Savage! took home the first ever Rocket League Renegade Cup (EU) crown in resounding fashion over ARG on Sunday. The team looked dominant throughout and only lost a single game on their way to the crown.
The tournament had some technical issues that led to the first day of the event being played off-stream, but the production team were able to turn things around. Day 2 and 3 of the event went smoothly and Savage! took home a $6,000 prize.
Dan ‘Bluey’ Bluett, David ‘Deevo’ Morrow and Yanis ‘Alpha54’ Champenois played stunningly strong Rocket League to take home their first major tournament win. It was just the kind of performance that a team looking for an org were in need of.
Courtesy of Psyonix
The team could not be stopped against this group of non-RLCS teams. It seemed that Savage! were the first to every loose ball and their mechanics were on another level. After their sweep of Dreamhack Leipzig qualifiers Ex-Secret in round two, it was obvious that Savage! were a step above their competition.
They were one game away from qualifying for WSOE and have been on a tear as of late. Another solid performance in Leipzig this weekend will give Savage! loads of momentum heading into RLCS Season 7.
ARG clearly looked like the second best team at the tournament. The only two series they lost all tournament were to Savage!, but in every other match the Spaniards looked superior. Alejandro ‘ClayX’ Carbonero, Marc ‘Marc_by_8’ Domingo and Guillermo ‘GCR710’ Cofrades were all very impressive for ARG.
The lads had already proven they were the best team in Spain. Their resounding outing over the weekend proved that they are talented enough to qualify for the Rival Series in Season 7.
Third place finishers mCon esports also looked phenomenal. The squad upset RLCS bound Triple Trouble in round two and couldn’t stop winning from there. The Dutch squad will be another team to watch out for come RLRS qualification time.
Despite being the last team to qualify, Nordavind looked very solid. They lost in the second round to ARG but had a nice run through the loser’s bracket until they fell to mCon in the loser’s semifinals. A fourth place finish and $1,500 is a nice consolation prize for the 12 seed heading into the tournament.
The broadcast team of Brody ‘Liefx’ Moore, Andrew ‘Squidd’ Riffe and Ghost Gaming star Treyven ‘Lethamyr’ Robitaille also did a great job. Liefx is a regular on RLCS broadcasts and is always good with broadcasting. However, he filled the hosting role for the first time in his career. Squidd has worked on all of the Renegade Cup events and did a great job in the play by play/analyst role.
Lethamyr was really impressive given his lack of formal commentating. He provided an interesting level of insight that went beyond the superficial level of what’s happening on screen. Psyonix should continue to run with the idea of having current pros in the booth as well as at the analyst desk as in season’s past.
Courtesy of Psyonix
Triple Trouble looked uncharacteristically bad with Jack ‘Speed’ Packwood-Clarke. Speed showed that he can play at the game’s highest level at WSOE 4 last month, but at Renegade Cup something was off. It could have been the uncertainty of losing their org, Red Reserve. Maybe there were chemistry issues given Speed’s decision to leave the team. Maybe the team works better with Andy ‘Kassio’ Landais. No matter the reason, Triple Trouble under-performed and were knocked out after two series.
Ex-Secret also experienced some post-org lethargy. The squad barely lifted a finger against Savage! and Method and bowed out of the tournament without winning a game. They’ll need to sort things out quickly before they head to Leipzig this weekend.
No other team had a particularly noteworthy performance at the Renegade Cup. The Schnozers got a nice little win over Method and then were promptly trounced by Savage! and Nordavind. Method rattled off a couple of wins in the loser’s bracket but looked lost against mCon.
It’s important to note that all but two of the series in the event were best of three. Had the tournament been best of fives, it’s very likely that the results would have turned out differently. That’s no excuse. The format gave way to some surprising performances, but they deserved the places they finished in.
The North American edition of the Renegade Cup Finals is set to kick off Feb. 22 on twitch.tv/rocketleague.
Feature image courtesy of Psyonix.
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