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These are the teams to watch at the RLCS Season 5 finals
All the big Rocket League teams are heading to London to compete for the world title, but these are squads you need to keep an eye.
Rocket League has never stopped growing since launch, especially in its esports scene – but this season has been nothing short of unreal. Viewer numbers for the Rocket League Championship Series' regular season, and even the lower-tier Rocket League Rivals Series, have been higher than ever before. Almost every week, they've challenged the likes of the League of Legends Championship Series and Overwatch League in terms of viewers, showing that Rocket League really should be classed as one of the biggest esports in the world.
With any luck, this massive audience should all tune into the Season 5 finals, which are due to take place at the Copperbox Arena in London this weekend. 10 of the best teams from Europe, North America, and Oceania will compete for a share of the US$250,000 prize pool and, of course, the title of world champions.
The very best of the best are here to compete after booking their slots in the competition through the regular season. There were surprises, underdogs showing up the big names, dominating runs throughout the season, and more close matches than we've ever seen before. We can never be sure of exactly what'll happen at a RLCS finals, but what we can be sure of is that these are the teams you need to be keeping an eye on.
Team Dignitas
It'd be impossible to write a teams-to-watch list without mentioning Team Dignitas, even if that's a name you might not associate with top-level Rocket League. In case you haven’t kept up with all the big changes over the last month or two, Team Dignitas, the esports organisation owned by the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, have signed reigning world champions Gale Force eSports. While this is the first time Dignitas colours will be seen on stage at an RLCS finals, the faces will certainly be familiar.
Defending a title is never easy, but Dignitas come in as the number one seed from Europe. They topped the regular season and made the playoffs look easy, with two quick victories to win the European region. As far as favourites go, it’s difficult to look past this Dignitas roster, as over the past few months they've been near unstoppable. It'll take a special performance from someone to send them home, making them a hot team to watch this weekend.
G2 Esports
Over in North America this season, it was really a two-horse race as G2 and NRG topped the regular season and met again in the final. It was G2 who won the crucial match-up in the NA finals to claim the number-one North American seeding, but it was a close match, ending up at 4-3. However, in the regular season it was NRG who topped the table after beating G2 3-0 in their matchup.
Despite the back and forth nature of the G2 vs NRG rivalry, there’s no doubt that G2 should be a team feared by everyone else. Their legacy in Rocket League speaks for itself, with multiple big title wins and a history of coming out on top in matches where it really matters. Sure, they may have lost in the regular season to NRG, but when it came to the final they made sure they were the ones coming out on top. Anything less than a trip to the grand final this weekend would be a disappointment for G2 – they just have to hope that they don’t come up against NRG in the early rounds.
Metsanauris plays in his old Method colours
© Joe Brady/Gfinity
compLexity
Back at the Season 4 finals, this roster, which at the time was known as Method, looked like the best team in the world. They eventually fell in the grand final to Gale Force eSports, but there was no doubt that this roster was special. This season, however, they've struggled. Under the compLexity banner they could only manage fourth place in Europe, after losing 4-0 to Vitality in the semi final and 4-1 to EnVyUs in the third-place decider.
Their position doesn’t really tell you the whole story, though. In reality they just had a really bad run in the playoffs, as during the regular season they were second in Europe, only dropping two games. They certainly still have the skills to go on a good run in London, although their fourth-place seeding has given them a very tough upper-bracket run. They have to face off against Australian team Tainted Minds in the opening round, and if they win that they instantly go into a match against G2, which won't be easy.
Chiefs eSports Club
Few people believe that the two Oceania teams at the RLCS finals have a real chance, as the quality of play down under just isn’t quite on the same level as in EU and NA. The lack of opportunity to play against the big teams from other regions also doesn’t help them. However, if there’s one team that could provide some big upsets, it’s Chiefs eSports Club.
We've seen dominant performances in the RLCS, but Chiefs took it to another level. In the four-team double elimination bracket of the Oceania RLCS, they only dropped one game – their first game of the season, and even that went to overtime. After that opening loss, they went on an 11-game winning streak to be crowned champions and rarely looked like they were challenged by any of the other teams. They'll have some much harder competition to get past this weekend, but if you want to support an underdog, then this is your team.
NRG
Going undefeated in the regular season of the NA RLCS is no easy feat, but that’s exactly what NRG managed to do this season. The roster finally seemed to have hit the next level of play after always being an inconsistent contender, but a close loss to G2 in the final means that they come in as NA’s number-two seed, which is less than ideal for them.
NRG are clearly a favourite to win the whole thing, but the real reason you should be watching this team is because of the goal machine, Garrett ‘GarrettG’ Gordon. In the NA RLCS he won the Golden Striker award, averaging 1.25 goals per game, which is an unreal number in the world of Rocket League. If GarrettG shows up, then you know you’re in for some entertaining games this weekend.
Of course all the teams at the RLCS finals have a solid chance of doing well, and that’s what makes top-level Rocket League so great: anyone can win any match at any time. We have no idea who'll eventually walk out as champions, but we can be sure that the London crowd is in for an entertaining weekend watching the best Rocket League action in the world. Stay tuned.
