Ten seconds.
Ten seconds is how close Chiefs were to eliminating Cloud9 from the RLCS season 4 finals and in doing so pulling off the biggest upset in Rocket League history. Alas, tying goals for Cloud9 forced overtime with three and seven seconds remaining in games two and four, where some unbelievable defensive efforts denied Chiefs time and again and saw the pre-tournament favourite Cloud9 take victory and ultimately the series.
Chiefs will have to settle with giving the best (perhaps now second best) team in the world a mighty scare and proving they belong in the upper echelon of Rocket League teams. In beating NRG and taking Cloud9 and G2 to the wire, Chiefs earned international respect and ensured Oceania will have a place on the biggest stage in Rocket League for some time to come.
Mindblowingly masterful passing play by @JakeRL_ & @DrippayRL here. So much back & forth, but the wavedash from Jake really tips it into brilliance. Just incredible. pic.twitter.com/5SS70OHvc5
— Our Dailies (@OurDailies) November 15, 2017
Sure, this wasn’t the first time Chiefs took a series from an international rival, but too often their season three achievements were dismissed as “just” beating Denial, who many regarded as lucky to be there themselves. Knockers will no longer have that to fall back on, a series win over the two time North American champions NRG cannot be dismissed and just how close they took it to Cloud9 and G2 certainly passed the eye test for a world class squad. Oceania may play into its little brother status with an easygoing, self deprecating attitude, but on the biggest stage Chiefs proved the region can certainly play with the best of them.
Yet it wasn’t Chiefs or even Cloud9 that contested the World Championship final. European RLCS dominance continued, as Gale Force bested Method in both an incredible seven game series to determine the winners bracket then a tight sweep in the grand final to fulfil their preseason destiny as champions. Both the winners final and the grand final were highlighted by six minute overtime marathons, the first in game six of the winners final, eventually won by Method, and the second to decide game four of the grand final.
Goal of the tournament? ⚽️🚀🚗
Check out our most viewed clip feat. @SquishyMuffinz from yesterday's @RLCS World Championships! pic.twitter.com/kQgq6QuSAM
— Twitch (@Twitch) November 13, 2017
That winners final against Method was the only time Gale Force were really tested over the weekend. They were clinical in series wins over G2 and Ghost and never fell to the lower bracket, avoiding the bloodbath of Cloud9, PSG and G2. They had by far the best defensive record of any team and while not the flashiest attacking squad they get enough shots away and put enough pressure on to crack even the best opposition. While Turbopolsa insisted on handing off his MVP medal to teammate Kaydop, citing his clutch plays throughout the tournament, both were worthy contenders and contributors in a team that only lost four total games over the three days.
While you could never call Gale Force’s path to the final easy, the other side of the competition was referred to as the bracket of death for good reason, and it lived up to its name. Cloud9 were immediately forced into a lower bracket run with a tight loss to PSG, while Method emerged victorious over NRG in a defense dominated five game series where only nine total goals were scored. That loss led to Chiefs eliminating NRG from the tournament, while G2 were forced to fight through Mockit and PSG before dropping an incredibly close series to Cloud9. 10 of the 18 series played over three days were decided in the maximum number of games, a testament to just how tightly matched these teams are.
Nerves of steel and teamwork like a spiderweb. This play is @Methodgg in a nutshell. Great composure by @Metsanauris @Mognus_RL and @al0t97 to score with just about the highest stakes imaginable. pic.twitter.com/12veVCHlbP
— Our Dailies (@OurDailies) November 15, 2017
Pale Horse, the second Oceania representatives were unfortunately not a part of any of those series, going down in sweeps to both PSG and Mockit. The PSG series was very close, Pale Horse holding the lead at various stages but unable to counter some individual brilliance and struggling to control the game for extended periods. Mockit proved in the final week of league play they are perhaps the best front-runners in Rocket League, and the European veterans were able to run up some scores against the overmatched Pale Horse, a result not truly indicative of their quality but an unpleasant reminder of what can happen against the best in the world if you don’t bring your A-game. Pale Horse will be better for the experience, but have plenty to improve on coming back to regional play to make a better showing should they get another chance.
With such a closely contested tournament there were always going to be some tough results, with Cloud9 denied a chance at dethroning Gale Force with a loss to Method in the lower final. G2 shook off any doubts about their place with an impressive display, beating PSG and Mockit but ultimately unable to repeat their league play victory over Cloud9. PSG you could perhaps say underachieved, but looking at the teams they lost to; G2 and Method, it is a harsh judgment of their performance. Ghost showed some strong form against Mockit and Cloud9, who remain their bogey team despite a five game series loss.
So once again Europe reigned supreme, with the great North American hopes of Cloud9 and G2 left to dust themselves off and take another run next season. This was easily the most entertaining and well produced RLCS world championship yet, with short turnarounds between matches keeping things moving even if the accelerated schedule meant I woke up at the 5AM Saturday morning listed start time of Chiefs/G2 only to see Kronovi in the winners interview. Peak Twitch viewership seemed to be slightly down on last season, but we’ll wait for official numbers before judging whether the audience for competitive Rocket League is still growing. If you didn’t catch the event live, some of the highlight series are listed below:
So what is next?
The Rocket League off-season is usually a frenzy of player movements as teams disband and reform, with a couple of big events in between to satiate our desire for more competitive action. I’d expect the player movements to slow down this time around thanks to the new rules around promotion into the RLCS; teams swapping more than one core roster member will not be eligible to keep their place in the top division next season. That of course does not apply to Oceania, and the OCE shuffle is already well underway as several bubble teams have parted ways including Feint, Square One and Deft, while roster changes in the big six include the retirement of Legacy veteran Soma, the departure of Kira from Scylla and a huge org change as Dark Sided pick up the former JAM Gaming roster.
On the competition front we have the ESL AU/NZ season 3 finals LAN this weekend, with Pale Horse and Chiefs jumping straight back on the plane after a marathon trip home from Washington D.C. We’ll see if jet lag and post-RLCS blues will give Dark Sided and Scylla the chance to extract a slither of revenge for their Throwdown LAN defeats.
Internationally we have the recently announced Eleague Cup for Rocket League, where eight teams will be invited to compete over three days December 1-3. Participants have not been announced yet for the $150,000 USD prize pool, though it is heavily suggested the top eight from the RLCS finals would be invited, giving Chiefs their first taste of international LAN action outside of RLCS. Whether the logistic challenges of another international trip can be overcome remains to be seen, but hopefully it signals a new era of international competition for Oceania teams.
We also haven’t had a chance to recap the RLCS promotion/relegation tournaments, which saw Renegades return to North America RLCS alongside Out of Style. Fibeon were unable to convert their undefeated Rivals Series season into a place in the big league, once again falling to Allegiance who themselves failed to defend their RLCS place. Fibeon has since parted ways with the Rocket League roster. In Europe we didn’t have any surprises, Fnatic winning their way into the big league in straight series, including taking three straight games to snatch victory from Envy, who got over Team Secret in the lower bracket to retain their RLCS place and confirm Secret’s relegation.
Fnatic doubled down on their wins over Envy by taking down the SPL Gauntlet earlier in the month, sweeping Envy in the finals and also getting a win over Excel. Envy got confidence boosting wins over Method and Flipside Tactics on the way to their finals loss. In the North American version of the Gauntlet, G2 took it all down with wins over Ghost, Hollywood Hammers and Renegades, while Allegiance got yet another win over Fibeon before falling to beaten finalists Ghost.
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