Team Vitality found itself in the lower bracket after a semifinal loss on Saturday, but the uphill challenge didn’t deter the French side from rallying to claim the Rocket League Spring Split Major on Sunday in Boston.
Vitality won lower-bracket matches with Gen.G Mobil1 Racing, Rule One and Karmine Corp to earn a Finals berth against Team BDS, a pairing Vitality won 4-2, 4-1 to take home the championship, the $100,000 grand prize and 48 RLCS points.
In doing so, Vitality avenged their 4-1 upper-bracket semifinal loss at the hands of Team BDS.
In Series 1, the Frenchmen won 3-0 on Mannfield (Night), lost 2-1 in overtime on Forbidden Temple, then won 4-1 on DFH Stadium and 5-1 on Utopia Coliseum (Dusk) before losing 3-0 on Deadeye Canyon (Oasis). Vitality clinched the series 2-0 on Neo Tokyo.
Alexis “zen” Bernier pitched in a 1.17 goals average, while Andrea “Radosin” Radovanovic scored 0.83 goals per game. Enzo “Seikoo” Grondein, also of France, led BDS with a 0.67 scoring average.
In the deciding series, Team BDS grabbed a 2-1 win on Mannfield (Night) before Vitality reeled off four straight wins to clinch the championship. Vitality won 1-0 on Forbidden Temple, 3-2 in overtime at DFH Stadium, 3-1 at Utopia Coliseum (Dusk) and 6-3 at Deadeye Canyon (Oasis).
France’s Yanis “Alpha54” Champenois and Radosin led the way for Vitality in Series 2, each averaging a goal per contest. zen added a 0.80 goal average, while Seikoo led the losing squad, also at 0.80.
In the semifinals earlier Sunday, Team BDS defeated Karmine Corp 4-3.
Rocket League Championship Series Winter Split Major prize pool and point distribution:
1. $100,000, 48 RLCS points — Team Vitality
2. $60,000, 40 RLCS points — Team BDS
3. $30,000, 32 RLCS points — Karmine Corp
4. $24,000, 26 RLCS points — Rule One
5-6. $18,000, 22 RLCS points — Gen.G Mobil1 Racing, Moist Esports
7-8. $12,000, 18 RLCS points — Team Liquid, Complexity Gaming
9-12. $6,000, 12 RLCS points — OpTic Gaming, Spacestation Gaming, PWR, Ninjas in Pyjamas
13-16. $3,000, 8 RLCS points — Elevate, KRU Esports, Ground Zero Gaming, FURIA Esports
–Field Level Media