What We’ve Learnt From the Community Tournaments So Far
At the end of May, Psyonix made a huge announcement when they invested over $300,000 into ten community events across six different regions. Just over a month later, four of those events have taken place, namely Codename: COVERT, The Eurocup 10K, The Brawl 10K and the RLO Grand Slam.
The first two events to take place were Dazerin’s Codename: COVERT and Lethamyr’s Eurocup 10K. The Eurocup saw Team BDS, who had qualified easily with a sweep over Top Blokes, shock the European scene as they took down FC Barcelona and Dignitas on day one, losing just one game across both matchups against top-tier RLCS sides. It looked like Extra was the missing piece in the puzzle as the Swiss organisation reached the grand final with a seven-game victory over mousesports.
Once mouz found their way to the grand final with a win over Vitality, they picked up some momentum before BDS won four games in a row to take the tournament. It was a shock to many, as BDS hadn’t given fans any reason to consider them among Europe’s elite since being promoted from the Rival Series and it proved to the community that making a move after promoting, no matter how cruel it is for the outgoing third, can be the move a team needs to take the next step up the Rocket League ladder.
Just a few hours later, Squishy proved that his move to NRG was not one to be doubted. Despite being taken to game seven on three separate occasions, NRG looked incredible as they took the tournament without dropping a series. It looked like Turbopolsa’s replacement had filled in the gap that had been lurking within the reigning world champions ever since they hoisted the trophy back in December. Only one question remained. Where would Turbo end up?
Click to enlargeThe answer to that question came soon enough as Turbo found himself on Team Envy’s roster, replacing Allushin, for Lawler’s The Brawl 10K. And boy was it effective. After facing off against Stromboli, Jamal Jabary, 72PC and G2 Esports, the new look Envy roster had lost just two individual games. Their record was 15-2 and who else could it be to greet them in the grand final but Turbo’s former teammates on NRG. It was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams looking strong before the Swede sunk the winning goal with just four seconds left in the deciding game. The perfect debut for the new trio almost immediately led to Turbo being signed by the Dallas-based org, with Envy looking to impress in the upcoming RLCS Season X.
The next tournament to take place was all the way across the globe, down under in Oceania. RLOceania’s Grand Slam saw eight of the region’s best facing off in an unconventional-to-most AFL bracket. However, the new-look bracket and some tough competition didn’t seem to affect Renegades as they dominated the competition, taking down Ground Zero, Arora and Cringe Society on their way to picking up the $14,000 grand prize. Following a dismal RLCS campaign in which they failed to reach the Oceanic grand final (as well as the Regional Championship altogether) for the first time ever, victories both here and in the Spring Series have reaffirmed Renegades’ position at the top of Oceania.
Finally, The Salt Mine 2 concluded last night, with Firstkiller and Joreuz taking first place for North America and Europe respectively. The NA final went largely as expected, with the Rogue star making light work of Mile. With a quick sweep, Europe saw Saudi Arabian prodigy oKhaliD lose his first-ever Salt Mine series as Joreuz took him all the way. It felt like an intense match of rocket-powered chess as the two 1v1 titans went back and forth. Despite oKhaliD’s strong start, Joreuz pulled ahead and after scoring five quick goals in deciding seventh game, the Sandrock star’s win-streak was over.
The Community takeover continues over the next two weeks, with Rocket Street’s LATAM Championship South, APL’s The Kickoff, Beyond The Summit’s Summer Shuffle and Rocket Baguette’s Summer Grand Prix taking place over the next two weeks. Stay tuned to GGRecon for more coverage.
Images via Beyond The Summit | Psyonix
