The number of teams in the Rocket League RLCS will expand to 10, and the competition period will be longer. There will be continental competitions for Oceania and South America.
After a highly disputed final at the Palacio de Vistalegre in Madrid in which the North Americans from NRG eSports took the cat to the water over the Europeans from Renault Vitality , the Rocket League RLCS returns to once again toast football esports fans and cars from the best continental competition.
Due to PsyNet server issues, the tournament, which was supposed to begin over the weekend of February 1 and 2, had to be delayed. The first day will now be the next week’s first day. The organization has apologized on its social networks, assuring that they understand that it is ” frustrating “, but they believe that it is the best thing for “the integrity of the competition”.
One of the main changes in this ninth season is the increase in the number of teams: they will go from 8 to 10 for the first time since the circuit became professional. “Players have continued to get better and better at Rocket League and it became clear that the 8-member league was not big enough for today’s up-and-coming professionals,” organizer Psyonix said in a statement.
In this way, they will transfer the format of the second division, the Rival Series, to the RLCS, the main competition. This change in the number of participants will, in turn, affect the duration, which will now be eight weeks: the teams will play 9 games in the season.
The league format is as follows : the tenth-ranked team descends from the category, the eighth and ninth play promotional playoffs with the second and third best team from the Rival and the seventh, although they continue to play the tournament facing the following season, it will not compete in the final phase in which the trophy is disputed, in which the first six do participate, of which the first and second classified go directly to the final.
RLCS Europa
One of the clubs that will take part in the European competition will be FC Barcelona, which debuted last year with a hesitant start, although it managed to stabilize and achieve a third and sixth position in the eighth and ninth seasons , respectively.
David Morrow ‘Deevo’, Aldin Hodzic ‘Ronaky’ and Hrant Yakoub ‘Flakes’ will be in charge of taking the Barça team to the top of the table, led by Argentine coach Germán Micciullo ‘El General’. His debut will be against Veloce eSports, which last year managed to qualify for the World Cup and achieve a great role with a meritorious fifth place.
The three novelties this season in Europe are AS Monaco esports and Endpoint, first and second in the Rival Series last year; and Team Singularity, who won the promotional playoff against Complexity Gaming.
Team Solo Mid, penultimate classified last year, was also victorious in that phase and thus maintains its place in the top category. In Endpoint, which has acquired the Discombobulators brand and its corresponding place at the beginning of the year, the only national professional of the RLCS will play , Nacho Giménez ‘Nachitow’, who already wore the shirt of the recently disappeared club with which he played last year at a good level, as evidenced by that second place.
Yes, even though not all the participants have been chosen, there will be more Spaniards in the Rival Series. At the moment there are four Spaniards, all competing in the same team, ARG : Alejandro Carbonero ‘ClayX’, Marc Domingo ‘Marc_By_8’, Guillermo Cofrades ‘GCR710’ and coach Javier Ojeda ‘Kael’.
On the North American side, the new members are Susquehanna Soniqs and Flight, first and second in the second division last season. With their victories in the relegation tournament, G2 eSports and Cloud9 will continue playing the RLCS for another year .
Rocket League Oceania and South America
Another novelty will be the return of the regional divisions of Oceania and South America , with prizes of 75,000 and 35,000 dollars respectively. Its qualifiers will be held throughout the month of February and it will decide which teams will be part of the regional league.
In this way, the competition calendar is as follows: Fridays are reserved for the Rival Series, which starts on February 7 in both Europe and North America. On Saturdays it is the turn of the North American RLCS, kingdom of the also world champion NRG eSports and that has won the last 3 editions and 5 of the total of 8 held.
One of the secrets to being a Rocket League professional is, without a doubt, having iron health. The players always state that the key is to take care of yourself and have a healthy life , in addition to being protected by the best doctors.