Another exciting season of competitive Rocket League is in the books, as 12 of the world’s best teams descended upon the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid, Spain to compete for a $529k prize pool and the championship trophy.
Season 8 of the Rocket League Championship Series is officially complete, as 2019 ends with a spectacular showing of the best rocket-propelled soccer car players in the world.
Twelve teams arrived to Madrid with championships aspirations. The top four from Europe, the top four from North America, the top two from Oceania, and the top two from South America were invited to Madrid to compete.
It's Championship Sunday and today we crown a World Champion!
Tune in at 2:30 p.m. CET (5:30 a.m. PT) as we kick off the final day of the World Championship.
?: https://t.co/PpKjSDFoZt?: https://t.co/7NvB8BKV2b?: https://t.co/YaSObsS1RI pic.twitter.com/rKKucGtdcO
— Rocket League Esports (@RLEsports) December 15, 2019
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The top two teams from both the European and North American regions received byes to the semifinals of their respective group stages, and both bye teams in group B in Team Reciprocity and Pittsburgh Knights ended up on the wrong side of upsets on day one. Both those teams met in the Losers’ Final, with the Knights sending Reciprocity home.
Dignitas’ magical run was the story of the tournament. The lowest seed from Europe finished at the top of group B, earning a playoff semifinal slot. Their series against defending champions Renault Vitality was an incredible seven-series, where they eventually fell in a devastatingly close affair.
From a rough start of the season to a close 7 game series in the World Championship semi-finals against @TeamVitality! Nothing but proud of our boys holding it down until the very end! ggwp #RLCS8 #DIGWIN pic.twitter.com/d6IbyoAaDC
— DIG (@dignitas) December 15, 2019
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This set up a grand finals between European juggernaut Renault Vitality and North American hopeful NRG Esports. Both teams featured a player seeking their fourth individual championship, with Pierre ‘Turbopolsa” Silfver on NRG, and Alexandre ‘Kaydop’ Courant on Vitality.
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Turbopolsa got the series started with a hat trick to cruise to an NRG win in game one. Kaydop’s lone goal in game two tied the series at 1-1. Vitality opened game three with two goals in 15 seconds, and held off NRG to take game three. A Garrett ‘GarrettG’ Gordon goal in overtime secured game four for NRG and a 2-2 series tie.
A lone Turbopolsa goal proved the difference in game five, pushing the NRG lead to 3-2. Vitality took an early lead, and just barely held off a resounding comeback to force a game 7. A Vitality goal with less than 30 seconds in regulation sent the final game to overtime, and a goal by Justin ‘jstn’ Morales won it finally for NRG.
With the victory, NRG Esports claims its very first Rocket League world championship. Turbopolsa claims his fourth world title, his first since winning seasons 3-5 back-to-back-to-back. jstn and GarrettG each claim their first world championship.
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, WE ARE YOUR ROCKET LEAGUE WORLD CHAMPIONS #OURTIME #NRGFAM ?? @Its_JSTN @GarrettG @Turbopolsa @Sizz pic.twitter.com/lxT9OFwbCC
— NRG (@NRGgg) December 15, 2019
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Final Placements
Place | Cash Prize | Team |
1st | $200,000 | NRG Esports |
2nd | $120,000 | Renault Vitality |
3rd-4th | $40,000 | Spacestation Gaming |
3rd-4th | $40,000 | Dignitas |
5th-6th | $24,750 | Veloce Esports |
5th-6th | $24,750 | Pittsburgh Knights |
7th-8th | $16,000 | Team Reciprocity |
7th-8th | $16,000 | Renegades |
9th-12th | $12,000 | Canberra Havoc |
9th-12th | $12,000 | The Three Sins |
9th-12th | $12,000 | eUnited |
9th-12th | $12,000 | Lowkey Esports |