Team BDS defeats G2 to win the Rocket League Championship Series 2021-22

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Esports has been gaining a lot of popularity and a fan following in the past few years. Gamers all over the world come together and play different sports and compete for prizes. If you are an esports aficionado, you must have heard of Rocket League

Rocket League is like football but with cars! This game requires a team to coordinate and outmanoeuvre the opponents and score goals! It is no wonder that the Rocket League Championship has become very popular since its inception.

The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) is one of the most important events on the 2022 esports calendar. This RLCS World Championship is an esports tournament series that Psyonix organizes. 

RLCS 2021-22 is the second season of 2021 which has crossed over into 2022. The 2021-22 season, which began in October 2021 and came to an end on August 14th, 2022 at Fort Worth, Dickies Arena, when the final was played between Team BDS and Team G2. 

The 2021-22 Rocket League season ended on Sunday with Europe’s Team BDS beating North America’s G2 Esports at the Rocket League World Championship in Fort Worth, Texas. The trio of Evan “M0nkey M00n” Rogez, Alex “Extra” Paoli, and Enzo “Seikoo” Grondein earned the organisation’s first world championship and handed G2 another second-place finish at Worlds. Seikoo was named MVP.

History of the RLCS World Championship

Rocket League was developed by Psyonix 

Rocket League matches were getting popular, and people were watching them live on YouTube, Twitch, etc. This is when Psyonix thought of using them in esports, and in March 2016 they announced the very first Rocket League Championship series with a prize pool of US $550,000. The finals were concluded in Los Angeles in June 2016. iBUYPOWER Cosmic became the champion of the first season.

The second season of RLCS took place in December 2016 with a prize pool of US$125,000. The finals were held in Amsterdam, and Flipside Tactics became the champion of the second season. The third season, which witnessed two teams from the oceanic region for the first time, was played in 2017 with a prize pool of US$300,000. In this third season, the Northern Gaming team became champions and claimed the first prize.

In Season 4, a second division was added to the championship in the form of RLRS—Rocket League Rival Series. Two teams that finished at the bottom of the RLCS and the two teams that finished at the top of the RLRS for each region played each other in a promotion tournament at the end of the season to decide if the teams were promoted or relegated. 

Until the fourth season, Psyonix and Twitch jointly organised and managed this world championship. From the fifth season onwards, Psynoix alone managed and organised this event.

These RLCL World Championships are being organised regularly, with the prize pool increasing every season. The last season was cancelled due to a COVID pandemic, and the winners of the regional championship were considered champions.

Psyonix, in July 2020, announced a slew of changes to the format of the game, which did away with league play and the RLRS. According to the new format, teams will earn points through three regional splits, culminating in three seasonal majors.

The 2021-22 season, which began in October 2021, also brought in four new regions – Asia Pacific North, Asia Pacific South, Middle East & North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

RLCS 2021-22 World Championship

The RLCS 2021-22 Championship was held between August 4 to August 14th, 2022

The RLCS 2021-22 Championship was held between August 4 to August 14th, 2022

The RLCS 2021-22, which introduced major changes such as more regions and an updated format, was held at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. This tournament had 3 splits – Fall, Winter, and Spring – each having 3 regional events which led to an international major. Each team collected points throughout the tournament, and their points led them to qualification for the World Championship or World Championship Wildcard. A total of 24 teams competed in this intense competition involving a substantial prize pool.

RLCS 2021-22 The World Championship’s first stage wildcard was played from August 4, 2022, to August 7, 2022. 16 teams participated in this format, which was played in the Swiss style. These matches were Best of 7, and the top 8 teams proceeded to the Group Stage, where 8 other teams were already waiting for them.

The group stage, or the second stage of this RLCS 2021-22, was played from August 9, 2022, to August 13, 2022, where 16 teams were split into 2 groups of 8 teams each. The matches were also the best of 7 with a double elimination bracket. 

In the group stage, the North American Region was placed first with 6 teams and a 60% record. The South American Region came second with its 2 teams and 52% record. The European Region came third with six teams and a 49% record.

The top 4 teams from each of the groups, that is, a total of 8 teams, qualified for the next stage of the playoffs. Out of these eight teams, four were from the North American Region, three were from the European Region, and one was from the South American Region. 

The four teams from the North American regions were G2 Esports, The General NRG, Faze Clan, and Version 1. The three teams from the European region were Moist Esports, Team BDS, and Karmine Corp. FURIA was the only team qualifying for the playoffs from the South American region.

Play-offs

The first playoff was between Moist Esports and FURIA, where FURIA proceeded to the semi-finals. In the next playoff between Team BDS and Karmine Corp, Team BDS was the winner. 

The third playoff between G2 Sports and The General NRG resulted in G2 qualifying for the semis, and the last playoff, which was played between FaZe Clan and Version 1, saw the FaZe Clan team become the 4th qualifier for the semi-finals. The prelude to the finals, that is, the semi-finals, were played between FaZe Clan and G2 Sports, and FURIA and Team BDS. 

Semi-finals

FURIA vs Team BDS

Team BDS went up against opponent FURIA Esports in the semifinal and spotted them on the first two maps, losing 4-3 in overtime on Mannfield (Night) and 1-0 on Aquadome. Then BDS took over in a big way, winning 6-0 at DFH Stadium. Next came 2-1 wins on Utopia Coliseum (Dusk) and Wasteland (Night), followed by the clincher, 5-1 on Neo Tokyo.

FaZe Clan vs G2 Sports

G2 made it to the final with a 4-2 win over FaZe Clan. The teams traded wins through the first four maps: G2 took Mannfield (Night) 3-0, FaZe won Aquadome 1-0, G2 coasted on DFH Stadium 5-1, and FaZe tied the match again 3-2 on Utopia Coliseum (Dusk).

The two teams that could qualify for the finals by beating their opponents were Team BDS and G2 Sports.

Grand Finale: Team BDS vs G2 Sports

The final was held in a bo7 series format that ended with a record of 4:1, with Team BDS claiming the victory and the title. BDS won the first three maps in the final, 2-1 on Mannfield (Night), 3-2 on Aquadome, and 1-0 in overtime on DFH Stadium. G2 bounced back with a 2-1 win on Utopia Coliseum (Dusk), but BDS clinched a 3-0 win on Wasteland (Night). 

With their 4-1 win over G2 Esports, not only were BDS crowned World Champions, but they also claimed their first S-Tier event title since the Fall Split Major last December. The Swiss esports organization, with a French-based team, was previously the Fall Split Major champions before becoming world champions, further solidifying the EU as the top region in the world.

Team BDS took home $600,000, while the runner-up, G2 Sports, took home $400,000.

Prize Pool

1. $600,000 — Team BDS

2. $400,000 — G2 Esports

3-4. $200,000 — FURIA Esports, FaZe Clan

5-8. $100,000 — Moist Esports, Karmine Corp, The General NRG, Version1

9-12. $30,000 — Spacestation Gaming, Team Falcons, SMPR Esports, The Club

13-16. $20,000 — Renegades, Endpoint CeX, OpTic Gaming, Dignitas

17-19. $13,600 — Pioneers, 01 Esports, Team Secret

20-22. $10,200 — Veloce Esports, Orlando Pirates Exdee, Senbei Strikers

23-24. $6,800 — Bravado Gaming, Gaimin Gladiators

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