | 1) GarrettG 2) jstn. 3) SquishyMuffinz C) Sizz | 1) firstkiller 2) Turinturo 3) Taroco. C) CorruptedG | 1) Sypical 2) Arsenal 3) retals C) Chrome |
| G2 Esports | Pittsburgh Knights | Alpine Esports | The Peeps |
| 1) Rizzo 2) JKnaps 3) Chicago C) Jahzo | 1) radoko 2) ZPS. 3) sosa S) Flitz C) McLando | 1) percy. 2) jordan 3) majicbear S) creamz C) miztik | 1) Gyro. 2) AYYJAYY 3) Allushin C) Moopy |
| TBD | TBD | TBD | Version1 |
| 1) TBD 2) TBD 3) TBD C) TBD | 1) TBD 2) TBD 3) TBD C) TBD | 1) TBD 2) TBD 3) TBD C) TBD | 1) Tormeny 2) gimmick 3) Comm C) Fireburner |
S = Substitute – C = Coach
Now, before I break this down, those 3 slots that are yet to be decided will be finalized on the 11th of February, live on Twitch TV, you can watch the coverage on the Rocket League and UGC Twitch channels if you’re into it! The teams are playing in a Qualification Tiebreaker, those teams are Ghost Gaming, Kansas City Pioneers, Loco, and the Susquehanna Soniqs. I feel like Loco misses out here honestly leaving GG, KCP, and SS to qualify for the major, but who really knows, Loco has surprised us in the past, can they do it again?
ANYWAY time for my run down, while the North American region is also very stacked with talent, in my honest opinion, I don’t think the lower end of the pack so to speak are quite as good as the European region, by which I mean, I don’t feel like this major will be as competitive. I think your top 3 is basically nailed on, it will be Team Envy, NRG, and Spacestation Gaming, the 4th spot will be between Rogue and G2. Now, who do I think will win this major? It’s always a tough decision as the top 3 teams in this region are all incredible and all shine on the big stage, however, there is one name up there that shines more than any when the spotlight shines… Turbopolsa. You don’t become a 4-time world champion by just getting lucky, right?
https://twitter.com/RocketPones/status/1359701842284974085
This man dominated Europe, moved to North America, and won a title with NRG before being let go, to his credit, I feel like he just didn’t really fit their playstyle, but STILL won worlds in season 8 with NRG AND he was the MVP of the tournament, that says a lot for the Swede, right? Not only that but his teammates bounce off him so well that they really are a force to be reckoned with and if you ask me, they finish top 3 when worlds roll around for sure. That being said if you’re a betting man like myself, I would find it hard to pick a team here to win, I think your best bet is PROBABLY Envy, but any of the teams I said are in the top 3 could easily win this major. The top end of the tournament will surely have fireworks, I can say that for certain!
There we have it, a quick rundown of the Winter Major for both EU and NA, I hope you guys are all as excited as I am for more Rocket League esports! One thing to note is that after the major is finished, we will be shown information for the format of the Spring Split, more than likely on the stream for the NA Major. So even more exciting stuff to look forward to!
Written by Stuart ‘Stubat’ Hannon
