Rocket League Esports has recently announced its partnership with Ally and tournament organizers in Europe and North America to bring two exciting tournaments, The Draw & Rising Stars Odyssey, each with a prize pool of $70,000.
The Draw & Rising Stars Odyssey are refreshing additions to the competitive Rocket League circuit, and we got our first glimpse of the event this past weekend, and it was a fun watch through and through.
THE DRAW – AN UNUSUAL FORMAT
The Draw has a unique format that we have never seen before, where instead of having the usual seeding determine the bracket, the matchups are randomly generated. This means we may get some interesting matchups, such as GenG vs FaZe Clan in round one with one of them having to be eliminated in the top 16. On the other hand, bubble teams may get lucky draws and make it further than expected.
However, this format can be understandably frustrating for top teams, who may now have a higher chance of getting knocked out early, as we witnessed in the inaugural series.
THE DRAW – DATES & WEEK #1 RECAP
The first event, The Draw I, took place on April 22-23, and Gen.G emerged as the winners. The upcoming events in North America are as follows:
- May 13-14 – The Draw II
- June 10-11 – The Draw III
- July 15-16 – The Draw IV
- August 5-6 – The Draw V
Before the event, the new Version1 roster, made with the addition of Daniel, was all the talk. However, they bailed out in Round 1 after having to face FURIA in the opener. Meanwhile, teams like Complexity, GenG, and FaZe Clan made it past the openers, but FaZe Clan had to face Gen.G as soon as reaching the playoffs, and Complexity lost a close series to Gen.G in the semis.
It is great to see more high-profile tournaments being created, as there is not much for lower-tier teams and players to compete in outside of RLCS qualifiers, which they need to improve and grind to the top. Hopefully, we can see more of these types of events funded in all regions during the off-season after Worlds to fill the gap before the start of RLCS 23-24.
RISING STARS ODYSSEY – A SEEDING FORMAT
The European bubble scene is also supported through Ally’s $70,000 prize pool in the Rising Stars Odyssey, organized by Rocket Baguette. The main event for Rising Stars Odyssey consists of a seeded single-elimination best of seven bracket for the 16 qualified teams, a format that fans should be much more familiar with. Teams like Moist Esports, Team Vitality, G1, and Karmine Corp are all in attendance, with the remaining 12 teams going through qualifiers before each event.
RISING STARS ODYSSEY – DATES & WEEK #1 RECAP
The first RSO tournament took place on April 22-23, and Team Vitality emerged as the winners. The upcoming events in Europe are as follows:
- June 3-4 – RSO II
- July 1-2 – RSO III
- September 2-3 – RSO IV
- September 16-17 – RSO V
With almost every top team making a roster move in Europe, this first RSO tournament is a perfect opportunity for these teams to build chemistry and warm up for the first RLCS Spring Regional coming up in three weeks’ time.
