Recap

What happened at the RLCS Season 8 Regional Championships

November 19, 2019 - 01:51
Rocketeers / Recap / RLCS /

What a weekend. The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) Regional Championships are always tense and thrilling to watch, and Season 8 didn’t disappoint across the regions. Now we not only have our regional winners sorted, but also the complete list of the 12 teams that will battle for the crown at next month’s RLCS World Championship in Madrid.

Didn’t have a chance to watch everything this weekend? Here’s a brief recap of what happened in North America, Europe, Oceania, and South America.

North America

One spot separated the Pittsburgh Knights and Ghost Gaming in the league play standings, and just one game separated them in the first match of the North American Regional Championship. Ultimately, the Knights won the crucial Game 7 with a 6-2 blowout, claiming their trip to Madrid while sending Ghost to the lower bracket.

Fresh off of their org signing, eUnited had a strong weekend. They took out Rogue 4-2 in the first lower-bracket round, ending the season of Cameron “Kronovi” Bills and co. (househummus) , and then drove the final nail in Ghost’s coffin with a very tight 4-3 win in a series that included five one-goal games. eUnited even took two games off of NRG in the semifinals, but the top team in league play ultimately came out with the win.

The Knights powered through Spacestation Gaming 4-2 to meet up with NRG in the NA grand finals—but ultimately, NRG overpowered the young Knights with a 4-0 sweep. For the third straight season, NRG wins North America and heads into Madrid as the top NA seed. Here’s the Worlds seeding:

  • 1. NRG Esports
  • 2. Pittsburgh Knights
  • 3. Spacestation Gaming
  • 4. eUnited

Europe

Mousesports continued its late-season collapse by getting swept 4-0 in the first match by the reigning RLCS World Champions, Renault Vitality. In the lower bracket, FC Barcelona went up 3-0 on Dignitas… and then promptly stopped winning, as DIG began an impressive Sunday run to Worlds by forcing the reverse sweep. That ended Barca’s season.

Dignitas then eliminated Mousesports with a 4-2 win—a grim finish for a Mouz team that was so impressive at the start of the season, but then lost four series a row between league play and regionals. Jos “ViolentPanda” van Meurs and crew clinched their World Championship berth with that win, and nearly took out league play #1 Team Reciprocity in the semis too.

That seven-game series included four overtimes, but ultimately Reciprocity got the 1-0 overtime win to clinch the 4-3 overall victory. It was a seven-game series on the other side of the semis bracket, too, as Veloce Esports pushed Renault Vitality to the brink—but Alexandre “Kaydop” Courant’s team prevailed, pushing him into his sixth straight EU finals.

Europe also saw a 4-0 grand finals, but the victor wasn’t the one you might expect based on history. It was all Team Reciprocity in this one-sided battle, with offensive powerhouse Thibault “Chausette45” Grzesiak pushing the team to its first EU championship. They claimed Europe’s top seed in the process:

  • 1. Team Reciprocity
  • 2. Renault Vitality
  • 3. Veloce Esports
  • 4. Dignitas

Oceania

Oceania only sends two teams to the RLCS World Championship, and for the second season running, an overwhelming favorite fell short of claiming one of those spots.

Renegades and Chiefs Esports Club had a grand finals-worthy battle right off the bat, with a lot of history tied up between these teams—but ultimately it was Daniel “Torsos” Parsons and Renegades who prevailed with a 4-3 win. Meanwhile, the newly signed Canberra Havoc beat Ground Zero Gaming with a 4-3 win of its own.

Down in the lower bracket, Chiefs made quick work of Ground Zero with a 4-0 sweep, and then Renegades cruised through Canberra Havoc 4-1 in the winner’s finals to claim a return trip to the World Championship. That set up the thrilling loser’s finals between Chiefs and Canberra Havoc to determine the other spot.

An 8-1 Game 1 win for Canberra didn’t set the tone for what ended up being a very close, very tense series… but Canberra took a clean 3-0 Game 7 win with a hat trick from Blake “SPYDOGE” Evans. He singlehandedly pushed Canberra Havoc over the line and claimed their trip to Worlds, while veterans Matthew “Drippay” Den-Kaat and Cameron “CJCJ” Johns suffered another frustrating season finish.

Canberra Havoc must’ve spent up all of its energy against the Chiefs, because they then fell 4-1 (again) to the Renegades in the grand finals—including a brutal 9-1 game five. But no matter: they’re both going to Worlds.

  • 1. Renegades
  • 2. Canberra Havoc

South America

SAM also sends only two teams to Worlds, and in the first round of the Grand Series lower bracket, we saw both INTZ Esports and The Three Sins blow out their opponents—both teams had a 7-0 win in its respective series. However, when those teams met in the next round, it was Season 7 World Championship contender INTZ that fell short, with The Three Sins taking the 4-0 win.

Up in the winner’s finals, Worlds team Lowkey Esports took out Lotus 4-2, sending Lotus down to the loser’s finals… where they lost 4-2 again to The Three Sins. Lowkey produced the top two scorers of the regular season, but when it came to the regular season, it was The Three Sins that continued their epic lower-bracket run and completed the 4-2 upset.

Both teams are going to the World Championship, but South America has a surprising new champion—and a fresh threat for the region’s second-ever trip to RLCS Worlds.

  • 1. The Three Sins
  • 2. Lowkey Esports
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.
ahaywa

Support Rocketeers at Patreon!

Rocket League Patreon Crowdfunding Community

Click on the image to get to our Patreon page

Cookies

This site uses cookies: Find out more.