Everything you need to know about the RLCS Winter Split Major

In December, the Rocket League Championship Series held its first big LAN event since 2019. Now, the RLCS is heading back to American shores, and this time, it’s welcoming fans back as well.

From March 23 to 27, 16 of the best teams representing six regions from around the globe will gather in Los Angeles for the RLCS 2021-22 Winter Split Major, where $300,000 in total prize money, RLCS points toward qualifying for the world championship and bragging rights will all be on the line.

Team BDS of the European region won the Fall Major in Stockholm, Sweden, knocking off North America’s NRG in the final. Both squads will be on the stage in LA, this time with fans cheering them on.

The Winter Major, however, will not only feature some new faces in a new location -- it has an entirely different format as well, lending the event a look and feel that should be very distinct from the last one. Here’s a look at what’s changed and who are the teams to watch at the YouTube Theater in LA.

Format

After using the Swiss system format in the previous major, the RLCS will shift to the more conventional round-robin tournament.

The 16 teams will be split into four pools at the start, with each team competing in a best-of-five series against all three opponents in its group. The team with the worst record after round-robin play is eliminated, while the other three move on to a double-elimination playoff bracket. If teams finish with the same record, it can trigger a number of tiebreaker scenarios, including an extra Bo5.

The team with the best record in round robin for each group advances to the winners’ bracket in the playoffs, while second- and third-place teams will be seeded in the losers’ bracket. All playoff series are Bo7, including the grand final, where the team coming from the losers’ bracket must win two series to be crowned champions.

Five teams each from North American and Europe qualified for the Winter Major, along with two each from the Oceania and South America regions, and one each from the Asia-Pacific and Middle East and North Africa regions.

Round-robin groups

Group A

• DeToNator (APAC)
• FaZe Clan (NA)
• Team Queso (EU)
• Version1 (NA)

Group B

• Endpoint (EU)
• FURIA (SAM)
• NRG (NA)
• Renegades (OCE)

Group C

• Evil Geniuses (EU)
• G2 Esports (NA)
• Team BDS (EU)
• Team Secret (SAM)

Group D

• Dignitas (EU)
• Pioneers (OCE)
• Sandrock Gaming (MENA)
• Spacestation Gaming (NA)

Teams to watch

As we witnessed at the Fall Major, where Team BDS won a championship as the third-ranked European team, trying to predict who will win these things is fraught. That said, here are the squads that appear to have the most momentum as the RLCS caps off its winter split.

Favorites: Team Queso, NRG

Photo credit: Epic Games

There may not be a hotter group anywhere in the world in Rocket League right now than Team Queso. Since failing to qualify for the Fall Major, the Spanish org has been on an absolute tear, with victories in two of three regional tournaments bookending a runner-up finish to -- wait for it -- Team BDS. Queso still have a lot to prove on a global stage, but with EU being arguably the toughest region of them all, their play of late can’t be ignored.

Then, of course, there’s NRG, seemingly always a favorite based on their storied history alone. The results are there, too. Since their second-place finish at the Fall Major, NRG have won one NA regional and were runners-up in the other two. The level of competition in Group B (Endpoint, FURIA, Renegades) would seem to give them a great shot at cracking the winners’ bracket, at which point they would be a mere two victories away from the grand final. Doesn’t sound very unlikely at all.

Contenders: Team BDS, Dignitas, FaZe Clan

Team BDS winning the Fall Major was no fluke. In case anybody believed it was, though, the Swiss org’s strong showing continued with a third-place finish at the first EU winter regional followed by a win in the second regional. BDS did drop the ball a bit in their most recent tournament, however, getting knocked out in the first round of the lower bracket by an unheralded Karmine Corp squad after the round-robin portion of competition. Was it one disappointing outing, or a sign Team BDS has lost momentum?

In the case of both Dignitas and FaZe Clan, neither org managed to win a tournament in their respective EU and NA regions during the winter split. Then again, neither team posted worse than a 5th-6th result, either, combining to earn four third-place-or-better finishes between them. Plus, both orgs showed well at the Fall Major. Dignitas went 3-0 in the Swiss portion before their hard-fought 4-3 loss to SMPR Esports in the quarterfinals, and FaZe went 3-0 and advanced to the semis where they lost to NRG. The big stage of a huge LAN event shouldn’t be an issue for either team.

Dark horses: Sandrock Gaming, FURIA Esports

Photo credit: Epic Games

We had our eyes on Sandrock Gaming as a dark horse at the Fall Major, and they did not disappoint, going 3-1 in the Swiss stage, then putting up a valiant effort in a 4-2 loss to NRG in the quarterfinals. Yet, the big question is still the level of competition they’ve faced. Sandrock are undefeated in the MENA region this season, which could say as much about their opponents as it does them. Their milestone victory at the major came against G2 Esports -- no slouches, mind you, but not exactly a top-five team in the world right now. Sandrock Gaming will be put to the test right away in Group D with Dignitas, Pioneers and Spacestation Gaming.

FURIA Esports face similar questions coming out of a South American region they’ve largely dominated and that has yielded some success on the global stage. The Brazilian org is coming off back-to-back tournament wins, so they’re coming in hot. They failed to advance past the Swiss stage of the Fall Major, though, and now will be lumped in Group B with NRG, Renegades (who beat them in the fall) and Endpoint. Honestly, it’s tough to know what to make of FURIA exactly, as far as on the international stage, but at least they’re hot heading into LA.

Lead photo credit: Epic Games