All the teams qualified for the RLCS Spring Major

The Rocket League Championship Series Spring Split Major is set to take place in London from June 29 to July 3 in London. The 16 teams competing have qualified through their performance in their respective regions during the spring split. The team breakdown by region looks like this: five from North America (NA), five from Europe (EU), two from Oceania (OCE), two from South America (SA), one from Asia-Pacific (APAC) and one from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Many of these teams have qualified for the Fall and/or Winter Majors, but a few will be making their international debuts. Here’s a primer on each of the 16 teams qualified for the Spring Major.

Photo credit: Psyonix

G2 Esports

After being crowned champions of the RLCS Winter Major in Los Angeles, G2 continued to dominate the North American competition in the spring regionals. They won the first and second NA regional events without dropping from the upper bracket in either tournament. In the third regional event, G2 looked a little less than invincible after losing twice to FaZe Clan. Other than that, G2 were nearly flawless across all three spring regionals. They’re the favorites to win the Spring Major. But remember, after winning the Fall Major, Team BDS had a pretty good winter regional season and were the favorites going into the Spring Major, so things can change quickly.

Photo credit: Psyonix

FaZe Clan

FaZe have been putting up great results all year. Across nine regional events since the fall, they have finished no lower than fourth in all but two. They also have won two regional events, including the third and final NA spring regional, in which they managed to beat the previously unbeatable G2, twice. After finishing third-fourth at the Fall Major and fourth at the Winter Major, it might be time for their best result of the year. If any team can overtake G2 in London, it might be FaZe.

Photo credit: Psyonix

Version1

Version1 proved that their performance in the winter was no fluke. Outside of G2 and FaZe, they were one of the best NA teams during the spring. V1 finished second in the second spring regional and finished third in regional #3. Both times they lost to G2. As they showed in Los Angeles, Version1 are even better on LAN. With a little LAN experience now, look for Version1 to make a deep run in London. They will likely secure one of the final NA spots at the RLCS World Championship.

Spacestation Gaming

Spacestation don’t get as many headlines as some of the other NA teams, but the results speak for themselves. This is the second consecutive major they have qualified for, and they were a tiebreaker away from qualifying for the Fall Major. They performed well at the Spring Major, finishing third behind only G2 and Team Queso. With veterans Tshaka "Arsenal" Lateef Taylor Jr and Slater "retals" Thomas alongside 15-year-old prodigy Daniel "Daniel" Piecenski, they’ll be a dangerous team at the Major. They should secure their place at RLCS Worlds even if they crash out in London.

Envy

The most surprising NA team to qualify for the Spring Major is Envy. The team made a change ahead of the spring regionals that seemed to pay off as they moved coach Braxton "Allushin" Lagarec into the starting lineup in place of veteran Pierre "Turbopolsa" Silfver. Envy finished third at the second regional and 5th-6th at the other two to qualify for the Spring Major after missing out on the last major. They’re on the outside looking in right now in terms of qualifying for the RLCS World Championship, but with the way spots at Worlds are getting allocated based on regional performance at Majors, it’s likely NA will secure another spot or two and Envy will make the cut.

Photo credit: Psyonix

Team BDS

The Fall Major champs are back for their third major. They’re one of only two EU teams that has qualified for all three this season. The Major-winning trio of Evan "M0nkey M00n" Rogez, Alex "Extra" Paoli and Marc "MaRc_By_8." Domingo has changed slightly, with MaRc_By_8 being benched and former Endpoint player Enzo "Seikoo" Grondein joining the starting roster. Just like G2 in NA, BDS won the first two EU regionals and were runners-up in the third one.

Photo credit: Psyonix

Moist Esports

Don’t be fooled by the name. This is the same roster formerly playing for Team Queso that went all the way to the Winter Major final. They won the third and final EU spring regional, capping off a strong spring split in which they appeared to be the clear-cut second-best team in Europe after BDS. Playing at the CopperBox Arena in London, Moist should get some of the loudest cheers at the Major with two English players on the roster: Joe "Joyo" Young and Finlay "rise." Ferguson. After falling just short of winning the last Major, they’ll be extra motivated to bring home a title.

Team Liquid

Team Liquid came out of nowhere to qualify for the Spring Major. They hadn’t previously qualified for any of the fall or winter regional events. After adding 15-year-olds Oskar "Oski" Gozdowski and Tristan "Atow." Soyez to the roster in February, Team Liquid have ascended to new heights, finishing second at the second regional event and fourth at the third regional. Team Queso showed that a young roster without LAN experience could perform very well at a Major thousands of miles away from home, so maybe Team Liquid could do the same with the benefit of not having to travel outside their home region.

Karmine Corp.

Another new Major qualifier this time around is Karmine Corp. Unlike Team Liquid, they didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. They’ve been in the mix in both the fall and winter splits, finishing seventh in the EU rankings both times. Now that they have qualified for a Major, they’ll have a chance to prove themselves against international competition and potentially qualify for the RLCS World Championship.

Photo credit: Psyonix

Endpoint

Although they haven’t been nearly as good as Team BDS, Endpoint are the only other European team to have qualified for all three Majors. They finished 5th-8th at the Fall Major and 9th-12th at the Winter Major. Endpoint have managed to qualify for the Spring Major despite losing Enzo "Seikoo" Grondein to BDS. Archie "archie" Pickthall is currently on loan to the team from SMPR. Archie and teammate Lucas "RelatingWave" Rose are both English, so like Moist, Endpoint should enjoy a home crowd buff.

Pioneers

The Pioneers will enter the Spring Major on a hot streak. They won the last two regional events in the Oceania region to qualify for the Major as the top team from their region. The roster formerly known as Forkidden has gotten better and better each split. Now, all they need is a signature win and breakthrough performance on the international stage.

PWR

Don’t be fooled by the fact PWR signed a team previously known as “us r bad.” This is not some random unsigned team or the team that finished 3rd-4th at the Nerd Street Winter Championship in February. Jonathan "Express" Slade, Luke "Amphis" Riddell and Daniel "Torsos" Parsons were known as us r bad for about two weeks. Prior to that they represented Ground Zero Gaming, a team that had gone to the Fall Major and just missed the cut for the Winter Major. This trio won the first spring regional for Oceania and finished second in another regional.

Photo credit: Psyonix

FURIA

FURIA have been the best teams from South America this season. They have won at least two regional events in each split. After a disappointing showing at the Fall Major, FURIA proved themselves at the Spring Major, finishing 5th-6th, the best-ever finish for a South American team at an international event. They beat NRG and Endpoint twice during the group stage of that tournament.

Team Secret

Team Secret re-entered Rocket League in the winter when they signed one of the best South American teams, Erased. They qualified for the Winter Major but failed to win any games in Los Angeles. The Brazilian squad continued to win in the spring, winning one regional and finishing third in the other two. They haven’t been quite as good as fellow South American team FURIA, but now with a little international experience, they should perform better in London.

Gaimin Gladiators

For the first time this season, a team other than Tokyo Verdy Esports is representing Asia at a Major. Tokyo Verdy have dominated the APAC North region and gone on to beat the best teams from the APAC South in the fall and winter. This time, Gaimin Gladiators will give the APAC South region a representative at the Spring Major after signing the roster formerly known as 3RATS. The team has a very international flair, as the Canadian organization has a roster consisting of players from Indonesia, India and Ireland with a coach from Iceland and a team manager from New Zealand.

Photo credit: Psyonix

Team Falcons

The Saudi roster formerly competing for Sandrock Gaming is now with Team Falcons. It was a shame they couldn’t attend the Winter Major, as they have been the best team from their region all season. Ahmad "Ahmad" Abdullah, Khalid "oKhaliD" Qasim and Mohammed "trk511" Alotaibi put themselves and the MENA region on the map when they finished 5th-8th at the Fall Major, beating G2 and FURIA at that tournament.

Lead photo credit: Brian Bencomo