The Rocket League Championship Series is only a week away (and it technically starts on Friday with the Rival Series play-ins). That leaves enough time for weekly team-by-team previews of the world’s best Rocket League teams. This series will act as a preview for what to expect during Season 7 for each team. Check out the rest of the previews here.
This preview waited as long as it could for its team to settle on a new name or land with an org, but alas, will feature the former Flipsid3 Tactics roster currently known as ex-Flipsid3
Season 6 Results: Flipsid3 Tactics finished second place in EU with a 5-2 record at the end of League Play. They placed third at the Regional Championships after beating PSG in the third place match. At the World Championship, F3 beat G2 in the first round, fell to Dignitas in the second, and lost to Cloud9 in the Loser’s Round 3.
Off-season Movement: Rising star Maurice “Yukeo” Weihs (0.69 GPG, 0.56 APG, 1.77 SAPG) left the team to replace Alexandre “Kaydop” Courant on Dignitas. Jack “Speed” Packwood-Clarke (0.86 GPG, 0.66 APG, 1.14 SAPG in RLRS) joined the team on loan from Red Reserve before WSOE 4. Speed joined Flipsid3 permanently when Red Reserve dropped the Triple Trouble roster. The team decided not to resign with Rocket League’s only ever present org, in hopes of brighter horizons.
Off-season Performance: WSOE 4 Champions (beat NRG 4-2 in final). First place WSOE 4 open qualifier. 5th-6th place ELEAGUE Cup 2018. 7th-8th DreamHack Leipzig Closed Qualifiers. 5th-8th DreamHack Leipzig.
Team MVP: Francesco “kuxir97” Cinquemani
Realistic Team Goal: Top four finish at RLCS Season 7 World Championships
So the move to acquire Speed worked out pretty well, right? The Englishman was an absolute sensation at WSOE and seemed like the ideal fit with Kuxir and David “Miztik” Lawrie. He has surprisingly big shoes to fill after Yukeo left for Dignitas.
Flipsid3’s victory at WSOE set the tone for Season 7 – Image Courtesy of WSOE
The keyboard and mouse player was an important part of Flipsid3’s rebuild. Things started to go downhill after F3 won the World Championship in Season 2. They qualified for LAN in Season 3 but fell in Loser’s Round 3. They were almost relegated in Season 4 and narrowly missed out on LAN in Season 5. Everything came together in Season 6, and they automatically qualified for LAN after an impressive run of play.
Yukeo was great for F3 last season and helped bring the team back to it’s old caliber. He finished in the top eight of every statistical category and helped Flipsid3 achieve their first LAN appearance since Season 3. Kuxir won the EU MVP for his otherworldly Season 6, and he and Yukeo had a nice dual-alphas thing going.
Now Speed will be expected step up and shine alongside his Batmobile bearing teammate. To be great in Rocket League you need two world class players and a third that can compliment their skills effectively. Miztik is a very adaptable player that can swiss army knife his way into whatever role his team needs. They showed at WSOE that this group has the makings of one of the world’s elite.
It was just one tournament however, and while F3 performed well at their other offseason outings, didn’t look overwhelming by any means. Europe will be the most competitive that it’s ever been this season. Was WSOE a fluke, or is this team the real deal?
Ex-Flipsid3 have already shown what their best case scenario is. This team has the talent and determination to beat anybody. They could rip off three great days in a row and find themselves in the Grand Finals, and no one would be surprised. Kuxir may the greatest player of all time, Speed is another rising diamond in the rough, and Miztik is a fantastic role player.
Kuxir97 at DreamHack Leipzig – Image Courtesy of @ItsZeebo on Twitter
At WSOE Ex-Flipsid3 swept Cloud9 (amid a bit of controversy about server crashes). Cloud9 have only been swept in seven games series three times since the org joined Rocket League in 2017. Teams rarely beat Cloud9, and they almost never run circles around them like Ex-Flipsid3 did. That’s a pretty solid jumping off point.
Speed adds a much needed element of swagger to the team. Miztik and Kuxir are a bit more stoic in their play, but Speed is loud and passionate. He’s not afraid to yell and fill his team with energy.
Flipsid3 finished second in goals, assists and saves last season last season. They didn’t struggle with much of anything last season, but they excelled in bombarding opposing goalkeepers. Flipsid3 led the league in saves forced last season, and Kuxir put on an astounding 3.33 shots per game.
Shots are a result of pressure, and Ex-Flipsid3’s best case scenario revolves around pinning opponents in their own half. Speed is an offensive madman who played a major role in Red Reserve’s promotion to the RLCS. The last thing this team needs is to have two offensive giants defending the back wall and sitting in net. They need to get forward, and stay forward for as long as possible.
If they do, they’ll be a chore to play and incredibly tough to stop. On field communication will be key in carrying out the offensive assault they’re capable of. If all goes well, they’ll recreate the offensive bulldozer that won WSOE and ride it to top four at the World Championship. They might even have a chance of winning it all if they can keep their composure.
Kuxir is really good, but he’s notoriously hard to play with. There were communication issues with Yukeo because Kux wants things done a certain way. He likes his rotations to be a done to his liking and needs his teammates to be on the same page to win. That’s true with any team, but small lapses are magnified under Kuxir’s microscope.
This squad has “lost in the shuffle” potential. EU is full of rising stars, established talent, high ceiling teams and mousesports. Many of the teams discussed in this preview series seem like there are immune to relegation or missing LAN, but Ex-Flipsid3 doesn’t have that same rock solid feel.
Miztik – Image Courtesy of WSOE
A few bad series can leave a team on the outside looking in, and that could effect a number of teams. Could a couple of poorly timed double commits or uncoordinated rotations lead to 3-4 season and a fifth place finish? Absolutely. It’s happened to Kuxir before, and it hasn’t always been his fault. Kux needs a stellar supporting cast to be great in this day and age.
Are Speed and Miztik the support he needs? WSOE was too small of a sample to answer that question definitively. That could cost the team in big moments. Will Speed’s big personality clash with his more reserved teammates? Can Kuxir continue to play at a world class level?
Ex-Flipsid3 should be too talented to face relegation, but if anything goes wrong they could miss out on LAN. The last time Kuxir missed out on LAN his teammates left in consecutive seasons. This team will need continuity in order to reach its full potential.
TL;DR: WSOE could be foreshadowing for a long run of success for Ex-Flipsid3. They need to continue to learn how to play well together if they don’t want to miss out on LAN.
Featured image courtesy of Flipsid3 Tactics.
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