As a rookie at only 16 years old, Alexis “Zen” Bernier won the Rocket League 2022-2023 World Championship, along with the title of Tournament MVP. This stamped his legacy as one of the best players in the world, all while having only made his first RLCS appearance a few months prior.
Is he is worthy of all of the hype?
Image credit: Adela Sznajder via BLAST.tv
Alexis “Zen” Bernier is a professional Rocket League player for Team Vitality. After winning the World Championship in his first season, Zen earned the title of France’s Best Esports Player of the Year in 2023, as well as making Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in 2024.
Zen’s birthday is February 20, 2007, so he is currently 17 years old.
Zen’s rise to the top begun way before eligible to turn pro. Whilst competing in 1v1 Showmatches held by popular Rocket League streamer “JohnnyBoi_i”, he went on a ridiculous 11 win streak against the best 1v1 players in the world, eventually falling to Saudi Arabian superstar Rw9.
Following this, all eyes were now on Zen as his RLCS debut was coming soon.
Image credit: Rocket League
He became the first rookie to win his debut RLCS event, when Team Vitality were crowned champions of RLCS 22-23 Spring Open. Team Vitality then became the first team in Europe/North America to win all regional events in a split, completing the Spring Regional three-peat.
Continuing their dominance, they went on to claim both the RLCS 22-23 Spring Major and World Championship. Picking up the MVP in both of these LAN victories, Zen became the undisputed best player in the world.
Since then Team Vitality have stayed at the top of Europe, but not quite to the same extent. A somewhat disappointing top 4 finish at the RLCS 2024 Major was followed by their first victory of the season in the Major 2 Qualifier 1.
However, despite these disappointing results, Zen is still regarded as one of the best, if not the best, players in the world.
Image credit: Wayton Pilkin
Here are Zen’s Rocket League settings:
Camera Settings
- Camera Shake: No
- Field of View (FOV): 110
- Height: 100
- Angle: -3.0
- Distance: 270
- Stiffness: 0.35
- Swivel Speed: 4.00
- Transition Speed: 1.00
- Ball Camera: Toggle
Control Settings
- Powerslide: Square
- Air Roll (Free): R1
- Air Roll Left: L2
- Boost: Circle
- Jump: X
- Ball Cam: Triangle
- Brake: L2
- Throttle: R2
Deadzone Settings
- Deadzone Shape: Cross
- Controller Deadzone: 0.07
- Dodge Deadzone: 0.80
- Aerial Sensitivity: 1.50
- Steering Sensitivity: 1.50
Zen’s Gear
- Controller: DualShock PlayStation 4
- Monitor: Asus VG279QM
Zen was banned from all Psyonix tournaments for one year, due to him illegally subbing in during the RLCS X Fall European qualifier whilst being underage and not registered as a sub. This was in violation of the Psyonix code of conduct, and resulted in the ban from Psyonix.
Although he was not allowed to participate in RLCS during the ban, he continued to compete in other tournaments. After winning the Urban Series (a French Rocket League event held in Paris) four times in a row, Zen quickly gathered the attention of many organizations.
He officially signed Team Vitality in October 2022, five months before the end of his ban. He made his debut on May 3rd 2023 at the Gamers Without Borders charity tournament (which he won), and later made his first RLCS appearance in the Spring Open on May 12th.
Read next: Best Rocket League Camera Settings – Pro Camera Settings
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