Minor Moves As NA Awaits NRG Decision
Last season the big catalyst for change was Kaydop's departure from two-time World Champion Dignitas to join Renault Sport Team Vitality, leading to Kaydop's third World Championship in four seasons. This time it's on the opposite end of the Atlantic Ocean where everyone is waiting to see who will replace the retiring Fireburner on the NRG Esports roster.
One prevailing theory seems to be that three-time World Champion, Turbopolsa will change regions and move from Europe to North America. If he does, that leaves a void to fill on the Dignitas roster back in Europe. At Dreamhack Valencia, that role was filled by Aztral, who looked as strong as any other striker at the event not named Chausette, but it was obvious that the team was still working out defensive issues given the short time they had to prepare.
Drippay has been another player who has been mentioned as Fireburner's replacement. While it's unlikely that Evil Geniuses would give up the rights to Drippay after investing so much to bring him to the United States, there is always the possibility of Evil Geniuses buying the NRG roster. It's rather far fetched, but the team has had contract issues with NRG in the past centered around the differing lengths of contracts between the players. If the players remain under contract, it's safe to assume a buyout would be costly. And while EG does certainly have the money to throw at a popular, top-level team, it does remain unlikely that such a buyout would occur. Regardless, if there is any universe that exists where Drippay is linked up with GarrettG and Jstn, they're an instant favorite to rule North America and make a run at the World Championship. All we know at this time, is that GarrettG has suggested they've made their decision and will announce it soon.
Another landing spot for Drippay would be Ghost Gaming. It is well-known that Ghost has been looking to sell the team for a while, and has not been happy with the team's results over the past year and a half. This could make for an attractive buyout target for Evil Geniuses, who would then have to decide which player to replace with the Australian star. Ghost has made a change to its starting roster for every season of the Rocket League Championship Series since entering the scene in Season 4. The only constant in that time has been the team's leader, Lethamyr. Ghost holds a 15-22 record in the RLCS including Regional & World Championships, but only 3 of those wins have come outside of League Play - two in the RLCS4 North American Regional Tournament, and one over Mock-It Esports at that season's World Championship. Ghost currently sits on a 5-match losing streak in postseason matches. A buyout by Evil Geniuses would also raise the question of the coaching position. The organization has said it will retain Fireworks as a coach, and Ghost Gaming has been coached by European, SilentEcho for several seasons.
Among roster changes we do know: Dignitas has a coaching vacancy. Snaski has been announced as the new coach of Complexity Gaming. Complexity recently promoted back into the RLCS after surviving a crazy Rival Series season. For Snaski, it's a chance to show that results are not everything after his Dignitas squad started 0-3 and barely avoided the Promotion Tournament this past season. Snaski does have an advantage over some former players in that he was part of a REUNITED roster coached by current Team Vitality coach Gregan, who is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the scene.
In a comment on Reddit in response to a fan questioning his abilities given past results, Snaski said "That team had problems far beyond repair way before I even joined the roster. I did my absolutely best to salvage what was left to salvage. The fact we were able to run it back from 0-3 to 3-4 was an incredible success for us due to the circumstances." Snaski continued to confirm his confidence in his abilities, adding "at the end of the day coaches are around to push their players to maximum capacity -- and looking back at our season I fully believe I did so."
After a season that would generously be described as disappointing, Splyce has released its Rocket League team. After finishing dead last at 1-6 this past season, including a 14-game losing streak and eventual relegation to the Rival Series, the only question that remained was whether or not Splyce would continue to follow Karma, as the organization has done in the past. After the failed experiment with The Peeps bringing her onto the roster for Valencia, it would seem that the original Splyce roster will stay together under a new name to compete in the Rival Series this coming season.
Other teams with vacant roster spots include The Bricks, who are looking to replace miztik; The Peeps continue to search for a replacement for Arsenal after his departure to Spacestation Gaming; And it appears that the ex-Evil Geniuses tandem of Klassux and CorruptedG will split up and vacate their spot in the Rival Series, allowing for a 5th team to be added via the play-ins.
After a strong performance at Dreamhack Valencia, it would seem likely that The Bricks will go with al0t, despite him being relegated out of the RLCS in consecutive seasons. If not, it may prove to be a case of luck catching up to the striker. In RLCS Season 6, al0t was statistically the worst player in the league in a number of categories and his Complexity team was relegated. Mousesports picked up al0t, and stuck with him for RLCS 7 despite a winter full of terrible results. What followed was an abysmal season for Mouz, but al0t had much stronger numbers than in his previous campaign. During a recent stream, he seemed to suggest he could be retiring. The comments didn't quite sound serious, so they may need to be taken with a grain of salt. As of right now, al0t remains the favorite to join The Bricks.
The Peeps will play with the recently-unbanned Atomic for the upcoming qualifiers to Dreamhack Montreal. Atomic's ban lasted from September 21, 2017 to June 30 of this year after he was involved in a scandal with Naventic during the debut season of the Rival Series. Atomic, who was 14 at the time, had played on Dooble's account during the qualifiers and early season in which they had started 2-0. After being caught, Naventic's wins were vacated and they were erased from the standings. All five members of the team received bans of varying lengths. Atomic has remained a highly regarded competitive player, and if the Montreal qualifiers go well, could be one of the more interesting stories of the upcoming RLCS season.
After teaming up with Turbopolsa to make a Cinderella run as Randy Gibbons' River Rats at Valencia, it's unclear whether or not CorruptedG and Klassux will stay together to play in the Rival Series. CorruptedG has teamed up with Taroco and Mectos of Plot Twist in the WorldGaming Network North American Championship Qualifiers, and they have secured a spot in August's Live Finals at FAN EXPO Canada. Former Rival Series contender Ayjacks has also been rumored to be vying for that spot with Plot Twist.
One prevailing theory seems to be that three-time World Champion, Turbopolsa will change regions and move from Europe to North America. If he does, that leaves a void to fill on the Dignitas roster back in Europe. At Dreamhack Valencia, that role was filled by Aztral, who looked as strong as any other striker at the event not named Chausette, but it was obvious that the team was still working out defensive issues given the short time they had to prepare.
Drippay has been another player who has been mentioned as Fireburner's replacement. While it's unlikely that Evil Geniuses would give up the rights to Drippay after investing so much to bring him to the United States, there is always the possibility of Evil Geniuses buying the NRG roster. It's rather far fetched, but the team has had contract issues with NRG in the past centered around the differing lengths of contracts between the players. If the players remain under contract, it's safe to assume a buyout would be costly. And while EG does certainly have the money to throw at a popular, top-level team, it does remain unlikely that such a buyout would occur. Regardless, if there is any universe that exists where Drippay is linked up with GarrettG and Jstn, they're an instant favorite to rule North America and make a run at the World Championship. All we know at this time, is that GarrettG has suggested they've made their decision and will announce it soon.
Another landing spot for Drippay would be Ghost Gaming. It is well-known that Ghost has been looking to sell the team for a while, and has not been happy with the team's results over the past year and a half. This could make for an attractive buyout target for Evil Geniuses, who would then have to decide which player to replace with the Australian star. Ghost has made a change to its starting roster for every season of the Rocket League Championship Series since entering the scene in Season 4. The only constant in that time has been the team's leader, Lethamyr. Ghost holds a 15-22 record in the RLCS including Regional & World Championships, but only 3 of those wins have come outside of League Play - two in the RLCS4 North American Regional Tournament, and one over Mock-It Esports at that season's World Championship. Ghost currently sits on a 5-match losing streak in postseason matches. A buyout by Evil Geniuses would also raise the question of the coaching position. The organization has said it will retain Fireworks as a coach, and Ghost Gaming has been coached by European, SilentEcho for several seasons.
Among roster changes we do know: Dignitas has a coaching vacancy. Snaski has been announced as the new coach of Complexity Gaming. Complexity recently promoted back into the RLCS after surviving a crazy Rival Series season. For Snaski, it's a chance to show that results are not everything after his Dignitas squad started 0-3 and barely avoided the Promotion Tournament this past season. Snaski does have an advantage over some former players in that he was part of a REUNITED roster coached by current Team Vitality coach Gregan, who is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the scene.
In a comment on Reddit in response to a fan questioning his abilities given past results, Snaski said "That team had problems far beyond repair way before I even joined the roster. I did my absolutely best to salvage what was left to salvage. The fact we were able to run it back from 0-3 to 3-4 was an incredible success for us due to the circumstances." Snaski continued to confirm his confidence in his abilities, adding "at the end of the day coaches are around to push their players to maximum capacity -- and looking back at our season I fully believe I did so."
After a season that would generously be described as disappointing, Splyce has released its Rocket League team. After finishing dead last at 1-6 this past season, including a 14-game losing streak and eventual relegation to the Rival Series, the only question that remained was whether or not Splyce would continue to follow Karma, as the organization has done in the past. After the failed experiment with The Peeps bringing her onto the roster for Valencia, it would seem that the original Splyce roster will stay together under a new name to compete in the Rival Series this coming season.
Other teams with vacant roster spots include The Bricks, who are looking to replace miztik; The Peeps continue to search for a replacement for Arsenal after his departure to Spacestation Gaming; And it appears that the ex-Evil Geniuses tandem of Klassux and CorruptedG will split up and vacate their spot in the Rival Series, allowing for a 5th team to be added via the play-ins.
After a strong performance at Dreamhack Valencia, it would seem likely that The Bricks will go with al0t, despite him being relegated out of the RLCS in consecutive seasons. If not, it may prove to be a case of luck catching up to the striker. In RLCS Season 6, al0t was statistically the worst player in the league in a number of categories and his Complexity team was relegated. Mousesports picked up al0t, and stuck with him for RLCS 7 despite a winter full of terrible results. What followed was an abysmal season for Mouz, but al0t had much stronger numbers than in his previous campaign. During a recent stream, he seemed to suggest he could be retiring. The comments didn't quite sound serious, so they may need to be taken with a grain of salt. As of right now, al0t remains the favorite to join The Bricks.
The Peeps will play with the recently-unbanned Atomic for the upcoming qualifiers to Dreamhack Montreal. Atomic's ban lasted from September 21, 2017 to June 30 of this year after he was involved in a scandal with Naventic during the debut season of the Rival Series. Atomic, who was 14 at the time, had played on Dooble's account during the qualifiers and early season in which they had started 2-0. After being caught, Naventic's wins were vacated and they were erased from the standings. All five members of the team received bans of varying lengths. Atomic has remained a highly regarded competitive player, and if the Montreal qualifiers go well, could be one of the more interesting stories of the upcoming RLCS season.
After teaming up with Turbopolsa to make a Cinderella run as Randy Gibbons' River Rats at Valencia, it's unclear whether or not CorruptedG and Klassux will stay together to play in the Rival Series. CorruptedG has teamed up with Taroco and Mectos of Plot Twist in the WorldGaming Network North American Championship Qualifiers, and they have secured a spot in August's Live Finals at FAN EXPO Canada. Former Rival Series contender Ayjacks has also been rumored to be vying for that spot with Plot Twist.
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