RLCS 8 is here!
The first-day of League play was filled with exciting moments. Check it out in a brief recap of the North American debut at the Season 8!
The first match of League Play came to answer a few questions about both teams.
Pittsburgh Knights, formerly known as The Peeps (Dreamhack: Montreal Champions), this time playing as a sponsored team, had to prove that they could compete among Titans once again.
On the other side, was Massimo “Atomic” Franceschi and the question about how the Rookie would fit with the Ghost Squad.
Atomic – Photo Credit: Stephanie ”Vexanie” Lindgren
The answer came right after Game 1. The Knights didn’t have a good start on the series. Staggered on defense and lacking aggression to create opportunities, the team couldn’t deal with the Ghost pressure.
Atomic, however, proved to be the right choice for Ghost. With an amazing Air-Dribble goal and the constant offensive presence, the Rookie had a great start on Day One. Ghost completely dominated their opponents, as the Knights scored only 3 goals the whole match.
Match Result: 1 – 3 Ghost Gaming
G2 made mistakes, and Jackson “Ayjacks” Carterwas was there to punish them. The Birds opened a 3-0 lead against the powerhouse on the first game. Hockser dribbled G2’s entire defense to score the best goal of the day.
G2 woke up. It started with an insane Double-Tap from Rizzo that shook the Birds’ defense and showed why G2 has one of the biggest offensive power in the world.
Chicago went nuts. Playing as a one-man-team, he was there to make the assists, score the goals and punishing every mistake. When the Birds went aggressive, Chicago was there to stop them on defense. The man was seemingly everywhere on the field.
Match Result: 1 – 3 G2
This game seemed like a completely different Pittsburgh Knights. Already in game one, the team was much more comfortable than in their previous match. Rogue, on the other side, was too shy to pose any threat.
The Knight’s offense was on point. They were confident to try risky shots and Rogue didn’t punish the mistakes when they had the chance. The pressure was too much for the veterans to handle.
Going for Bump Plays, Redirects, and Backboard Clears. The Knights proved that they deserve to play among the Big Ones, as they took a clean sweep over Rogue.
Match Result: 3 – 0 Knights
Ghost returned to the field for their final match of the day, this time against Cloud 9.
It was clear from the beginning that Ghost was confident, as they led the pace for the most part of the match. C9 had a slow start and ended up giving their opponents too much space.
The series was marked by Squishy’s amazing solo plays and Atomic’s 0-second goal to tie game 2.
Ghost were able to hold down C9’s offense and apply pressure, but it wasn’t enough. C9 could handle the pressure with patience and precision, sweeping the opponents to take the victory.
Match Result: 3 – 0 Cloud 9
AxB – Photo Credit: Todd Gutierrez
Called by the desk a Three-Headed-Monster, the new NRG squad made an impressive debut. The first games of the series were neck-to-neck. The physicality of SSG and the impressive performance of Alexandre “AxB” Bellemare were essential to take a victory over NRG in Game 2.
The series advanced as predicted. Already warmed up, NRG started doing what they do best: create opportunities out of nothing and pull-off insane plays. Two insane Flip-Resets by JSTN and GarretG in the same game made it clear that the desk was right about calling this team a Monster.
Match Result: 3 – 1 NRG
Chicago
After the best performance of the day, Reed “Chicago” Wilen took his first-ever North American Player of the Week. The striker was the key factor for G2’s victory over the Birds, as his presence in almost every aspect of the match was definitely something to remember.
Stats
Goals: 8 Assists: 6 Saves: 8 Shots: 16
Featured image courtesy of Rocket League Championship Series.
You can like The Game Haus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles!
“From Our Haus to Yours”
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
