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Cloud9 shocks Team Dignitas to win Rocket League Season 6 Championship

The two-time defending Rocket League champions were dethroned on Sunday, as North America's Cloud9 finished an incredible lower bracket run to win the Season 6 Championship.

Ozzie Mejia

November 11, 2018 6:25 PM

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The Rocket League Championship Series decided its Season 6 World Championship in grand style, traveling to Las Vegas for an incredible final weekend. While the weekend was filled with twists and turns, the biggest surprise was saved for last, as Cloud9 stunned two-time defending champions Team Dignitas to win the Rocket League Season 6 World Championship.

Game 5 of the second Grand Finals set saw Cloud9's Mariano "Squishy" Arruda assert control with a goal in the first 15 seconds. Team Dignitas' Alexandre "Kaydop" Courant answered right back with a goal of his own less than 15 seconds later. With just 90 seconds to go, Squishy took his shot, which just lingered at the border. But Kyle "Torment" Storer swooped in and knocked it in for Cloud9. But before Cloud9 could even breathe, Jos "ViolentPanda" van Meurs scored just seconds later to tie the game back up. Torment answered back himself, using all of his boost to put Cloud9 up 3-2, with Gimmick and Squishy adding to the pile just seconds later to put the final game out of reach. Turbopolsa tried to answer back with a goal of his own, but it wouldn't be enough, as Cloud9 would clinch the Season 6 Championship in five games.

The second Grand Finals set began with an early first-minute goal by Jesus "Gimmick" Parra, continuing Cloud9's offensive flurry. But Pierre "Turbopolsa" Silfver answered in kind with a circus goal of his own. Squishy tried to put Cloud9 up, but was blocked with authority by Alexandre "Kaydop" Courant. But Cloud9 did eventually go up in dramatic fashion, as Gimmick demolished Turbopolsa while Squishy lobbed the ball up for Kyle "Torment" Storer, who bashed it into the net to put Cloud9 up 2-1 and take Game 1.

Game 2 began with Turbopolsa taking a wide shot and netting it for an early 1-0 lead. He'd score again just seconds later off an assist from ViolentPanda. Cloud9 tried to answer, but the Dignitas defense clamped down and kept the score 2-0 to tie the series.

Game 3 saw Cloud9 go back up and regain control after Squishy put them up 2-0. ViolentPanda's goal wasn't quite enough to even things up, with Torment putting Cloud9 back up by two just a minute later. Torment added one more near the end to polish Game 3 off 4-1. This game's biggest highlight came near the beginning after Gimmick bounced a shot right past the defense and into the goal.

Game 4 saw Cloud9 discombobulate the Dignitas composition by demolishing Turbopolsa early, setting the stage for back-to-back goals. Kaydop kept things close with a goal near the three-minute mark. Squishy warded off a Turbopolsa shot at the two-minute point, clearing the way for Gimmick to cross up Turbopolsa and score the game-clinching 3-1 goal.

From the very beginning, Cloud9 was not intimidated by Team Dignitas' past accomplishments or their undefeated record. They started the first Grand Finals set by taking it right to the two-time defending champions, with Gimmick setting up Squishy to score a Game 1 Overtime goal to set the tone early.

Cloud9 kept the aggression flowing from there, mopping the floor with Dignitas 4-0 in the next game. They didn't let up from there, as Gimmick scored just seven seconds into Game 3 en route to a 5-0 win.

Team Dignitas tried to settle down, as Turbopolsa and Kaydop scored back-to-back goals in the first minute of Game 4. Two more goals were enough to get Dignitas on the board and seemingly wake the sleeping giant.

But it was Torment, with the only two goals of Game 5, who ended Team Dignitas' hopes of an undefeated tournament. With a 2-0 win, Cloud9 reset the bracket and brought the weekend down to one final best-of-seven set.

The Rocket League Season 6 Championship weekend has been filled with stunning moments. Prior to Cloud9's win, the most shocking moment of the weekend was North American perennial powerhouse NRG Esports losing to eventual fourth place finisher Chiefs Esports Club and Cloud9 on Friday for an early tournament exit. NRG has often entered the seasonal championship weekends as a tournament favorite, so seeing them get bounced so early was an unexpected development. NRG finished the weekend in a 7th place tie.

Cloud9 wraps up an improbably lower bracket run. Their weekend began with a loss to We Dem Girlz, leaving them to work their way all the way back to the Grand Finals. Prior to this win, Cloud9 finished 3rd place in both the Season 4 and Season 5 Championship tournaments. For their victory, Cloud9 takes home $200,000 out of a $1 million prize pool.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?