RLCS commemorates NRG’s regional championship with X Games gold medals

The Rocket League Championship Series is back after a successful transfer window between splits as the Winter portion of the 2021-22 season gets underway with another NRG dub.

The General NRG toppled Spacestation Gaming 4-2 in the Grand Finals, avoiding a bracket reset and winning the X Games Open North American regional championship.

The result brings NRG $30,000 in prize pool money, 351 Winter Split circuit points and nifty X Games golden medals as runner-ups SSG walk out with $20,000, 300 circuit points and also some X Games silver hardware.

Good ol’ NRG vs. revitalized Spacestation Gaming

After falling prey to European behemoths, Team BDS, in the Sweden Fall Major LAN, NRG found their way back to the top of the snowy mountain by making it to another Grand Finals to face long-time rivals, the rejuvenated Spacestation Gaming.

SSG, who had recently signed the hottest free agent in 15-year-old Daniel, were on their way to a dream first run as a trio after failing to make the trip to Stockholm themselves and had back-to-back best-of-sevens to finish the Lower Bracket run and take home the regional.

Unfortunately for them, their opposition was none other than North American kings and NRG did not let the thought of a bracket reset cross through SSG’s minds twice as The General stopped the astronauts dead in their tracks and won the X Games Championship in only six games.

Cold Winter in the Rocket League Championship Series

NRG had one of the easier paths to the Grand Finals thanks to the Winter Split format that kicks off events with four groups of four each where the number one seed advances through the Upper Bracket, cutting the number of potential match-ups in half in the best-case-scenario.

• Read more: Veteran RLCS pro, Shock, puts format and organisers on blast: “We are getting bracket f****d”

This would be exactly how The General NRG found their way to the big stage, going 3-0 in the group stage and toppling Oxygen (4-0) and FaZe Clan (4-3) in the Quarterfinals and Semis respectively.

Spacestation, however, did not have such luck. Finishing second in groups with a 2-1 record, SSG had to make the dream run all the way from the LB Round 1, ultimately crushing through Soniqs (3-1), Shopify (3-0), Oxygen (4-1), Version1 (4-0) and FaZe Clan (4-2) to ultimately fall short to NRG.

The Winter Format is being heavily criticized by the community, being mostly scrutinized for its seeding and the abysmal difference between how much number two seeds are punished versus number one seeds are guaranteed a Top 6 finish just from groups.

Despite the controversy, NRG closed out the first Winter event in North America with yet another regional dub, their second of the 21/22 RLCS season.

You can relive this entire RLCS NA event now as all VODs are available on both Rocket League Esports’ Twitch and YouTube channels.

Featured image courtesy of Psyonix.