If your dream is to be on stage playing against the best Rocket League teams and having hundreds of thousands of people watching you from all over the world, then RLCS is for you.
The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) is the largest Rocket League tournament of the year. Like any tournament, the aim is to win enough games to progress and qualify for the bi-yearly LAN event which usually takes place in Europe or North America.
At these LAN events, we see thousands of fans, players, coaches and orgs attending to watch the World Champion be crowned. However, being able to claim that title takes a lot of work. It all starts with your application to the open qualifiers.
In order to compete in RLCS, you need to get promoted through its second division series: Rocket League Rival Series (RLRS).
You can think of this as the Premier League and Championship in football (soccer) or Major League Baseball vs Minor League Baseball. If you get placed high enough in RLRS you can get into RLCS.
Here is how you do it:
Step 1: Check out the rules
Like all events and tournaments, there are rules.
Be sure to check the rules before moving onto the next step. There is a chance your region or age is not eligible for this competition.
You can find out all the official rules on the Rocket League Esports website or even read their FAQ.
Here is the summary:
- You must be 15 years old
- You must be in an eligible region (most countries within Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America)
- You must be available to play on PC (Steam), PS4, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch
- You must be available on the dates in the schedule (latest schedule for Open Qualifiers can be found here)
Step 2: Find a team
If you are lucky enough to already have two teammates, then you can skip this part.
Unfortunately, most players often struggle to find teammates to play with. Here are a few ways that can help you partner-up with players around your skill level and create your own team:
- Message people in ranked after you win a game together or hit the Party Up button when the game is over.
- Search or post your own looking-for-team ads in different discord servers including GamersRdy (https://discord.gg/Txdnusz), 6Mans (https://discord.gg/52GUf7B), Rocket League Hub (https://discord.gg/52GUf7B), Indy Gaming League (https://discordapp.com/invite/7CD6SQx ) and any other community you might be part of. Check back on the channels regularly.
- Check Reddit (/r/RocketLeague and /r/RocketLeagueFriends).
- Ask people in your friend list if they are interested in teaming up.
- Add LFT (Looking For Team) or LF RLRS (Looking for RLRS) to your in-game name.
Step 3: Sign up through smash.gg
- North America: https://smash.gg/tournament/rlcs-season-9-north-america
- Europe: https://smash.gg/tournament/rlcs-season-9-europe/details
Choose at least one qualifier and a maximum of two.
Pick the dates carefully making sure every player is available for the whole day if the qualifier is on a weekend, or the whole afternoon if the qualifier is on a weekday.
Name your team and invite your teammates to join before you complete your registration.
Step 4 (Optional): Look for a sub
Sometimes things won’t go your way so it’s always a good idea to have a backup plan.
That’s exactly what substitutes are for: if a player from the main roster is not available you are allowed to play with your substitute instead.
Be careful though cause special rules apply for subbing mid-series or between matches.
Step 5: Have some fun
If it is your first time competing, try to enjoy the experience.
Chances are you are gonna face some better teams that have competed in previous seasons. Try to have some fun and learn from your games. Both are essential to take your gameplay to the next level.
Oh, and good luck! You will definitely need it!
