Denial denied
Season 3 of Rocket League Championship Series has been running for three months, and it’s all culminating in Los Angeles this weekend. The LAN just started and a champion will be crowned on Sunday. But there’s already a surprise after the very first series.
This RLCS is the first time that the region of Oceania is included. They don’t yet have the respect of North America and Europe, though. Only two Oceania teams were reserved spots at LAN, whereas the other regions each get four. Further, they have to play additional matches at the beginning of the tournament. The two best Oceania squads have to play the 4-seeds from the other regions.
Team Alpha Sydney is doing its part to win some respect for Oceania. It just beat North America’s Denial Esports in its opening match. Down two games to one, Alpha Sydney won the fourth game to force a fifth. In the deciding game, it crushed Denial 5-1 to take the series.
It’s an upset that some of the commentators saw coming. During a prediction segment, a few of them guessed Alpha Sydney would pull out the victory. However, another one of the commentators guessed that Oceania teams would take a combined two games off of the other regions. In a post-match interview, one of the Oceania players said “We proved we’re not THAT bad.”
The Australian pride was short-lived, though. Immediately after Alpha Sydney’s win, fellow Aussies JAM Gaming got swept by Northern Gaming, scoring its first goal with 30 seconds left in the third match. One Australian team moves to the upper bracket, the other goes to the lower. It’s a double elimination tournament, so JAM still stands a chance. But, they’re going to have to put some balls in the back of the net or else their first trip to RLCS will be over in quick order. And it’s a long flight back to Australia.
RLCS is happening all weekend long and can be streamed on Twitch.
