Rocket League Observer

By Stax For the past two weeks, ZeNoMoon has seen no action at all in the European Rival Series . The play-in qualifier currently sits at 0-2, with losses to Veloce Esports and Method . This weekend ZeNoMoon faces The Rightovers in the first match of the day, followed by a doubleheader on the Rival Esports stream featuring ARG and Vikings . Going into the penultimate weekend of league play, there are only two certainties: Veloce has secured no worse than second place, which guarantees a spot in the Promotion Tournament . Veloce will play next month for a shot at returning to the Rocket League Championship Series . The other thing we know is that Method is mathematically eliminated from top 4 contention, meaning the team will not be able to reserve its spot for next season. This is because five teams already have two wins on the season, and two of them (Vikings, compLexity ) play each other in the final week. Method has the week off, sitting at 1-5. THE RIGHTOVERS (1-3) vs. ZEN...

By Stax With front-running Birds and the Beez idle this week, the spotlight will shine on the five teams who have only won a single series thus far. Among them, a pair of teams at 1-2 that many thought would be in the hunt for first or second, and a place in the Promotion Tournament at the end of the season. Afterthought and The Peeps will finish Friday's Rival Series action in a match that will likely resign the loser to setting its sights on the top four for a free pass into next season. Afterthought (1-2) vs. The Peeps (1-2) While Afterthought had to use a sub for the first game of its series last Saturday against Plot Twist, that one game went their way. It was the final two games of the series, where Plot Twist outscored Afterthought by a total score of 8-1, that proved to be the real problem. While Afterthought has an even 7-7 record in games this season, three of those losses have come by 3 goals or more - the other coming against Birds and the Beez on opening day. Tha...

By Stax At the halfway point of the third week of Rival Series , half of the drama in Europe could be resolved. Veloce Esports faced a front-loaded schedule facing other top teams such as compLexity and Vikings , and has run the table so far with a 5-0 record in the first two weeks. A sixth win against play-in qualifiers ARG (2-1) would guarantee no worse than a 6-1 record. With Vikings (1-1) and compLexity (2-1) still to face each other at the end of the season it would guarantee no worse than a second place finish, and spot in the Promotion Tournament and a shot at returning to the Rocket League Championship Series . Veloce Esports (5-0) vs. ARG (2-1) Veloce's match against ARG is its only match this weekend, and is up second on the schedule. It follows a grueling second week where Veloce had to face both Vikings and compLexity, then play on the Rival Esports stream later on that same day against Method . In all, Veloce played 14 games of Rocket League and 6:05 worth of o...

By Stax Many of the teams that remain undefeated in the four competitive regions of the Rocket League Championship Series are no surprise to anyone. You have North America's "big three" of NRG, G2, and Cloud9; Chiefs Esports Club is yet to drop a game in two matches in Oceania; and Erodium isn't surprising anybody with its 4-0 record. RLCS EUROPE Renault Vitality on the other hand has shocked the world not just by winning, but by dominating the competition. Vitality entered the third week of RLCS play riding a 7-game winning streak. Yes, 7 games . After clinching a 3-1 win on opening day against PSG Esports, Vitality recorded jaw-dropping sweeps of FC Barcelona and Dignitas. Even more impressive, Vitality shut out Barcelona in all three games of the series and outscored its opponents 18-2 on the day. Vitality continued that run on Sunday despite stiff opposition from The Bricks and Team SoloMid. After a 2-minute overtime in game one, The Bricks slipped up. Vit...

By Stax With the rest of the league setting them firmly in their sights, the top three teams in North America dismissed every challenge they faced in week three of the Rocket League Championship Series to preserve a tie atop the standings at 4-0. No match saw a fifth and deciding game on Saturday as NRG, Cloud9, and G2 all secured a place in the North American Playoffs. Week three also saw an unexpected but historic overtime battle between G2 Esports and Ghost Gaming. The most impressive of the so-called "big three" was NRG Esports, which swept Spacestation Gaming and finished the day with a 3-1 victory over Evil Geniuses. In typical NRG fashion, a different player stepped up in each of the three wins over Spacestation. In game one, it was a hat trick from JSTN en route to a 5-0 blowout to open the day. Then in game two, Fireburner scored both goals in a 2-1 overtime contest. GarrettG's tenth shot of the series was the only one that mattered in game three, as his 71 m...

By Stax Much like Veloce Esports on the European side, Birds and the Beez faced three difficult matches between Friday and Saturday in week two of the North American Rival Series. When all was said and done, Hockser, Mist, and Roll Dizz had passed every test to establish themselves as the only undefeated team in North America. Friday night's broadcast began with a highly anticipated showdown between Birds and the Beez, and Plot Twist. Fans expected a long series following wins by both teams in week one, but instead were treated to a defensive clinic as Plot Twist were denied a single goal in any of the three games, twice being held to just one shot on goal or zero, as was the case in the first game. Birds and the Beez summarily dismissed their challengers by outscoring them 8-0, and outshooting Plot Twist 28-9 in the series. The only resistance came in game two, when Plot Twist managed eight of its nine total shots but could not answer the lone goal from Roll Dizz. Th...

By Stax For the veterans of Veloce Esports, their fate in the Rival Series was mostly going to be determined this weekend. Veloce faced competition from the other three teams that did not need to qualify via the open qualifier for this season - Vikings, compLexity, and Method. While Rocket League Championship Series veteran FreaKii was not happy about the week two triple-header, he and his team took care of business as part of a 14-game day and sit alone at the top of the league at 5-0, with the Spanish ARG next week and The Rightovers in week four to wrap up their season. In Friday's opening match, Veloce and Vikings traded overtime wins before Veloce exploded for five goals in a game three rout to break the deadlock. With his team's back against the wall, Maestro led his Vikings team with a hat trick in a game four overtime victory. Last season as Fnatic in the RLCS, nobody on his team managed three goals in a single game. Despite registering nine shots in the decide...