After six series of contests between the four best Rocket League teams in Oceania, we now know who’s booked their spots at the RLCS World Championship in London, and boy was it a surprise! Here’s everything that went down in the OCE Championship Finals.

Team Rosters

Chiefs ESC
Drippay
Jake
Torsos

Tainted Minds
CJCJ
Julz
Kamii

Dark Sided
Dumbo
Express
Shadey

Legacy Esports
Cyrix
Delusion
Siki

Series Results

Winners Semi-Finals – Series 1: Chiefs ESC def. Tainted Minds
Result: 4-1

The day’s proceedings opened as Chiefs, the team seeded as first, took on Tainted Minds, the side who came in as fourth seed. After an early Game 1 scare that saw Tainted Minds take the win, Chiefs went to work and won the following four matches to take the series 4-1. Barring a one-sided Game 2 in favour of Chiefs, both teams were fairly evenly matched, with the other matches being decided by just one goal.

Following the win, Chiefs booked their spot in the Winners Final, and would take on whoever came out victorious between Dark Sided and Legacy Esports to vie for a spot at RLCS. 

Match Results:
Game 1: 1-0 to Tainted Minds
Game 2: 3-0 to Chiefs ESC
Game 3: 4-3 to Chiefs ESC
Game 4: 3-2 to Chiefs ESC
Game 5: 2-1 to Chiefs ESC

Winners Semi-Finals – Series 2: Dark Sided def. Legacy Esports
Result: 4-2

The focus then turned to the second series of the day, as Dark Sided, the third seed in the finals, took on second seed Legacy Esports. Legacy had been on fire for the majority of OCE Championship League Play, and odds were on them to take a much needed victory over Dark Sided to give themselves a knee-up in achieving RLCS qualification.

All looked to be going well, too, as they won the first game 1-0. However, Dark Sided’s sustained pressure paid off in the following three games, as they took a 3-1 lead after four matches. Legacy pulled it back to 3-2 after a dominating display in Game 5, winning 4-0, only to be trounced 5-0 by Dark Sided when it really mattered in Game 6.

Following the surprise result, Dark Sided booked their spot in the Winners Final against Chiefs, while Legacy were booted down to the Losers Semi-Final to take on Tainted Minds for a chance at redemption.

Match Results:
Game 1: 1-0 to Legacy Esports
Game 2: 2-1 to Dark Sided
Game 3: 2-1 to Dark Sided
Game 4: 4-2 to Dark Sided
Game 5: 4-0 to Legacy Esports
Game 6: 5-0 to Dark Sided

Winners Final – Series 3: Chiefs ESC def. Dark Sided
Result: 4-0

No surprises here, as Oceania’s best side were the first team to stamp their spot at RLCS in London with a convincing 4-0 clean sweep of Dark Sided. It was a convincing win too, with Dark Sided only managing to score two goals against Chiefs over four games.

As such, Chiefs advanced to the Grand Final while Dark Sided moved down to the Losers Semi-Final, awaiting the result between Tainted Minds and Legacy Esports to see who they’d be taking on to vie for the second spot at RLCS.

Match Results:
Game 1: 3-0 to Chiefs ESC
Game 2: 5-1 to Chiefs ESC
Game 3: 3-1 to Chiefs ESC
Game 4: 2-0 to Chiefs ESC

Losers Semi-Final – Series 4: Tainted Minds def. Legacy Esports
Result: 4-0

In what turned out to be one of the biggest surprises of the day, Tainted Minds clean swept Legacy Esports with relative ease in their Losers Semi-Final series. Legacy, who came in as second seed and were on an incredible run of results, could not deal with the offensive pressure and rotation Tainted Minds employed, and were, as such, dispatched of without much worry.

It’s a surprise, too, considering both of the teams’ forms coming into the finals series. Tainted Minds struggled throughout League Play, but produced one of their best performances of the entire split here — nullifying Cyrix, Siki, and Delusion with such ease. They looked the real deal, and only faced one more obstacle in their quest for RLCS qualification: Dark Sided.

Match Results:
Game 1: 6-2 to Tainted Minds
Game 2: 4-0 to Tainted Minds
Game 3: 2-1 to Tainted Minds
Game 4: 3-1 to Tainted Minds

Losers Final – Series 5: Tainted Minds def. Dark Sided
Result: 4-3

While the series prior was a surprise, the series between Tainted Minds and Dark Sided in the Losers Final was easily the best of the day. Both sides recognised the immense importance of this series, and with so much on the line neither side wanted to make any mistakes that would put their team at risk of losing.

The pressure did pay in the end, though, as Dark Sided took Game 1 2-1. The reverse happened in Game 2, as Tainted Minds started playing like their usual selves again, though they quickly found themselves pinned back against Dark Sided pressure in Games 3 and 4. With one game left to win for RLCS qualification, Dark Sided could almost touch qualification — though Tainted Minds played out of their skins and managed to clamour the series back to 3-3 to take it to Game 7.

Tensions were high here, and after going two straight games without scoring against Tainted Minds, Dark Sided capitulated under immense pressure from CJCJ, Kamii, and Julz. The latter was a real star here, pulling out some wonderful saves throughout the series and scoring some vital goals, and when the final buzzer went it was Tainted Minds who’d won Game 7.

Dark Sided — who were so close to qualification — narrowly missed out and were eliminated, while fourth seed Tainted Minds booked their spot at RLCS once again!

Match Results:
Game 1: 2-1 to Dark Sided
Game 2: 2-1 to Tainted Minds
Game 3: 3-0 to Dark Sided
Game 4: 1-0 to Dark Sided
Game 5: 2-0 to Tainted Minds
Game 6: 1-0 to Tainted Minds
Game 7: 2-0 to Tainted Minds

Grand Final – Series 6: Chiefs ESC def. Tainted Minds
Result: 4-0

While Tainted Minds were feeling elation after booking their spot at RLCS later this year, they had to recuperate and take on Chiefs in the OCE Championship Grand Final to decide which side enters RLCS as first and second seed.

And though Chiefs managed to get the clean sweep over Tainted Minds in the end, it was a close one. That said, Chiefs, once again, showed just how damn good they are, and why they are well and truly the best in the region in Rocket League.

In the end, Chiefs won 4-0 over Tainted Minds, and they’ll be entering the RLCS World Championship as first seed, while the latter will enter as second seed. It’s also worth mentioning that Chiefs are the first team to go undefeated throughout the entire OCE Championship season, which is absolutely insane. Well done to them!

Match Results:
Game 1: 1-0 to Chiefs ESC
Game 2: 2-0 to Chiefs ESC
Game 3: 2-1 to Chiefs ESC
Game 4: 2-0 to Chiefs ESC

Final Thoughts

This week has been the week for upsets, it seems. After the FIFA 18 E-League produced some crazy upsets to crown draft champions, we saw Tainted Minds — who came in as fourth seed and therefore had a much harder job on their hands than the other teams — make their way through a handful of vital series and, in the end, book their spot at the RLCS World Championship in London.

It’s crazy, too, considering the inconsistent form Tainted Minds found themselves in for the majority of the League Play season. In the end, though, all that matters is the result on the day, and they well and truly showcased just how good they are as a team during the OCE Championship finals.

Well done to both Chiefs and Tainted Minds, who will be Oceania’s representatives at the RLCS World Championship this split!