Rocket Surgery: the weekly Rocket League wrap (10/16)

It was a huge week for Rocket League, with competition kicking off in season four of the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) and the new “second division” Rivals Series (RLRS) in North America and Europe. North American results went by the book but Europe provided plenty of upsets and drama, seeing the defending World Champions Envyus and offseason favourites Gale Force both dropping series. The Rivals Series saw the teams that surprisingly fell short of Championship Series qualifying stamp their quality on the league and take the first steps to earning a shot at promotion to the main stage in season five.

In addition, Psyonix has outlined the Autumn Update which lands September 28, which will feature a new, farm themed arena, redesigns of Starbase ARC and Wasteland to regulation dimensions and the removal of non-standard maps from playlists, transparent goal posts and a ladder reset with the start of competitive season six. You can check it all out below:

Beyond the update, Psyonix revealed imminent LAN support, new tournament features and cross-platform party support, all moving into beta soon. You can find more information here.

On the Oceanic front, Throwdown Season 4 will double as RLCS World Championship qualifying for the region and begins league play Sunday. Additionally this weekend sees the conclusion of the Mock-It Championship with finals on Saturday.

North America – RLCS/RLRS League Play Week 1

There were no surprises in week one of league play for NA, with defending champions NRG going through undefeated while Cloud9 and G2 also had wins. Emotion received a baptism by fire in their league debut, going down to teams one and two from season 3 in Rogue and NRG, though they did manage to take a game from NRG. Rogue split their series for the day, beating Emotion comfortably but going down to Cloud9, their performances did a lot to alleviate fears after a poor off-season and a controversial roster change. Renegades also started slow, going down to NRG and G2 with Dappur not his usual self.

With two teams on bye it is hard to take much away from this week that we didn’t already know. NRG are good, G2 and Cloud9 will be right up there and Rogue had a solid start as well. With the top six making the regional finals and earning a shot at the four LAN spots even an 0-2 start isn’t terminal, and Renegades will be glad to have series in the books against two elite teams and still like their chances of a finals spot. Emotion will take some positives out of their effort against NRG but will struggle to avoid a bottom two finish and being forced to defend their place in the Championship Series against the top two Rivals Series finishers.

In Rivals Series play we saw two former World Champions competing; Gambit as a member of Premature Superhero Cops and Lachinio on Out of Style. Their results were mixed, Cops beating Incognito but going down to Naventic, while Out of Style were one of two victims of Fibeon, who started their redemption tour after unexpectedly missing out on qualifying for RLCS at the wheels of Emotion. With only the top two being rewarded with a shot at RLCS qualifying, any loss hurts in the Rivals series, and with Fibeon staking an early claim for one spot squads like Out of Style and Premature Superhero Cops can’t afford to drop many more series.

Check out the top five plays from NA RLCS week one here, the final touch from Jacob on the #1 play is absolutely beautiful, and he was a deserving NA player of the week.

.@Gimmickrl, @rl_Matt, @Fireburner_ (TWICE!) and @RL_Jacob make up the Top 5 plays from NA #RLCS week one! pic.twitter.com/GyVe9rQqZ0

— Rocket League Esports (@RLEsports) September 14, 2017

Europe – RLCS/RLRS League Play Week 1

What North America lacked in “what the heck?” results Europe provided in spades, as two of the biggest names in Rocket League went down in five game series to upstarts Frontline, beating Gale Force and Mock-It. Defending World Champions Team Envyus were one of two victims of Method, who also topped Aeriality. Gale Force did get on the board with their own series win over Aeriality, but the rust was certainly there for the preseason favourites.

Full credit to Frontline though, they were awesome. Young gun Bluey was strong, and well supported with some great finishing by Chausette45, who scored 10 goals on the day. Method were equally impressive, Al0t taking down player of the week honours with some amazing touches, but Mognus was a defensive powerhouse and their speed to the ball proved tough to contain.

There was certainly more drama in European league play. Frontline scored a double zeroes goal to force overtime against Gale Force and take game two, then pulled off another comeback in game three before a piece of ViolentPanda brilliance secured the win for Gale Force then Bluey upped the ante with a length of the pitch air dribble to take game four. Method twice needed comebacks to take down Aeriality, then punished the few defensive miscommunications from Envyus to sweep that series. Frontline dominated overtime against Mock-It but still took five games to win the series.

Europe is wide open right now, with another preseason favourite Flipsid3 Tactics yet to play and both Frontline and Method making strong cases for LAN qualification. Qualification will probably come down to win percentages, so every game is going to matter every week. European RLCS play is must see viewing.

You can check out the top five European RLCS plays below. Bluey’s bump on #4 is textbook, Chausette’s solo play in #3 is spectacular, and #1 from Bluey showed why on a pitch full of superstars, Bluey still stood tall.

.@Turbopolsa, @ChausetteRL (TWICE!), @mockit_Fairy, and @BlueyRL make up the top 5 plays in Europe from #RLCS week one! pic.twitter.com/ZfrXvBEXeV

— Rocket League Esports (@RLEsports) September 15, 2017

I didn’t catch much of EU RLRS play (there are only so many hours in a day!), but like North America most series weren’t close, with The Leftovers taking both their series to begin their climb back to RLCS, while The Juicy Kids also went 2-0.

Oceania – RLCS Preseason

Throwdown season 4 begins this weekend, with all of the Oceania “big six” qualifying; Chiefs, JAM Gaming, Avant, Pale Horse, Legacy and Scylla. Joining them is the upstart Conspiracy Esports, rookies to OCE Throwdown competition, and a newly formed squad of veterans, Noizee Isn’t Toxic. Throwdown season 4 will culminate with LAN finals at PAX Australia Sunday, October 29, with the top two sides going on to the international World Championship LAN with the top four from both Europe and North America.

Week one will see six series played, with Chiefs, Avant, Scylla and Legacy appearing twice. Pale Horse v Chiefs is a huge leadoff game, a rematch of the ESL AU/NZ LAN final. Noizee Isn’t Toxic have a chance to make an early mark against Legacy, and JAM get their shot at revenge for a shock Mock-It league loss to Conspiracy that pegged them the JAM-slayers.

While RLCS and RLRS play dominates the NA and EU competitive circuit, Oceania has a few irons in the fire alongside Throwdown. Mock-It Championship finals take place this Saturday, featuring Pale Horse, JAM Gaming, Chiefs and Avant, who swept through the final day of league play to steal a playoffs spot from Legacy. Season 3 of ESL AU/NZ Championships was announced as a full league series, with the first of two open qualifiers taking place this weekend before league play starts September 27.

Finally there is the Vapour-Nordic league, open only to squads that missed Throwdown qualification and giving the Oceanic bubble teams a showcase. Squads will play 14 rounds of league play over four weeks, each series best of three. Feint began to wash away the disappointment of missing Throwdown with four series wins, Lynx went 3-1 and only Guardian Aero couldn’t find a series win in the first week. Square One, Cl4rity, Battle-Car United and Deft all went 2-2.

Dates and Times

Oceania

Mock-It Finals: Saturday September 16, 12PM AEST
ESL AU/NZ Season 3 Open Qualifier #1: Saturday September 16, 12PM AEST
Throwdown Season 4 (RLCS) League Play: Sunday September 17, 10AM AEST

International

RLRS NA Round 2: Saturday September 16, 10AM AEST
RLRS EU Round 2: Saturday September 16, 4AM AEST
RLCS NA Round 2: Sunday September 17, 5AM AEST
RLCS EU Round 2: Monday September 18, 2AM AEST

Note: All RLCS and RLRS streams are archived and can be watched at a more palatable time. Just be sure to stay away from the RLCS Twitter feed if you don’t want results spoiled.

Series of the Week: Frontline v Mock-It, RLCS EU week one

Biggest games of the week ahead:

North America – NRG v Rogue, Sunday 7:30AM AEST
Europe – EnVyUs v Flipsid3 Tactics, Monday 5:30AM AEST
Oceania – Pale Horse v Chiefs, Sunday 10AM AEST