Weekend Roundup: Vitality In Driver's Seat, Erodium Sweeps Doubleheader, Chiefs Remain Perfect
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. Vitality got a hat trick from Scrub Killa and 4 saves from Fairy Peak for Vitality's 7th shutout of the season and would go on to complete the sweep with a 3-2 victory in game three. There would be no shutouts in the final series of the day pitting Vitality against TSM, and despite the efforts of Metsanauris single-handedly trying to carry TSM back from the dead, Scrub Killa's goal in the 4th minute of overtime clinched a 3-1 victory. TSM's 4-1 win in game three was only the second game Vitality has lost this season.
With 9 goals and 7 assists Scrub Killa was named the European RLCS Player of the Week, marking the second time in a row the award has gone to a member of the frontrunners. Kaydop won the award last week, while EyeIgnite earned the honor in week one. Fairy Peak continued his defensive dominance with 22 saves in seven games, and sits as the clear favorite for Savior of the Season with a perfect 3.0 saves per game. PSG's Chausette45 is the closest contender with 2.24 per game.
In other EU action, Triple Trouble overcame all odds ton reverse sweep PSG in the opening match of the day. Tadpole believed he was about to score the first goal of the series when the game was paused and restarted from the beginning. PSG won the restarted game and eventually took a 2-0 series lead, but could not close the deal as Ronaky scored 5 goals over the last three games to lead Triple Trouble to a 2-2 record on the season.
Despite suffering an alarming 8-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in game one, TSM rode strong offensive performances from EyeIgnite and Metsanauris to victory as the ELEAGUE Champions defeated Barcelona 3-2; Dignitas got its first win of the season by outscoring Mousesports 10-1 in three games; the win by Dignitas ultimately created a three-way tie at the bottom of the league as The Bricks were unable to get its second win of the season, falling 3-2 to PSG in a wild, back-and-forth series.
GFINITY ROCKET LEAGUE OCEANIC MASTERS
A light Easter weekend schedule in the Oceania region saw the Chiefs remain absolutely perfect with another 3-0 sweep, this time over 1NE eSports OCE. Three teams remain undefeated in the OCE region, with ICON Esports and Justice Esports also picking up dominant victories on the night.
Chiefs were tested by 1NE in the opening series of the night despite not dropping any of the three games. Chiefs had not even settled into the match before Change scored on the game's opening kickoff, giving 1NE the lead just three seconds into the match. ZeN would answer at the midway point for Chiefs and add another in the final minute that would prove to be the game winner. Three goals in the first 2 minutes of game two made the difference as Chiefs held off a late comeback charge from 1NE, and ZeN's hat trick in the third and final game slammed the door shut on any kind of upset bid from 1NE. ZeN finishes the series scoring 7 of his teams 10 goals on the day, and Chiefs improve to 2-0 without having dropped a game this season.
Justice did not have a perfect day, but did manage to stay above the rest of the league with its third win in as many matches by defeating EmproX 3-1. A pair of goals from Yeatzy wasn't enough in game one as he was matched by EmproX's Le Duck, and Justice dropped the first game. But Yeatzy made his second goal count in game two as he scored on an empty net just 32 seconds into overtime. Justice would get one more goal from Yeatzy in games three and four to close out EmproX and deny the club its first win of the season.
EDGE was also looking for its first win, at the expense of ICON Esports. Unfortunately for EDGE, ICON was not there to mess around. The reigning OCE Champions (formerly Tainted Minds) obliterated their opponents with 14 goals in a 3-game sweep. Six goals apiece from CJCJ and Shadey led the way for ICON and the reigning champs remained undefeated ahead of next week's clash with Justice Esports.
In the fourth and final match of the day, winless teams Out of Order and Team Esper traded lopsided wins back and forth leading to a decisive fifth game. The teams remained scoreless until Julz hit Siki right on the nose with a perfect pass, and Siki's 134 km/h drive screamed past the dive of Cobbo to give Out of Order its first win of the season and keep Team Esper in the basement alongside EmproX and EDGE.
SOUTH AMERICAN RLCS (GRAND SERIES)
The third week of RLCS in the South America region produced five 3-0 sweeps, and a significant number of blowouts. The average margin of victory for every game was 3.42 goals. There have only been two series that have gone a full five games, with Lotus edging Shoot'em (now Team CryptiK) and INTZ eSports accounting for the only blemish on the record of Lowkey Esports. The margin of victory is skewed a bit by the final two matches of the day, which saw Lotus crush GFactor Galaxy by scores of 6-2, 10-3, and 5-1. Erodium asserted its dominance over FantasyDeath with wins of 8-1, 6-0, and 2-0.
Week three served as more of a tune-up for the teams at the top before two highly important matchups next weekend. Erodium goes from playing two teams with only a single series win between them in CryptiK and FantasyDeath, to squaring off against INTZ and Lowkey who combine for an 8-1 series record. Lotus will try to keep pace and improve to 4-1 as it takes on Orchid, currently sitting at 1-3. As with the North American and European RLCS leagues, the top six teams advance to the Regional Championship, with the top two teams receiving first round byes in the tournament. Only the top two teams from that tournament will qualify for the World Championship in New Jersey.
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. Vitality got a hat trick from Scrub Killa and 4 saves from Fairy Peak for Vitality's 7th shutout of the season and would go on to complete the sweep with a 3-2 victory in game three. There would be no shutouts in the final series of the day pitting Vitality against TSM, and despite the efforts of Metsanauris single-handedly trying to carry TSM back from the dead, Scrub Killa's goal in the 4th minute of overtime clinched a 3-1 victory. TSM's 4-1 win in game three was only the second game Vitality has lost this season.
With 9 goals and 7 assists Scrub Killa was named the European RLCS Player of the Week, marking the second time in a row the award has gone to a member of the frontrunners. Kaydop won the award last week, while EyeIgnite earned the honor in week one. Fairy Peak continued his defensive dominance with 22 saves in seven games, and sits as the clear favorite for Savior of the Season with a perfect 3.0 saves per game. PSG's Chausette45 is the closest contender with 2.24 per game.
In other EU action, Triple Trouble overcame all odds ton reverse sweep PSG in the opening match of the day. Tadpole believed he was about to score the first goal of the series when the game was paused and restarted from the beginning. PSG won the restarted game and eventually took a 2-0 series lead, but could not close the deal as Ronaky scored 5 goals over the last three games to lead Triple Trouble to a 2-2 record on the season.
Despite suffering an alarming 8-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in game one, TSM rode strong offensive performances from EyeIgnite and Metsanauris to victory as the ELEAGUE Champions defeated Barcelona 3-2; Dignitas got its first win of the season by outscoring Mousesports 10-1 in three games; the win by Dignitas ultimately created a three-way tie at the bottom of the league as The Bricks were unable to get its second win of the season, falling 3-2 to PSG in a wild, back-and-forth series.
GFINITY ROCKET LEAGUE OCEANIC MASTERS
A light Easter weekend schedule in the Oceania region saw the Chiefs remain absolutely perfect with another 3-0 sweep, this time over 1NE eSports OCE. Three teams remain undefeated in the OCE region, with ICON Esports and Justice Esports also picking up dominant victories on the night.
Chiefs were tested by 1NE in the opening series of the night despite not dropping any of the three games. Chiefs had not even settled into the match before Change scored on the game's opening kickoff, giving 1NE the lead just three seconds into the match. ZeN would answer at the midway point for Chiefs and add another in the final minute that would prove to be the game winner. Three goals in the first 2 minutes of game two made the difference as Chiefs held off a late comeback charge from 1NE, and ZeN's hat trick in the third and final game slammed the door shut on any kind of upset bid from 1NE. ZeN finishes the series scoring 7 of his teams 10 goals on the day, and Chiefs improve to 2-0 without having dropped a game this season.
Justice did not have a perfect day, but did manage to stay above the rest of the league with its third win in as many matches by defeating EmproX 3-1. A pair of goals from Yeatzy wasn't enough in game one as he was matched by EmproX's Le Duck, and Justice dropped the first game. But Yeatzy made his second goal count in game two as he scored on an empty net just 32 seconds into overtime. Justice would get one more goal from Yeatzy in games three and four to close out EmproX and deny the club its first win of the season.
EDGE was also looking for its first win, at the expense of ICON Esports. Unfortunately for EDGE, ICON was not there to mess around. The reigning OCE Champions (formerly Tainted Minds) obliterated their opponents with 14 goals in a 3-game sweep. Six goals apiece from CJCJ and Shadey led the way for ICON and the reigning champs remained undefeated ahead of next week's clash with Justice Esports.
In the fourth and final match of the day, winless teams Out of Order and Team Esper traded lopsided wins back and forth leading to a decisive fifth game. The teams remained scoreless until Julz hit Siki right on the nose with a perfect pass, and Siki's 134 km/h drive screamed past the dive of Cobbo to give Out of Order its first win of the season and keep Team Esper in the basement alongside EmproX and EDGE.
SOUTH AMERICAN RLCS (GRAND SERIES)
The third week of RLCS in the South America region produced five 3-0 sweeps, and a significant number of blowouts. The average margin of victory for every game was 3.42 goals. There have only been two series that have gone a full five games, with Lotus edging Shoot'em (now Team CryptiK) and INTZ eSports accounting for the only blemish on the record of Lowkey Esports. The margin of victory is skewed a bit by the final two matches of the day, which saw Lotus crush GFactor Galaxy by scores of 6-2, 10-3, and 5-1. Erodium asserted its dominance over FantasyDeath with wins of 8-1, 6-0, and 2-0.
Week three served as more of a tune-up for the teams at the top before two highly important matchups next weekend. Erodium goes from playing two teams with only a single series win between them in CryptiK and FantasyDeath, to squaring off against INTZ and Lowkey who combine for an 8-1 series record. Lotus will try to keep pace and improve to 4-1 as it takes on Orchid, currently sitting at 1-3. As with the North American and European RLCS leagues, the top six teams advance to the Regional Championship, with the top two teams receiving first round byes in the tournament. Only the top two teams from that tournament will qualify for the World Championship in New Jersey.
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