eUnited Rocket League With Chance To Shine on World Stage at RLCS Season 8 Finals

By: Zachary Lange

A series of player and organizational firsts will be marked eUnited takes the stage for group play at the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid, Spain for the Rocket League Championship Series Season 8 Finals.

The $500,000-plus finale is the first time that all three members have made the playoffs in the highest tier series of Rocket League esports, combining for a 3-4 record in the regular season before going on an impressive tear in the regular season playoffs to finish in fourth place.

Knocking off Rogue by a series final of 4-2 and Ghost Gaming in dramatic, 4-3 fashion, eUnited secured the final transfer spot to book their ticket to Madrid. It’s the first time that the trio will be representing the organization at a LAN event. It is also the first time since July 17, when eUnited Counter Strike traveled to Berlin, Germany, that a team has headed across the pond to Europe for competition.

The 12-team season finale is split into two groups of six, with eUnited slotted into Group A. The team will face Oceania region winner Renegades to begin the event, with the winner facing European heavyweight Vitality in the semifinals of the group.

In order to clear the group stage eUnited will have to finish in the top-3, with two spots dedicated to the winners bracket and one seed coming from the losers bracket.

For Raul “Roll Dizz” Diaz, the tournament is a place where he and his teammates – Jackson “ayjacks” Carter and Colby “hockser” James – can turn heads on a global stage.

“To be an underdog the whole season and even in playoffs being doubted, I feel so blessed to have an opportunity,” Roll Dizz said. “Not only to travel out of the country, but to be able to do something many others are grinding to do.”

Heading into Season 8 of RLCS play the team, who had been previously unsigned, were fresh off a flawless, 7-0 mark in the lower tier Rocket League Rivals series. Promoting in as the last team to make the highest league, critics and skeptics were unsure if the developing squad would compete against the upper echelon opposition in North America.  

Roll Dizz and the team, however, responded by winning in the last chance qualifier for playoffs when it mattered most.

“For our first season in RLCS I'm beyond excited to continue to prove people wrong like we've been all season,” he said.

 

 

It all begins with Renegades, a team that went 6-1 in league play before winning the Oceania playoffs to secure the top-rated seed for the region down under. This is the second-straight season under the Renegades banner that the team have qualified for the RLCS season playoffs.

With a team from a unique region, the challenges associated with the opposition are finding out how their play is different from the traditional North American teams.

“Anytime you get to compete against international teams you never know what kind of play-style they’ll bring,” hockser said. “Renegades got knocked out in groups last season, so I expect them to bounce back after that disappointing result. Overall, we’re confident coming into this match, but it could go either team’s way.”

Vitality, the winners of the RLCS Season 7 Finals, await the challengers from the opening round. For ayjacks, Vitality is the team he wants to face the most in the tournament. Competing in the summer at DreamHack Dallas, the pair Roll Dizz and ayjacks on a previous team nearly took down the European giant. With more practice and a new third member in hockser, the chance for a rematch is near.

Ever since the trio has played together – adding ayjacks around August of this year – the chemistry among the three has continued to build. Now, this weekend is a chance to showcase the abilities for all to see.

“As soon as they decided to pick me up, we immediately started practicing every day to get used to each other,” ayjacks said. “We quickly became very confident in ourselves and realized we could beat anyone.”

How to watch

All matches will be streamed on the official Rocket League Twitch channel beginning Friday, Dec. 13 at 9 a.m. Eastern.

eUnited is slated to play Renegades Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern. All additional times are TBD. Be sure to follow eUnited across all social media platforms to stay up to date and behind the scenes of the finals.