More often than not, a game focused so heavily on its multiplayer component has a hard time finding a dedicated audience. It is even less common for that game to hold a sizable audience for over five years since its initial launch, but that’s exactly what happened with Rocket League. This addictive take on soccer, played using rocket-propelled cars instead of people, was a massive hit when it launched for both casual and competitive audiences. Because of how similar the format of the game is to a traditional sport, it was only natural that a competitive scene would grow for the title. Since 2015 there have been hundreds of tournaments hosting thousands of competitors, with top players earning a nice chunk of change for their performances.
Here are some of the best Rocket League players to ever take to the field.
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Courant “Kaydop” Alexandre
Courant “Kaydop” Alexandre may not be the top-ranked player in terms of total wins, but he stands at the top for prize money earned. This French player has been competing since 2016, just one year after the game launched, and has since participated in over 120 tournaments with many top teams like Gale Force eSports, Mock-It eSports, and Team Dignitas. He has placed first in a staggering 81 tournaments, more than doubling the 40 second-place spots he’s earned, with the RLCS Season 7 finals of 2019 being his highest prize pool won at $66,666.67. Out of the four RLCS Season finals he’s participated in, Kaydop has won two, plus three more in the EU circuit.
Pierre “Turbopolsa” Silfver
Turbopolsa is a long time veteran of the Rocket League competitive scene. Though he only participated in one tournament in his debut year, in which he took home a mere $25, he has been competing since the beginning in 2015. Since then he’s gone on to enter 92 total tournaments and earn a total of more than $330,000 in winnings to date. Just like Kaydop, his top placements more than double his second-place finishes at 50 to 23, including taking home the cup at RLCS Season 3, 5, and 8 in North America and 4, 6, and 8 in the EU. Because of his length of time in the scene, Turbopolsa has transferred between a few teams but currently sits on Team Envy since he transferred off of NRG Esports.
Tshaka “Arsenal” Taylor
The first American on the list is the young Tshaka “Arsenal” Talor. Arsenal first burst onto the scene in 2018 at just 16 years old where he won two out of the three tournaments he entered, plus taking a respectable third place at the RLRS Season 6. Since then he has won a total of 20 tournaments, including the recent RLCS Season X Fall: North American Major. After a short stint with his initial team, Arsenal has become a solid member of Spacestation Gaming. He’s one many people are keeping an eye on.
Caden “Sypical” Pellegrin
If we’re talking about prodigies, Caden “Sypical” Pellegrin from the U.S can’t be ignored. He was likely better at the game at 14 than any of us could ever hope to be. He won both the Nexus Gaming Weekly Cup and ASTRONAUTS $2,000 Rocket League 3V3 tournaments in his debut year of 2018, plus second in RLRS Season 6. 2020 was where Sypical really started to shine, though, having participated in 29 tournaments and amassing almost $75,000 in prize money. He’s the longest standing member of Spacestation Gaming, just ahead of Arsenal.
Jos “ViolentPanda” van Meurs
Hailing from the Netherlands, ViolentPanda has had a somewhat inconsistent career in terms of tournaments entered, but not in skill. He’s gone to just over 100 tournaments since joining the game in 2016, dipping to an all-time low of just eight appearances in 2019, but seems to be ramping back up as of 2020. He hasn’t quite managed to recapture his best season since 2018 where he won the RLCS Season 5 Finals, but is absolutely one of the top Dutch players in the world.
Yanis “Alpha54” Campeonis
Another strong French player, Alpha54, is a relative newcomer to the Rocket League world. Only playing in a modest three tournaments in his debut year of 2018, he has gone on to win 11 tournaments including the European RLRS Season 6, RLSS Europe, and RLCS Season X Fall: Europe Regional Event. His early career was slightly shaky, bouncing between teams after just a few, or even just one, event. As of January of 2020, he’s held his spot on Vitality where they have seen by far the most wins.
Mariano “SquishyMuffinz” Arruda
Arguably among the top players in all of Canada, SquishyMuffinz has been a part of many of the top Rocket League teams such as Mock-It eSports, Cloud9, and currently sits with NRG Esports. If you’re looking at raw statistics, he’s got the best we’ve seen on this list with 47 tournaments won and only 15 and 8 second and third place finishes respectively. While 2020 wasn’t his best year in terms of total cash earned, despite entering the most tournaments of his career, he has certainly grown into a more consistent player worth watching.
Reed “Chicago” Wilen
Reed is another newer player that is only just beginning to bloom in the league. He’s been around since 2017, and has held positions on top teams like Team Dignitas and Evil Geniuses, but has been a staple of G2 Esports since the beginning of 2019. This is where Chicago’s talent really came out. While he saw sporadic wins before, 2020 saw him take home 10 wins out of the 22 tournaments he entered, raking in more than $62,000 in winnings — nearly doubling the amount won from all previous years.
Garrett “GarrettG” Gordon
Our last American player on the list just barely squeaks in as one of the longest-lasting players. Technically he only entered one tournament in 2015, but GarrettG can still claim to have been there from the start. From that small beginning, he’s quickly rocketed up to an impressive 93 tournaments and a total prize pool earnings of over $280,000. Teamed up with SquishyMuffinz on NRG Esports, he is the team’s core as the team’s most veteran player. With four first-place finishes across various RLCS Seasons, there’s no denying GarrettG has what it takes.
Victor “Fairy Peak” Locquet
Last, but in no way least, is the prolific Fairy Peak. Starting out in some of the smaller tournaments, but absolutely dominating them by winning nine out of the eleven he entered, with the remaining three being second-place finishes, Fairy Peak quickly rose to the major league joining Mock-It eSports in 2017 and then transferring over to Vitality in 2018. Out of his 62 total wins, his single biggest payday was from his win alongside Kaydop and Alpha54 in RLCS Season 7 Finals for $66,666.67.
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