DreamHack: Montreal’s Closed Qualifiers are set to kick off tomorrow, which means the rosters used to qualify for the event were released late last night. Plenty of teams are trying out new players for the tournament.
This could be an indication for what’s to come looking ahead to Season 8. While it’s hard to tell if these moves are going to be permanent, fans can at least get some insight as to who’s going where. There are well over 200 teams competing in the closed qualifiers across four regions. The Game Haus has gathered the most relevant changes here.
NA Closed Qualifier Major Rosters:
It’s important to note that NRG and Cloud9 are skipping the qualifier, so their rosters aren’t yet revealed. They’re rightfully gambling on being invited to the tournament so they can enjoy a bit more of the offseason. With that said, there still could be some roster movement between the two teams.
G2: Reed “Chicago” Wilen, Dillon “rizzo” Rizzo and Jacob “JKnaps” Knapman. No news is good news for the Season 7 runner-up. They’re likely the favorite in the NA Closed Qualifier.
Spacestation Gaming: Caden “Sypical” Pellegrin, Alexandre “AxB” Bellemare and Tshaka “Arsenal” Taylor Jr. This is the first competitive event where Spacestation will show off Arsenal as their new third after the team kicked Matthew “Satthew” Ackermann after Season 7. This is a team with a lot of upside and a lot to prove. Arsenal is a very interesting fit.
Ghost Gaming: Nick “Mist” Costello, Michael “Memory” Moss and Braxton “Allushin” Lagarec. Mist replaces long time Ghost member Treyven “Lethamyr” Robitaille. Mist had an excellent season in the Rival Series for Birds and the Beez. He’s a more predictable and straight-forward player than Lethamyr. If this move is permanent, it completely changes the way Ghost approach the game.
Rogue: Cameron “Kronovi” Bills, Alex “AyyJayy” Aebi and Nicolas “Wonder” Blackerby. Rogue are running back their Season 7 outfit, and for good reason. The World Championship semi-finalists were in the Rival Series just three seasons ago. This roster reveal is great news for Rogue fans. With NRG’s open roster spot, all three of these players had been floated out as potential replacements.
Evil Geniuses: No roster. Matthew “Drippay” Den-Kaat is not listed with any team. He’s still in the running for the NRG roster spot as well as The Peeps and Birds and the Beez’s vacancies.
Splyce: Splyce released their roster prior to this event.
Birds and the Beez: Raul “Roll Dizz” Diaz, Jackson “ayjacks” Carter and Colby “Hockser” James. The name of interest here is ayjacks, who played with Roll Dizz during DreamHack: Dallas. If Mist stays with Ghost, then ayjacks could be the most likely replacement, unless they want to take a shot at Drippay.
The Peeps: Hirair “ExplosiveGyro” Papazian, Max “Atomic” Franceschi and Slater “Retals” Thomas. Former RLRS qualifier Atomic gets his chance to redeem himself after being banned from competitive Rocket League for playing underage on Dooble’s account in Season 4 for Cypher. His year long ban is up, and now he can start fresh with the former Rival Series club.
Afterthought: Matthew “Satthew” Ackermann, Nathan “Shock” Frommelt and Jason “Firstkiller” Corral. Firstkiller has huge potential as a pro, but is still just fourteen years old, although he turns 15 in December. Former Spacestation man Satthew gets the nod with WSOE Qualifier Shock. This team is surprisingly talented but have never played together.
RBG Esports: Sebastian “Sea-Bass” Becerra, Jalen “Rapid” Parker and Daniel “Aeon” Dunfee. This is a bonafide group of established Rocket League players. Sea-Bass made the RLCS twice with Allegiance and Rapid and Aeon bring Rival Series experience.
Relevant players unaccounted for in NA: Drippay, Jamie “Karma” Bickford, Lethamyr, Mariano “Squishy” Arruda, Jesus “Gimmick” Parra, Kyle “Torment” Storer.
EU Closed Qualifier Major Rosters:
Renault Vitality: Kyle “Scrub Killa” Robertson, Alexandre “Kaydop” Courant and Victor “Fairy Peak” Locquet. The reigning champs bring back the same squad that won it all in Newark a month ago.
FC Barcelona: David “Deevo” Morrow, Daniel “Bluey” Bluett and Yanis “Alpha54” Champenois. The EU runners-up followed Vitality’s lead and will use their Season 7 roster in the qualifier.
PSG Esports: Victor “Ferra” Francal, Emil “Fruity” Moslund and Thibault “Chausette45” Grzesiak. Nothing to see here with the DreamHack: Valencia champions. They will use their Season 7 roster as well.
Triple Trouble: Euan “Tadpole” Ingram, Jordan “EyeIgnite” Stellon and Aldin “Ronaky” Hodzic. Team SoloMid dropped EyeIgnite, and he found a good landing spot with the only team to beat Renault Vitality in EU last season. His banishment from TSM was messy, LINK and he know has plenty to prove with TT.
Dignitas: Maurice “Yukeo” Weihs, Jos “ViolentPanda” van Meurs and Maello “AztraL” Frino. This is the same group that Dig brought to DreamHack: Valencia, where they failed to make Day 3. AztraL is now a full-blown signee, so he’ll be able to play with peace of mind about his future.
TSM: Team SoloMid elected to skip the qualifiers. All signs point to Hrant “Flakes” Yakoub as EyeIgnite’s replacement, as he’s the only major RLCS player without a team at the qualifier.
The Bricks: Francesco “Kuxir97” Cinquemani, Jack “Speed” Packwood-Clarke and Linus “al0t” Mollergren. This group put together a solid performance at DreamHack: Valencia and they’ll be looking to build on that performance. Valencia is a great chance for long time RLCS veteran al0t to secure his spot on an RLCS squad.
Mousesports: Not bringing a team, and all signs are pointing to the team disbanding.
Veloce Esports: Sandro “FreaKii” Holzwarth, Jack “FlamE” Pearton, Niels “Nielskoek” Kok and Andy “Kassio” Landais. This team is especially intriguing because there are four legitimate RLCS-level players on the roster. They wouldn’t bring Kassio in without giving him a chance to play, so they make room for him in FreaKii or Niels’ spot.
CompLexity: Pierre “Turbopolsa” Silfver, Macus “gReazymeister” Ranheim and Joonas “Mognus” Salo. Turbopolsa is the big name here, and he appears in place of Flakes. Flakes was an offensive juggernaut, and Turbo is one of the game’s best players in history. If Flakes does indeed move on to TSM, Turbo is probably the best available replacement.
Method: Rix “Rix Ronday” Ronday, David “Miztik” Lawrie and Boris “Borito B” Pieper. Miztik struggled with The Bricks in Season 7, but isn’t ready to hang up the sticks. Method is a very intriguing squad that’s sniffed around promotion for the last three seasons. Is Miztik the right fit for the future of the team?
The Wholesome Dishwashers: Bram “Bilbo” Vanoverbeke, Kevin “Skyline” Carvalho and Ryan “Doomsee” Graham. Former pro Doomsee teams up with these Rival Series vets to try and take the first steps toward rejoining the professional scene.
Straight Outta Retirement: Danny “tehda” Squibb, Mitchell “Shakaron” Johnson and Hakon “Didris” Paulsrud. This group of former pros is looking to have one last crack at the pro scene and have a laugh along the way. More power to them.
Relevant players unaccounted for in EU: Flakes.
OCE and SAM Qualifier Major Rosters:
Oceania and South America have their own individual closed qualifiers, but for the sake of length, they’ll be combined into one section.
Renegades: Christopher “Siki” Magee, Cameron “Kamii” Ingram and Daniel “Torsos” Parsons. Siki had a major breakout season for GroundZero and is the next in a line of countless OCE heavyweights to be be poached by Renegades.
Chiefs Esports Club: Cameron “CJCJ” Johns, Connor “Hawk” Baldock and Johnathan “Express” Slade. Hawk makes his debut in place of Shadey. This is the roster’s first potential change since Season 5. Hawk has yet to play in OCE’s premier division
GroundZero: Alex “Decka” Decka, Nathan “Shadey” Logan, Tom “Julz” Julienne and Aidan “ZeN” Hui. This team, like Veloce, sports four of OCE’s best players. Julz and Decka made their first World Championship in Season 7, but Siki’s leaves a hole in the squad. ZeN and Shadey were both displaced from their respective teams and will have to try out for the final spot.
Erodium: Juan “Juan_” Faria, Valter “Valt” Junior, Lucas “Noiisey” Vieira and Mateus “Math” Goncalves. This is the third team with four top flight players on the roster. Noiisey starred for Orchid last season and Juan_ played with Lotus. Will they be able to replace the production of Caio “CaioTG1” Vinicius?
INTZ Esports: Felipe “Repi” Chaves, Diogo “PJ” Ferme and Matheus “Matix” Rodrigues. The South American runners-up will use their Season 7 group to try and qualify for DreamHack: Montreal.
Lotus: Bruno “Haberkamper” Haberkamp, Renan “renaN” Oliviera and Antonio “FirefoxD” Schilling. RenaN played an important role for the South American champions Lowkey Esports. After a disappointing Season 7, Lotus are hopeful to kick off Season 8 on the right foot with a solid qualifier performance.
Lowkey Esports: Enzo “Tander” Toledo, Gabriel “Caard” Vieira and Caio “CaioTG1” Vinicius. CaioTG1 joins an already star studded Lowkey squad. Caard and Caio are probably the best tandem in SAM right now, and they’ll be favored heading into the qualifier.
Full links to the tournament’s bracket and standings are available here.
Featured image courtesy of DreamHack.
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