The first Major of the RLCS 2024 season is almost upon us. The scene is set in Copenhagen, and after an incredibly long off-season many eager fans are more than ready for the teams to start their engines. Let’s take a look at everything we can expect from the first LAN of the year.
Credit: RLCS
There is a grand prize pool of $255,000 that the 16 teams will be fighting for in Copenhagen, as well as a lot of vital RLCS points up for grabs. With how short and cutthroat the new season format is, it is more important than ever for the qualified teams to make the most of the opportunity to earn as many extra points as possible.
Every round of the Copenhagen Major will be streamed live on either the official Rocket League or RLEsports twitch channel. You can catch all of the action live right here on the streams below to never miss a round of action at the RLCS 2024 Copenhagen Major:
The 16 teams have all fought through brutal regional qualifiers to get to this stage. This marks an exciting time for the SSA region as a South African team will compete at a Major for the first time, having previously been limited to participation solely in the World Championships. The 1 SSA team will be joined by 1 APAC, 2 SAM, 2 MENA, 4 European and 4 North American.
The tournament will follow the same format used in regional qualifiers. The first stage runs from March 28th-30th, and will consist of a 16-team Swiss System bracket, with each series being a best-of-five. The top 8 teams will advance to a single elimination bracket on March 31st, with the bottom 8 teams eliminated. The matches in the single elimination bracket on Sunday will all be best-of-seven.
As we have seen prominently over the past few years, Europe is dominant in the RLCS. We don’t expect any changes in Copenhagen as Europe will be sending 4 hungry teams, led especially by Vatira and his Karmine Corp roster, a trio formed primarily to win international LAN events.
Credit: Karmine Corp
It seems as though NA’s last hope falls on G2 Stride. This North American superteam built over the offseason has gathered all of NA’s top talent with one goal in mind: to beat Europe. The roster has looked dominant so far in their region, but the European teams will remain the favorites to win this LAN until we see how G2 can perform internationally.
The first two swiss rounds will take place on Thursday 28th, and already we are expecting an intense day of matches with round one including Luminosity vs FURIA and OG vs Falcons. The rest of the Swiss will be played out on Friday and Saturday, with the single elimination bracket to conclude the tournament and crown a victor on Sunday.
The Winter Split Major boils down to March 23. The second major of RLCS2021-22 sets the stage for sixteen teams to compete for a prize pool of $300,000. Besides the monetary rewards, participants are playing to earn RLCS Circuit Ranking Points, which would be crucial in securing an invite to the World Championship during Summer 2022.
Contrary to its predecessor, the Fall Split Major, the tournament kicks off with a group stage instead of the conventional Swiss Stage.
Sixteen teams are distributed into four groups, where they still play classic round-robin best-of-five series. Each group winner will earn a comfortable spot in Winner’s Bracket in Playoffs. While first and second runner-up teams still qualify for Losers’ Bracket. The last-place team will be the first few to face elimination.
Another change in the Winter Split Major is the Playoffs format, where Winners’ Bracket matches are best-of-seven, and Losers’ Bracket matches are only best-of-five. Lastly, the Grand Finals is also best-of-seven, but with a twist. This time, there’s an emphasis on leveraging Winners’ Bracket candidates by putting more stakes on the underdog from Losers’ Bracket.
Such that the underdog must win two best-of-seven series to truly be crowned Champions.
The Group Stage at RLCS2021-22 Winter Split Major
On paper, the power gap is relatively even across every group. There are notable powerhouses in every group and several fresh additions in the RLCS2021-22 circuit. This makes for a great narrative, such as having the underdogs upset the powerhouses.
Group A has several oddballs that are worth mentioning. Of course, Team Queso from North America will be the fan favorites in the group. They won two regional events, and a runner-up in another, asserting the power gap between themselves and other NA rivals in RLCS NA Rankings.
While Queso may seem uncontested, another team that stood out is Version1 from Europe. Version1’s early days of RLCS2021-22 started relatively lacklustre but instantly became an overnight sensation after defeating the EU favorites, The General NRG.
Then, there’s FaZe Clan, which needs no introduction since they are a staple in RLCS EU Rankings. Lastly, DeToNator originated from the Asia Pacific region.
In Group B, we see several familiar contenders, such as Endpoint CeX, The General NRG, and even FURIA Esports. These teams likely have encountered one another at some point during past RLCS circuits, so it will be fairly interesting to watch these powerhouses brawl among themselves.
Renegades, although not from prominent Rocket League regions, has made themselves a name among fans watching the RLCS2021-22. The Aussie team has become a staple in recent majors and is arguably the most accomplished team in the Oceania region.
Group C has two noteworthy candidates, that are playing in the Winter Split Major for the first time. Team Secret and Evil Geniuses’ journey to qualify for the Major is certainly inspiring, but they are up against formidable opponents in their group.
Team BDS and G2 Esports are high achievers in their respective regions, but Team BDS poses the biggest threat to the freshies. Nevertheless, Secret and EG’s journey in the group will surely be conversation-worthy if they wound up upsetting the bigger players.
Lastly, there are Dignitas and Spacestation Gaming, which are respectable teams. SSG particularly is a close rival of The General NRG and has encountered multiple occassions. What’s impressive is SSG has won multiple occasions against The General NRG.
Whereas, Dignitas is considered a living fossil in the RLCS2021-22, having won multiple championships in previous years. However, Dignitas these days isn’t too impressive and barely keeps afloat in the intense competition of RLCS EU Winter Rankings. Filling the rest of Group D are Pioneers and Sandrock Gaming.
Our CS2 news section contains information on each previous event and tournament played by each of the participants.
The Rocket League Championship Series is a Psyonix-sponsored league that spans multiple regions, notably Europe and North America. In every season, there are regional tournaments that eventually lead up to the World Championship.
While the latest RLCS 2021-22 has undergone vast differences. The introduction of Majors gathers each region’s best contestants to play under the same roof. Nevertheless, all these still have one destination in mind, to qualify for the RLCS World Championship. Here’s a commemorative list of past RLCS World Champions:
Team BDS is recent champion of the Fall Split Major after defeating its NA counterpart, the General NRG. As Europe’s representatives engrave their names as champions once more, it’s their turn to defend their title as upcoming major champions and even the RLCS2021-22 World Championship.
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