The most consequential series of Rocket League tournaments for the sub-Saharan region gets underway on the 12th of May. This is only the second season the region has been included in the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS).
At the end of the season (end of July), the top 2 teams in the region will travel to Dusseldorf, Germany to compete in a wildcard tournament and possibly earn a place in the World Championship the following week.
Nine regional tournaments over the course of a season determine the top teams. During the 2021/22 season, Bravado Gaming and Orlando Pirates were the runaway teams and at this stage, their spots at the Worlds Wildcard were a foregone conclusion.
Not so this year. The region has seen a huge growth in the player base and a resulting spike in skill level with the mid-teams inching ever closer to the traditional front runners.
Going into the final stretch of three regionals there are five teams with a chance to make the top 2 when the season closes in early June.
The frontrunners are Limitless comprising Snowyy, 2Die4 and Darth. Having won five of the six regionals played so far this season, they simply need to finish second this regional to secure their spot. However, that second birth is going to be a dogfight.
Currently, Nixuh (Mr.Low, Arceon, SkillSteal) are in second place, just five points ahead of Orlando Pirates (Happymeal, Kam, Shadow). White Rabbit Gaming (Wee_Casper, Ckeno, Friction) & French Class (Wiillooo, Werty, Sweaty_Clarence) are a little further behind in fourth and fifth position. A lot has to go right for these last two teams, but they remain in the hunt.
Although the competition is open to most Sub-Saharan African countries, South African players dominate in numbers. However, a big surprise in the last 18 months has been the tiny Island nation of Reunion which is producing an incredible number of really good players. With a population of just 800,000 people, they are the second most represented country in the competition. Other countries represented are Mozambique, Madagascar and Ghana.
Up until October 2021, South Africa and the rest of the SSA region were in the wilderness with no path to compete globally. Those who rose to the top of the game did so purely through passion. With our inclusion in global competition, we’ve has seen prize pools grow from around R50k per year to well over R3 million.
The next regional starts on Friday, the 12th of May and will conclude on Sunday, the 14th. The format is a 16-team double-elimination bracket. A selection of matches will be broadcast on Friday night, and every match will be shown on Saturday and Sunday.
ACGL are the broadcast hosts for the tournament, and matches are broadcast on their Rocket League channel www.twitch.tv/ACGL_ALPHA
Rocket League is free to play across all platforms
Fun fact:
SkillSteal, who plays for Nixuh, is the oldest player in the RLCS in the world at 26 years old.
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Ryan “Greybeard” is, by profession, a conference speaker, but by passion, he is a Rocket League evangelist for the SSA Region. You can check out more at Ryan at greybeard.gg