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Chiefs: Oceania's Rocket League Rulers Take On the World
After slaying NRG at the finals, they're coming back for ELEAGUE — we chat with the RLCS spoilers.
The Rocket League Championship Series added Oceanic teams for the first time last season, and while some doubted their ability to compete on the world stage, Alpha Sydney surprised a lot of people at June's World Championship. In their first try at international play, they beat NA team Denial Esports and showed that they could hang with teams from the top regions.
And then they went home, and for many Rocket League fans, that was probably the last time they heard about the team for months. Oceania's Rocket League scene is thriving locally, but NA and EU teams still dominate the wider discussion. However, the team kept pushing: They left Alpha Sydney, had a spotty stretch while implementing lessons from their RLCS finals experience and signed with Chiefs Esports Club — one of the top organizations in the region.
Haven't been following the Chiefs's progress the last few months? If so, then you might've gotten a rude awakening this month at the season four RLCS World Championship, when they upset NA fan-favorite NRG. And they won't be out of sight or mind for long: they're back for The ELEAGUE Cup: Rocket League next weekend, giving them another chance to battle the world's best. After their RLCS run, we spoke with the team about their offseason journey, playing on the world stage and changing the minds of international fans.
Battling NA giants
Chiefs Esports Club started the World Championship with a loss — but it was a thrilling one, at least. They first matched up against G2 Esports, the NA favorite and eventual fourth-place finisher and pushed them all the way to five games in the 3-2 defeat. Chiefs put up exciting goals early on and delivered a more memorable first-round battle than their OCE counterparts Pale Horse Esports, who were blanked by Paris-Saint Germain (and later Mock-It).
However, the Chiefs players admit that G2 figured out a weakness and managed to prod it enough to ultimately gain the edge. "We were defending against them pretty comfortably, but then they just realized that we were really easy to bump and exploited that really hard, so … well played to them," Jake "Jake" Edwards said. Matthew "Drippay" Den-Kaat added, "Yeah, [Dillon "Rizzo" Rizzo] was bumping me more than hitting the ball."
It was an exciting, but ultimately disappointing day one result for Chiefs, but at least they felt like they were competitive with the NA giant. And then they came back the next day and took down an NA force: NRG, the three-time regional champions who struggled that weekend and finished tied for last. True, NRG looked out of sorts, and their shooting numbers were rough — but Chiefs also outplayed them in the 3-2 win, including with some dazzling passing plays (like this one above).
It was one of the biggest moments of the weekend, and a more significant victory than last season's takedown of the relatively untested Denial. It was also one of the biggest upsets seen on the RLCS World Championship stage. "It was really great to prove ourselves, because we wanted to do better against G2," Drippay said. "We were obviously disappointed after that, and it was great to turn up the next day and really show that we've improved a lot since last season."
The Chiefs's run ended against NA's top team Cloud9
© Psyonix
Ultimately, Chiefs' finals journey would stop with Cloud9, this season's North American regional champs and the ultimate third-place finisher. They've dominated so many teams in recent months, but Chiefs got off to a strong start by taking game one — but then dropped the next three to seal the 3-1 defeat. Daniel "Torsos" Parsons admitted that they still need to work on their RLCS nerves, while Drippay suggested that they "cracked under pressure."
"We let in a few last-second goals, which was a bit disappointing to throw two games. We feel pretty comfortable playing against Cloud9, and were pretty comfortable in the series," Jake surmised. "We missed some opportunities and defended a bit poorly at key times. Just a little disappointing. Obviously still a good weekend."
Returning and revamping
Quite a bit changed for this team over the last five months. After making a big splash at the third-season finals, they were heading home emboldened by their success, yet keen on the idea that they had to get better. They had beaten Denial but lost to both Mock-It and The Leftovers, and while they had ruled the Oceanic scene mostly unopposed, they weren't quite as mechanically polished as most of the top international teams. Back in June, they told us that they had written down a list of 10 things they needed to work on before the next season.
They figured that they'd be returning to Oceania to help push the scene forward, but instead, they found that the competitive scene had already evolved and improved while they were off in America. "OCE got a lot better in the break that we were off at RLCS. It was really strange," Jake admitted. "A new roster formed that had a lot of success, and our style of attack was not working at all anymore. It was difficult — we had to adapt when we got back."
Last season, the Chiefs roster played for Alpha Sydney
© Psyonix
"I think they really adapted to our style of play, which was just hammering the backboard and getting infield passes," Torsos explained. "It really messed us up."
The competition had gotten stronger, and for a while, there was some level of competitive parity amongst the top teams in the Oceanic Rocket League scene. At the same time, the trio were trying to work in a lot of different tactics and tweaks that they'd soaked in during international play. For a brief stretch, they struggled. "We just tried to implement too many things at once," Jake conceded. But it was worth the short-term frustration, he added: "It really strengthened our play over time, by just learning and working off of our mistakes."
"We're a lot less reliant on the backboard now. About 70 percent of our goals last season were just backboard goals," he continued. "As people get better at defending the backboard, they don't work, so we've started implementing a lot more infield passing, solo play pressure goals and long shots and stuff." And Torsos suggested that they've all improved their individual mechanical play, as well, after facing more polished opponents at the last finals.
They arrived early in America before this World Championship for a team boot camp, but struggled to find any North American teams willing to scrim with them before they were onsite in DC. "No one scrimmed us during the boot camp," Jake said. "NA are really lazy, or were just scrimming each other. It was pretty sad."
Instead, they mostly scrimmed against Europe's Team EnVyUs, last season's RLCS champions who spent this season's LAN back home after a rough regular season. Chiefs had to deal with the elevated 100 ping in those matches, but still think they were beneficial skirmishes. "We learned a lot from those scrims," Drippay said. Torsos helpfully clarified, "We got pretty smashed."
Bouncing back
As a commentator for AussieGamingTV, ESL Australia and CyberGamer, Louis "Tibore" Graetz has kept a close eye on Chiefs over the last few months, and charted their slight decline and incredible surge back to the top of the region. After departing Alpha Sydney, the team went by Billy Fan Club for about a month before joining Chiefs. And in addition to working through some tactical changes, Tibore believes that they were also less motivated without an organization pushing them.
"When they went to RLCS [S3 finals], they were the best for ages by some margin — but when they returned as Alpha Sydney, they tried to change the way the played too drastically to compete more with Europe," he explained. "Along with changing from Alpha Sydney to Billy Fan Club, they went into a slump." He clarified that he didn't think it was a "true slump in form they had to dig out of," but rather that he believes "they just weren't trying as hard."
"My thought is that they were just using the period as a mental break [away] from the previous stresses, where they were not only trying new things out but also having a bit more fun, Tibore suggested. "They just weren't grinding games out like usual."
But once they signed with Chiefs in August, everything seemed to click into place for the team. At their first LAN with the organization, the season two ESL AU & NZ Championship, they swept Pale Horse and JAM Gaming en route to a 4-1 grand finals win in a rematch with Pale Horse. "I spoke to [Chiefs] after their second match and asked them if they were going to give me a close game to commentate today," Tibore recalled. "They responded with 'No,' and that there were here just to smash everybody. And that is all that has happened since."
They have been hugely dominant since, much like they were before the third-season RLCS finals. This roster has now won the last six major Oceanic LANs, including last weekend's season three ESL finals, as well. In Tibore's view, the Chiefs aren't even playing to their full potential in local competition, either.
"They don't play at their top level in competition much of the time here. They do what they have to for victories and hold their cards close to their chests," he affirmed. "OCE just isn't as fast yet, so even though they can play at the RLCS level, they just don't have to for a full match — so teams they play only see glimpses of it."
Another shot soon
While their seventh-eighth place RLCS finish was much the same as in the previous season, their win against NRG and closer battles against top NA teams G2 and Cloud9 have them feeling more confident in international competition. They might not be dominant against NA and EU teams like they are back home — not yet, at least. But they can hang with those unfamiliar opponents, and they're only getting better the more that they log time against them.
Getting that experience is especially critical as Oceania is isolated from other competitive regions due to the high ping in online matches, plus the local talent pool isn't quite as deep or developed as we've seen in NA and EU. That's a big reason why the team's RLCS finals wins have been so magnified (which hasn't sat well with all pros), and why the team's rapid adaptability has been so impressive.
"I think we all feel a lot more comfortable on the world stage," Drippay said. "Last time was a bit overwhelming, the whole experience, but this time we came to perform. This time around, it just felt a lot more comfortable."
And this time, they won't have to wait months for another opportunity: The ELEAGUE Cup: Rocket League invitational takes place next weekend in Atlanta, and the Chiefs confirmed their presence after their ESL win. The full list of teams hasn't yet been announced, but based on other teams that have confirmed their attendance — including RLCS champions Gale Force, as well as Ghost Gaming and Mock-It — it seems entirely likely that the Top 8 RLCS finalists were all invited (ninth-10th place RLCS finisher NRG were not invited).
Jake, Drippay and Torsos (from left) will play in The ELEAGUE Cup
© Psyonix
It's an enormous opportunity for Chiefs to further assert themselves in the world game, and accrue even more international LAN experience to grow from. In fact, following this latest RLCS run against only North American teams, Tibore suggests that it might be best for Chiefs to run into an EU monster like Gale Force or Method — if only for the learning experience against top talent. "Even though it wouldn't be a great draw, that would be the best development for them for RLCS season five, just to see what the next level really is like to play against," he explained.
In the meantime, the Chiefs have already changed some hearts and minds about the Oceanic scene. After they defeated NRG, there were plenty of tweets from throughout the competitive community claiming that they were done doubting the talent of OCE teams. However, the Chiefs suggest that people shouldn't have been shocked by their performance in the first place. "They're just toxic, dude," said Jake about people who have mocked the region in the past. "They just don't watch OCE, and assume we're shit."
"They just see NA and EU improve, and don't realize that we also improve, so they just think we're the same and we're just gonna get destroyed," added Drippay. "But that's not the case. They need to actually watch us to have an understanding."
Of course, more eyes on the Chiefs and Oceania's pro scene as a whole means higher expectations, but the team seems confident they can rise to meet that challenge. In just a week, we'll find out whether they can make an even bigger international splash at ELEAGUE than they've made at the last two RLCS World Championships.
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