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Rocketeers - The 31 best moments from the Season 6 RLCS World Championship

RLCS World Championship

The 31 best moments from the Season 6 RLCS World Championship

November 11, 2018 - 15:20
Rocketeers / RLCS /

The Rocket League Championship Series’ Season 6 World Championship raged all weekend in Las Vegas, delivering loads of spectacular moments and one truly amazing finish to cap it all off. If you’re like us, you were watching the RLCS stream incessantly and following along on Twitter to see how players and personalities reacted.

But if you didn’t tune in the entire time, or just want to relive the greatest moments, we kept tabs on all the best plays, greatest wins, and most entertaining walkouts. All of the best happenings from all three days are below, complete with clips. Enjoy!

Day 3 – Sunday, November 11

The Kuxir pinch

We’ve seen it before and we saw it again this weekend: FlipSid3 Tactics veteran Kuxir97 saw an opportunity to pinch the ball between his Batmobile and the wall, and his aim was clearly perfect. Anyone who’s played a lot of Rocket League has surely had a beneficial pinch every so often, but Kuxir can do ’em on purpose.

Saves secure Chiefs’ Top 4

The Chiefs keep getting better, notching their first 4th place finish this weekend after getting 5th-6th the last time around. With a chance to shut the door on Evil Geniuses in game four, a pair of clutch back-to-back saves kept EG from tying it up and possibly pushing for a fifth game. Oceania’s top team is truly one of the world’s best, regardless of region.

Cloud9 show what’s coming

When Cloud9 have both team plays and solo plays on point, they’re a truly special team. Early in the lower bracket finals against We Dem Girlz, we got a taste of what was coming for the rest of the day—this Squishy redirect of a Gimmick pass came out of nowhere, and helped secure a blowout first game for Cloud9.

We Dem Girlz have plays too

It wasn’t entirely one-sided, even if Cloud9 started off stronger. In game five, we saw a shot that was reminiscent of the Cloud9 one above, with EyeIgnite dropping a shocking angle on this Metsanauris-launched ball to sink it in the net from above midfield. It helped earn WDG this game, but Cloud9 closed out the series in the next one.

Cloud9 starts rolling early

Dignitas were the clear favorites in the grand finals, given their back-to-back championships and Cloud9 needing to win two series to take the win—but this overtime victory ignited Cloud9’s momentum, and it just kept going and going. Cloud9 won the first series 4-1 to force the bracket reset and do it all over again.

Gimmick goes freestyle

Despite the seemingly immense pressure of the moment, Cloud9 looked like they were having even more fun during the second series. This Gimmick double-tap freestyle goal is one of a couple that he did, and Squishy started getting stylish as well. It just added even more excitement to what was already an incredible showing.

Kaydop still doesn’t stop

Dignitas had a couple of very rough series there, but Kaydop kept going even as their usual dominating play style seemed to collapse. This is a beautiful little redirect from a ViolentPanda to totally throw off Cloud9. It didn’t get them a win, but it sure looked nice. If they’d had a bunch more of these, they might’ve stood a chance.

Gimmick stays grounded

Amidst some seriously dazzling aerial shots, this dribble play is one of the finest of the entire tournament. Watch in the replay to see how Gimmick’s last second pivot puts the ball just out of reach of both Turbopolsa and Kaydop. Dignitas just got outplayed here.

Squishy gets nutty

We all know what Squishy is capable of, but going for a flip reset in the deciding game of the World Championship? It’s madness. Hilariously, this play falls just short as it bounces halfway in the goal, but Squishy’s longtime ally Torment is there to clean it up and secure the goal. Ridiculous.

They did it

After four straight seasons of European rule, Cloud9 finally secured North America its second RLCS championship in absolutely dominating fashion. Dignitas, the two-time champs, were soundly crushed in back-to-back 4-1 series as Cloud9 relied on demolitions, crafty passing plays, and sizzling aerial shots to own the pitch. If you didn’t see it live, watch the VOD—it’s amazing.

Torment takes MVP

Kyle “Torment” Storer can sometimes seem overshadowed on a roster with Squishy and Gimmick, but he played the matches of his life on Sunday. Not only was he the leading scorer against Dignitas with 1.2 goals per game, but he had clutch saves throughout to continue Cloud9’s momentum.

Day 2 – Saturday, November 10

Kuxir in triplicate

One Kuxir97 surely isn’t enough for this World Championship, given that he missed the last two, so how about three of him? That’s what we got for a moment, as all three members of FlipSid3 Tactics came out with Kuxir placards in front of their faces – and when Miztik and Yukeo removed theirs, they had Kuxir-esque green streaks clipped onto their hair. Fun moment; unfortunately, their series against Dignitas wasn’t as fun for them.

Metsa’s epic fake

We Dem Girlz’ Otto “Metsanauris” Kaipiainen has become a constant of Worlds, now in his third-straight appearance, and this kind of move shows exactly why. Speeding up to slam a deflected ball into the goal, he instead stops cold – forcing the Chiefs’ Drippay to completely whiff, and Kamii to flip when he sees it. They never stood a chance.

He does it in the air, too

In the very same series, Metsanauris showed another marvelous move, popping up to give Remkoe’s lofted ball the subtlest of touches to redirect it into the goal. This might be the softest tap we’ve ever seen for a play like this, and the finesse is just incredible. Bad news for the Chiefs, however, who fall in a straight sweep following their Day 1 heroics.

Tainted Minds spread patriotism

Their crocodile hunter/boxing kangaroo/red carpet entrance would be tough to beat, but Tainted Minds didn’t go quite as elaborate before their match against Cloud9. Instead, they brought out handfuls and handfuls of Australian flags and handed them out to the crowd before play. Nice one. Unfortunately, that series was their final appearance for the weekend.

PSG pushes G2 aside

Another Worlds, another rough performance from G2 Esports. The fan-favorite came in with hype, as usual, but lost in a five-game series against FlipSid3 on day one and then PSG on day two. With that, they claim last place and are gone. Credit to PSG’s Emil “Fruity” Moselund for more than a couple of really clutch plays to boost his team this weekend.

Jstn’s double save

Young NRG phenom Justin “Jstn” Morales might be best known for his impressive offensive efforts, but he’s just as capable in the net, too. Check out the back-to-back saves here as Jstn bounces a nearly-in ball out, and then is right back to push it away once more when a rival player is there to try to slam it in. What a save, indeed.

Cloud9 comes out on top

Unfortunately, that kind of defense only goes so far, and it couldn’t save NRG from losing in a game five overtime to Cloud9. Squishy’s perfectly-timed demo does the trick here, opening up a path for Gimmick’s ball to seal the deal. Grim ending for NRG this time around, finishing 7th-8th despite winning the NA championship and making the grand finals at the last Worlds.

Evil Geniuses keep fighting

In game four against PSG, Evil Geniuses were down 3-1 in a must-win game with less than a minute to go—and they tied it. And then they won in overtime with this absolute boomer of a shot from CorruptedG. Those last couple minutes were incredible to watch, and it’s why this game is being hailed as the best of the tournament so far. But it wasn’t over yet…

P A S S I O N

Love him or hate him, you have to admire Klassux’s utter enthusiasm for the game and his stage, and we see it here after Evil Geniuses finished off PSG to secure their spot for Day 3. Klassux frantically rips his earbuds out, waves his arms like a bird, and then squeezes a dazed Corrupted G before parading around the stage. He clearly feels it, and we do too.

Day 1 – Friday, November 9

Tainted Minds make an entrance

At the last Worlds, it was all about Tainted Minds captain Cameron “CJCJ” Johns’ rollout in a kiddie car—but this time around, the whole team (and caster yumi_cheeseman) got involved with a red carpet, a crocodile hunt, and a boxing kangaroo. As the Twitch clip title suggests, just an average Australian entry.

Chicago steals the show

It’s the first World Championship for Evil Geniuses’ Reed “Chicago” Wilen, but he already looks plenty comfortable on the big stage. He was EG’s top performer on day one, led by this wacky monster shot that could’ve come from G2’s JKnaps or NRG’s GarrettG. Is he primed for a Jstn-like explosion the rest of this weekend?

Klassux’s sweet shoutout

Props to Evil Geniuses’ Jason “Klassux” Klass for using his post-win interview to give a shout-out to Jacob “DarkFire” Gurrola, a former RLCS player who passed away in late October. It was a kind gesture to pay respect to his fallen comrade, and a lot of fellow players and community members surely appreciated the moment.

Chiefs reverse-sweep PSG

There were questions about whether this revised Chiefs team would be the same kind of OCE killer from past Worlds, but they started silencing doubters with this amazing reverse-sweep win against Paris Saint-Germain. Just look at that perfect pass from Daniel “Torsos” Parsons to new teammate Cameron “Kamii” Ingram to secure the overtime game-five win.

Rizzo takes over

In the fated RLCS rematch between G2’s Cameron “Kronovi” Bills and FlipSid3 Tactics’ Francesco “Kuxir97” Cinquemani, it was actually G2’s Dillon “Rizzo” Rizzo who came out firing at first. He was nutty from the start, with a game-one hat trick and then this game-three gem.

FlipSid3’s synergy wins out

FlipSid3 got super in-sync during the last offseason, and then showed off that team skill by going 5-2 in league play. Here we see it in action, with this amazing three-part goal that gets everyone involved before Kuxir97 seals the deal. This kind of play ultimately gave FlipSid3 the 3-2 edge in this series, sending G2 to the lower bracket on Day 1.

We Dem Girlz make a stylish debut

Still without an organization coming into the World Championship, We Dem Girlz didn’t need a backer to look damn cool and play an amazing game. Their custom shirts, with art provided by Shitty Watercolour, might be the coolest unis at Worlds.

Squishy does a Squishy thing

We’ve come to expect these kinds of plays from Cloud9’s Mariano “SquishyMuffinz” Arruda, but that makes it no less stunning. This miraculous maneuver pairs a flip reset with a perfectly-placed dunk into the goal, and it’s undoubtedly the shot of the tournament so far. Can anyone (including Squishy) top this on Day 2 or 3?

But We Dem Girlz prevails

Cloud9 had some strongly one-sided streaks in this match, but We Dem Girlz hung in there the entire time, resulting in an epic game five overtime back-and-forth—and a rough miss from Cloud9’s Jesus “Gimmick” Parra resulted in this perfect opportunity for Jordan “EyeIgnite” Stellon, who certainly didn’t miss. WDG’s frenzied reaction is everything.

Klassux tears the jersey

Klassux had another scene-stealing moment in Evil Geniuses’ second series of the day, as his walkout included tearing up teammate Chicago’s old Dignitas jersey onstage. We wouldn’t say that Dignitas tore them a new one in return, given the close five-game series, but Dig did ultimately prevail in the end.

Chiefs take down NRG

NRG came into the weekend a favorite, given their NA regional championship and incredible run at the last Worlds, but Chiefs… man, the Chiefs. This series went back and forth, with NRG having a 2-1 edge after three games, but Chiefs turned it around and sealed the deal in game five with this killer Kamii-to-Drippay goal—the only score in the game.

Remember when Chiefs eliminated NRG at the Season 4 Worlds? It wasn’t quite that dire; this NRG team is much improved, and they have another shot in the loser’s bracket. But anyone doubting this tweaked Chiefs roster was surely silenced after two wild wins on Day 1.

Lead image credit: Psyonix
Andrew Hayward
Andrew is the Lead Editor of Rocketeers, and has been covering Rocket League esports since RLCS S1 for publications such as Red Bull Esports, Esports Insider, The Esports Observer, and Waypoint. He is also currently the Content Lead for The Esports Journal magazine and has written about games, gadgets, etc. for 100+ publications since 2006.
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