Caard Finds The Ace Up His Sleeve
Another week, another Rocket League major, and this time it certainly didn’t disappoint. Novus Aevi, who had been dropping off in the later half of Regional 2, spectacularly returned to form just in time to face the dominant True Neutral roster. Noble esports, the most recent Grand Series winners suffered a surprise defeat against Rebel to finish fourth, and Carnage Gaming, who looked as though they were on the rise before the Grand Series, were shocked by PDHM Gaming in the round of eight. Here’s my collection of players that made stuff happen in the second Winter Major.
5. Leonardo “LeoDkn” de Jesus - PDHM Gaming
Although they have since disbanded, PDHM had a fantastic final showing at the major. LeoDkn was central to their success, being the second-highest goalscorer at the event by goals per game. This success is compounded by his accuracy and shot speed which meant over forty percent of his shots found the back of the net.
4. Facundo “SHADDD” Vallerino - True Neutral
Anything besides first is a disappointment for the Argentinian powerhouse known as True Neutral, but SHADDD and company have to settle for second best this time around. SHADDD himself stepped up to the plate most last weekend, also scoring over a goal per game and more often than not embarrassing his opponents in the process…
3. Yan “yanxnz” Nolasco - Rebel
Rebel only formed at the start of the split, but have been consistently rising since November, sitting comfortably in the top eight since the start of January, and are now, by some accounts, the third best region in South America. Yanxnz was unquestionably the best player for the side last weekend with an unreal 0.76 assists per game and another 0.72 goals per game to boot. The Brazilian’s top play at the event has to be this legendary end-to-end double tap.
1 and 2. Gabriel “caard” Cardoso and Caio “CaioTG1” Vinicius - Novus Aevi
Now to the business end of the list. After their performances at the weekend the top two was always going to be between Caio and caard. The two, alongside teammate Enzo “tander” Toledo, carved a path to first place and took down True Neutral for the first time since Prime Series 2 back in January and only the fourth time in this split.
The fight for top spot was exceedingly close this week, so although Caio scored more goals per game and blocked more shots overall, caard’s incredible 4.53 shots per game against True Neutral has clinched him yet another Standout Player of the Week award! Here’s his defining play of the event:
Can’t wait for more Rocket League? Don’t you worry, the Winter Majors head to Europe this Saturday and Sunday, in the meantime though, stay tuned for more news, interviews and features here at GGRecon!
Header Image via ZeeboDesigns