Dartfrog Logo

Rocket League Championship Series – Season 8 Preview

Rocket League Championship Series

A lot has changed in the world of competitive Rocket League since Renault Vitality lifted the RLCS Season 7 trophy back in June. Legends of the game Fireburner and Lethamyr retired from playing, the Rival Series (Division 2) was expanded to 10 teams and there has been a number of roster changes in the close season that has everyone debating what team is the best in the game.

And that’s to say nothing of the effect of the purchase of Psyonix by Fortnite creators Epic Games.

There is a feeling in the community that this season is going to be like no other – unpredictable and with the highest level of professional Rocket League ever seen. This is arguably already the case, with newly-promoted team “The Peeps” lifting this weekend’s DreamHack Montreal trophy, defeating the established G2 Esports in the final.

To make sense of all this upheaval we’ve put together a handy guide for everything you need to know before the start of RLCS Season 8. Consider it your cheat sheet – something to check back on for crucial dates, tournament formats and information on all the teams involved.

RLCS 8 Preview
The competition for a place at the World Championships is stronger than ever.

RLCS 8 – The Teams

As Rocket League has matured as a sport, teams have added substitutes (S) and coaches (C) to their rosters. In a recent role change coaches are now allowed on the floor with the teams during LANs, so expect to see their impact and role expand this season. The recently retired Fireburner and Lethamyr have moved into coaching, taking up the role at Cloud9 and mouseesports respectively.

Here are the confirmed teams for RLCS 8, take note that the South American and Oceania regions are currently in qualifying stages and not all teams are confirmed.

Check back with us in the lead up to the first weekend, where we’ll have deep-dives into every team, looking at their roster changes and overall form heading into the new season.

Europe

FC Barcelona – Deevo, Bluey, Ronaky, El General(C)

Dignitas – ViolentPanda, Yukeo, AztraL, Virge(C)

Team Reciprocity – Ferra, Chausette45, fruity

Renault Vitality (RLCS S7 Champions) – Fairy Peak, Scrub Killa, Kaydrop, Jessie(S), Gregan(C)

Team SoloMid – remkoe, Metsanauris, Aplha54, MummiSnow(S), Jake(C)

Complexity Gaming (Promotion Playoff Winner) – Mognus, gReazymeister, Flakes, Snaski(C)

mousesports (Promotion Playoff 2nd) – kuxir97, Speed, al0t, Lethamyr(C)

Veloce Esports (Promoted due to Triple Trouble disbanding) – FlamE, FreakKii, Kassio, Miztik(S)

Renault Vitality RLCS 7
Renault Vitality will be looking to make history by being the first team to win back-to-back World Championships.

North America

Cloud9 – SquishyMuffinz, Torment, Gimmick, Fireburner(C)

G2 Esports – Rizzo, JKnaps, Chicago, Jahzo(C)

Ghost Gaming – Memory, Allushin, Atomic, SilentEcho(C)

NRG Esports – GarretG, jstn, Turbopolsa, Moses(S)

Rogue – Wonder, Ayyjayy, Kronovi, Sizz(S), Wesker(C)

Spacestation Gaming – Sypical, AxB, Arsenal

The Peeps (Promotion Playoff Winners) – ExplosiveGyro, Retals, Mist, Moopy(C)

Birds and the Beez (Promotion Playoff 2nd) – Hockser, Roll Dizz, Ayjacks, fire(S)

NRG esports Rocket league Turbopolsa
Always the bridesmaid never the bride – NRG will hope three times World Champion Turbopolsa(centre), signed from Dignitas, can take them to the next level.

RLCS 8 – Tournament Format

An RLCS season is split into three parts.

The initial ‘League Play’, which is hosted online every weekend. In Europe and North America, the top two placing teams at the end of the regular season automatically book a place in the final. The top six teams go into the Regional Championships. There are two spots up for grabs in the Regional Championship for 1st and 2nd place, who are already guaranteed a spot from the regular league, playing for the best seeding possible.

The bottom two teams from league play enter the Promotion Playoffs where they will meet the two top teams from the Rival Series to battle it out for a spot in next seasons RLCS.

The South American and Oceania regions have been involved in the RLCS for only a couple of seasons, and as their talent pool isn’t as deep, they play a slightly different format. League play has no guaranteed spots, with the top 6 teams going into a Regional Championship and the top two teams qualifying for finals.

The Rival Series

The Rival Series is the 2nd division of the European and North American Regions. It was recently expanded to 10 teams. Many professionals who have appeared in the RLCS proper have found themselves dropping down to the Rival Series in search of a new team.

The format has changed this season. Now the top four teams at the end of the league will be entered into a Rival Series Regional Playoff, with the two top performing teams booking their place in the Promotion Tournament. There, they’ll play against the two worst-performing teams of the RLCS proper.

RLCS 8 – Important Dates

RLCS League Play

  • Europe – October 6th to November 3rd
    Regional Championship – November 17th
  • North America – October 5th to November 2nd
    Regional Championship – November 16th
  • South America – October 6th to November 3rd
    Regional Championship – November 10th
  • Oceania – September 29th to November 10th
    Regional Championship – November 17th

Rival Series League Play

  • Europe – October 11th to November 8th
    Regional Playoffs – November 24th
  • North America – October 11th to November 8th
    Regional Playoffs – November 23rd

RLCS Season 8 World Championship

Unconfirmed Location – December 13th to 15th

How To Watch

Games are streamed lived each weekend of the regular season with North American played on Saturdays at 7 p.m. GMT, while European play is on Sundays at 4 p.m. GMT. You can catch all the action on the official Rocket League YouTube and Twitch channels.

We will, of course, be following all the action so check back with us each week for a round-up of all the action. Also make sure to follow Dart Frog on TwitterInstagram and Facebook for all the latest Rocket League news and analysis.

Featured Image Credit: Psyonix