The best players to never win the RLCS World Championship
Some incredible players have never made it to the top, here are the ten of the best players at this point who have never won an RLCS world championship.
John Nolan
03rd Jul 2020 17:00
It should go without saying, that victory in the Rocket League Championship Series is the pinnacle of Rocket League Esports. It is the desire of any prospective pro player to not stop until they lift that trophy, and even whether you’re a multiple-time world champion or a one-hit-wonder, it can literally make your career.
However, the beautiful tragedy of competition and particularly the RLCS world championship, is not everyone can win it. While one can earn more money and exclusive in-game titles the deeper they advance in RLCS, the title of world champion has eluded many a great player over the year --, and with the future set to feature only one world championship a year, it's about to get a whole lot harder to immortalize yourself.
Therefore, we’re here to examine ten of the best players to this point to never have won an RLCS world championship.
Best RLCS Placement
Starting out with two players who likely won’t feature on an updated version of this list in 2025. The two superstars have had some career parallels. Both promoting from RLRS in late 2018 at their first attempt with Savage! & Bread. Both made their RLCS debuts in 2019, and would both have appearances at the RLCS world championship within a year.
While no major team success has come their way, the individual accolades have been flooding in. In his rookie season, Alpha54 was crowned EU MVP over legendary names likes Scrubkilla & Kaydop, while Sypical’s brilliance later that year made him NA’s MVP over Jstn.
Both players have only had one shot at the RLCS world championship thus far, Alpha on FCB got an underwhelming 5th-8th in RLCS S7, after losses to Rogue & FC Barcelona, while Sypical on Spacestation would manage 3rd-4th at the S8 finals in Madrid, ultimately falling to the eventual champions NRG.
2020 has seen both players recognized as the best in their region now, with 2nd places in their respective RLCS S9 regional championships, and MVP calibre performances in their respective Spring Series brackets. Simply put, odds are these guys will win a world championship in the future and dominate Rocket League for years to come.
Best RLCS Placement
Two bonafide Hall of Famers, M1k3Rules & Paschy inspired many a player with their vice-grip on European Rocket League in its early days. A trope in the early days was Paschy & his variety of squads vs Flipsid3 Tactics, Markydooda, Kuzir97, and for the first year of Rocket League, M1k3Rules.
F3 would win the first “major” in RLesports history, winning the MLG Pro League in October of 2015. And directly prior to the first season of RLCS, Paschy’s team in Crown & Jewels would win an epic Bo9 vs F3 to win the Rocket League Central Pro League.
It seemed both sides and all players were primed to have a big impact on the RLCS and potentially go all the way. However as the RLCS S1 Finals approached, Flipsid3’s dominance over EU declined as We Dem Girlz would take over and the take the top seed for the finals. This drew F3 against iBuyPower in the first round and in a monumental upset, F3 was sent to the lower bracket.
Flipsid3 would make a magical run through the lower bracket all the way to the Grand Finals but against all odds, fall to iBP in the rematch. M1k3, like the previous 11 months played phenomenally, knowing he would be leaving F3 after the event, but ultimately he has no title to show for his impact on the early days of Rocket League.
F3 would redeem themselves in the following season in Amsterdam, but this would come at the expense of Paschy90. After a disappointing 7th-8th finish in LA, he recruited Deevo & ViolentPanda and had a dramatic run to the Grand Finals. A zero-second goal to force overtime vs Orbit and avoid the lower bracket, a 3-1 upset win over F3 and a game seven victory over Northern Gaming in the upper finals had Paschy & Mock-it one series from a world championship.
However, F3 would not be stopped and stomp Mock-it in back-to-back 4-1 series to claim the title. Paschy would stick around for two more years, making two RLCS world championships, but could never come close to his run in S2, and unfortunately retired without an RLCS title.
Best RLCS Placement
Another retired legend, the highest of non-active players, while seldom playing to the level of the aforementioned players, he boasts both the success of M1k3Rules & the longevity of Paschy90. Making every RLCS world championship for the first seven RLCS seasons, the early days saw Fireburner be the golden striker for the Kings of Urban, and what eventually NRG.
Unfortunately, NRG infamously struggled on RLCS LAN play, not even breaking the top four in the first two seasons. Season Three and the addition of GarrettG would bring them close to beating Mock-it, but not close enough as they had to settle for 3rd.
It would be a year later that Fireburner’s golden opportunity arose in London. Now with JSTN, NRG were crushing everyone, and even sent defending champions Dignitas to the lower bracket of the world championship. Dignitas would bounce back and make it all the way to the grand finals, and the greatest series in RLesports history would ensue.
Despite having a series in hand, NRG could not take the title. Even if they were just one goal away, they couldn’t close it out. The King of Urban would have more chances down the line but couldn’t add to his XGames title, losing three more major LAN grand finals before retirement.
Best RLCS Placement
In the aftermath of NRG’s close calls with greatness in 2018, it was often touted that GarrettG was the best player never to lift the trophy. The only other player in the conversation was Metsanauris. A player who’s often gone under the radar individually, he finally received his kudos after three stellar consecutive seasons of play.
His Method team with al0t & Mognus nearly stopped F3 from making the season three finals, but in Gale Force’s first season of dominance, they were the dynasty’s greatest challenge, beating them in league play, taking them seven games twice before getting swept in the grand finals.
Despite a shaky start to 2018 under Complexity, the trio would again turn up when it mattered with an impressive 3rd place in London. However not too long after, Metsanauris was unceremoniously dropped. While Complexity without him would be relegated out of RLCS, Metsanauris would become the saviour of the ex-Envy side, now under We Dem Girlz.
Alongside Remkoe & EyeIgnite, WDG would get 2nd in Europe, 3rd in the world and win the ELEAGUE cup, and in a year where Dignitas & Cloud9 would establish themselves as the greatest teams of all time, Metsanauris as a player was rated just as highly as those dynastic players.
Best RLCS Placement
Perhaps two of Rocket League’s most under-appreciated, yet most accomplished players on this list. Between them, they boast multiple regional championships and major LAN wins, and while some will detract and say it's down to being carried by star teammates, they’re deserving of their spot here nonetheless. Both of their first LANs were an unlikely over-achievement.
Rizzo on the roster Take 3 with Zanejackey & Insolences would place 4th in Amsterdam, the highest of any NA side that event. While in season three, Ferra & The Leftovers would constantly defy the odds, even eliminating defending champions Flipsid3 to place 4th themselves.
They’ve both gone on to bigger and better things on G2 & PSG Esports (and Reciprocity/{localLink:umb://document/496ccf99ea704fc1a6255b3f31ccc0c6}Oxygen) respectively. Rizzo victorious in two regional championships (RLCS S5 & S9) and the ELEAGUE Cup in 2017, while Ferra has two Dreamhack titles under his belt (Leipzig 2018 & Valencia 2019) and a regional championship in RLCS S8.
Rizzo has even made the grand finals of an RLCS world championship, only falling to Renault Vitality in the grand finals in New Jersey, while Ferra has fallen short despite high expectations in both season four and eight. Nevertheless, both are still on some of the top rosters in the world but one must wonder if their ship has sailed by.
Best RLCS Placement
So, we’ve just listed off the accomplishments of G2 & PSG over the years, so what makes Jknaps & Chausette45 standout over their teammates. Well, quite literally both players have shown some of the highest peaks in the history of Rocket League Esports, and in a time where RLEsports is ultra-competitive, Jknaps & Chasuette45 can change the trajectory of a series by their lonesome.
2017 would start with both players falling disappointingly short. Chausette45 would have a stinker of a season on Gale Force, while Jknaps was on the wrong side of an embarrassing upset to Denial to miss the finals in LA. The following season would be the start of their rise to the top.
Jknaps would round out 2017 with the NA league play MVP award, victory in the ELEAGUE cup, and open 2018 with the MVP award for Dreamhack Leipzig 2018 despite losing the finals. Meanwhile, Chausette45 would come 2nd in the EU MVP award, and be the guy to stop Jknaps winning back to back LANs as PSG won in Leipzig.
Jknaps would again star in season five as Chausette faltered, but the roles would reverse in season six, but 2019 would be a return to form for the Knapsack. G2’s run to the grand finals of the world championship in New Jersey was largely down to Jknaps putting up absurd numbers, particularly in their victory over the eventual champions Vitality in the group stage. Even when G2 was at their lowest, Jknaps would be their saviour in the promotion/{localLink:umb://document/496ccf99ea704fc1a6255b3f31ccc0c6}relegation tournament.
Across the pond, Chausette45 would become a player renowned for being a big-game player for PSG & Reciprocity. He became famous for his solo dribble plays. Putting an end to Dignitas to make the season seven world championship, making the Fennec meta as PSG scored an unlikely 2nd LAN title in Dreamhack Valencia.
People said his absurd peak couldn’t be repeated, he nearly 1v3s eventual world champions NRG at BeyondTheSummit. Even Kaydop’s legendary streak of regional championship wins was ended at the hands of the sock. The parallels between both careers are obvious, and there is no doubt they are the greatest never to lift that trophy.. at least for now.
#10 & #9 - Alpha54 & Sypical
#8 & #7 - M1k3Rules & Paschy90
#6 - Fireburner
#5 - Metsanauris
#4 & #3 - Rizzo & Ferra
#2 & #1 - Jknaps & Chausette45
About The Author
John Nolan
John Nolan was a freelance contributor to GGRecon.
