From ARG To BDS: The Ascent Of EU’s New #1
As the first event of RLCS X has come to a close, the landscape of European Rocket League has been permanently altered. While North America has seen the rise of rosters with their roots firmly in the bubble scene, like The Peeps, Spacestation Gaming and now Omelette to name a few. Meanwhile, while individual players in Europe have made it to the top, like Yukeo, AztraL, or Alpha54, but never has a top EU side been all new players, with either Kaydop or ViolentPanda winning every RLCS regional title but one since the inception of RLRS.
That was the case until the first regional event of RLCS X, as a new contender solidified themselves as Europe’s best. Their name is Team BDS, consisting of Evan "M0nkey M00n" Rogez, Marc "MaRc_By_8." Domingo, and Alex "Extra" Paoli, and this is how they ascended from Europe’s bubble scene to Europe’s elite.
ARG: Renegades & Rivals
What is now Team BDS started out as a roster named ARG, an all Spanish side. MaRc_By_8. was joined by ClayX, and GCR710 for the Ember Series, the final qualifier in the infamous Renegades Cup, a $20,000 tournament exclusively for RLRS or below sides. Being a brand new roster, they had no points, and thus could only qualify for the main event by winning the entire bracket. And after being sent to the loser bracket in round one, seven series away from qualification, they just seemed to be another pickup Spanish side that’d fall by the wayside. They’d battle to top six but run into Savage!, the all-star roster consisting of bluey., Deevo & Alpha54. But one miraculous reverse sweep later, ARG had eliminated them in a huge upset, and three series after that, they’d ran the gauntlet, won the Ember Series and announced the arrival of Spanish Rocket League.
With their presence established, ARG proved not to be a flash in the pan, as at the Renegade Cup Finals they’d place second, only losing to the aforementioned Savage! roster fresh off their top four placing at Dreamhack Leipzig. They survived the career-ending RLRS play-in and made it to the Rival Series. While they weren’t expected to challenge for promotion, talks of achieving just that quickly became a topic ARG was mentioned in, especially as pre-season favourites Complexity floundered early on.
ARG’s final series of the season was against ZeNoMoon, who were winless to this point. A series win would secure them a spot in the promotion tournament, and a chance for Spain to make a splash in the RLCS. However, a complete mental collapse in overtime of the fourth game, and with ten seconds left in the fifth handed them an embarrassing loss. The 4-3 record would be pipped by Complexity on game differential, and they would watch on as the Dallas based org would go on to promote to RLCS.
There would be good news for ARG heading into the second half of 2019 however. First, they recruited M0nkey M00n to their roster. Replacing GCR, the young French player hoped to add some baguette brilliance to the Spanish core. Secondly, it was announced that that season would be the expansion season of RLCS, with two automatic promotion spots to RLCS, and a further two potentially through the promotion tournament. A potentially once in a lifetime format change, two chances to make RLCS, and upgraded third, it seemed inevitable that ARG, the side that barely missed out the previous season would make the promised land, right? Well unfortunately for them, the Spaniards on the roster underperformed massively compared to last season, leading M0nkey M00n to do a lot of heavy lifting. His individual brilliance while great, would not be enough to get ARG into even the top four, as the rapid rise of Discombobulators (future Endpoint), Fadeaway (future AS Monaco) & Flomp Resont (future Singularity/Guild) and a final day loss to Method had them again on the outside looking in.
BDS: Brilliant. Dynamic. Successful
In an esport where rosters moves are regular, even if you achieve success, the ARG trio would not change their roster going into 2020, but rather the name they donned as they were signed by Swiss organization Team BDS. Hindsight tells us this was a genius pickup, but at the time, the ARG trio had posted zero off-season results aside from a fifth-eighth in Rocket Baguette’s Superstar League. There were legitimate questions as to whether BDS would even retain their RLRS spot, and an opening day loss to We Dem Girlz, albeit in five games re-affirmed that. What no one could predict is that loss would be the catalyst for a remarkable tear through the Rival Series. While RCD Espanyol stole all the headlines with their game five heroics and their impressive showing in TEI, BDS was getting sweeps and convincing wins over all the minor sides.
As the two Spanish sides geared up to clash in the penultimate week of Rivals, BDS knew that a win would give them the advantage due to their superior game differential, while a loss would end their chase for an automatic RLCS bid. The end result was BDS walking all over Espanyol just like any other side they’d faced, and two more sweeps to close out the season would give them a remarkable +16 game differential compared Espanyol’s +6.
Team BDS had made the RLCS at arguably the worst time, as the new format for RLCS X had essentially undone their hard work. Sure, they'd get byes to future RLCS events, but when the RLRS sides below you just need to qualify in the top 22 of a closed qualifier, the advantage is basically mitigated. Regardless, BDS marched on undeterred, and in their first major showing as an RLCS side, would qualify for the Spring Series, only to get double first-rounded in the main event. The loss to eventual winners Vitality was excusable, dropping to The Clappers in the lower bracket wasn't. So in a controversial decision, long-standing member ClayX was kicked just days after the Spring Series. A ruthless decision, but one that would end up benefiting BDS. Extra would replace him for the Eurocup, and the rest is history.
So what exactly makes BDS tick. If they pop into your head, the first player to come to mind is probably M0nkey M00n. The young Frenchman is a prolific goal scorer for the Swiss org, netting 1.15 goals per game during their successful RLRS campaign. Seldom flashy, but regularly effective with great lethality, M0nkey's numbers often outdo his teammates' combined totals. He was the best player in the Rival Series for a year straight and is now proving his worth as not only one of France's best, but the world. Of course, he is not alone, BDS' rise has correlated with the addition of a second French player: Extra.
Announcing himself on the main stage with fifth-eighth placing at Dreamhack Montreal, Extra would lead AS Monaco to RLCS. Said RLCS campaign would, unfortunately, end winless, but Extra was the clear standout on the side. As he said himself, he had tryouts for many sides upon relegating out of RLCS and eventually settled on BDS. He's quite the dynamic player, very capable in whatever position is needed from him. More often than not, he's sweeping his own backboard, ensuring no threats come on net. However, when the time calls, he's equally useful in the offensive half of the pitch.
While the majority of this roster is now French, its roots are in Spain and are well and alive today with MaRc_By_8.. With such star power in your ranks, a solid, consistent performer to hold down the fort will never go amiss, and that's what MaRc does. He holds down the midfield, often the middleman between a defensive clear and a shot on net. However, with all due respect to ClayX, Extra's superiority all over the pitch has freed up MaRc to score a handsome amount of goals himself. The more he's gotten on the scoreboard, and the more BDS has played, it has become obvious that despite a lack of name value, they're truly a triple threat of talent and ability. Every game a different player is MVP, and it's led to BDS' ascent to being one of the best.
Continental Kings
With all the talent as mentioned earlier, its been a rapid rise up the ranks for Team BDS. A flawless upper bracket run in the Eurocup 10K, from qualifiers to the main event saw them be the unlikely winners of the first European leg of the Community Takeover. Their newfound success was subject to some scepticism, particularly as server issues in the upper finals vs mousesports had tainted their victory for some. Those doubters would quickly be silenced as they beat the same roster, now Team Liquid in the runback during the Rocket Baguette Summer grand Prix to place 4th. Through the Swiss stage of the first RLCS X event, they only dropped a single series to Magnifico in game five. Otherwise, they struck down everyone else. No longer satisfied by being overshadowed by Vitality, BDS did the unthinkable and slew the French superteam before even making the Grand Finals. And you couldn't say that Vitality was poor, BDS simply outsped and outmatched them as they progressed to the final, and at that point, it was a formality. Top Blokes put up a good fight to take two games, but when BDS was winning, they were well in control as they were crowned champions of the first RLCS X regional event.
The community has welcomed BDS' success. A roster that only six months ago was an RLRS side, and not even a year ago had no members in the Championship Series, BDS is perhaps the true leader of Europe's next generation. Sure, brand new teams like Endpoint & Solary have made the promised land, but to go two or three steps better and top the entire region is a feat in itself. And they're far far from one-hit wonders the only other European side with multiple 3v3 tournament wins in 2020 Renault Vitality, who they've shown they're capable of beating on merit alone. In conclusion, not only is Team BDS the best in Europe, but they're here to stay.
Images via BDS