RLCS Season X European Major kicks off on Saturday, May 15

The Rocket League Championship Series Season X Spring European Major kicks off on Saturday, May 15. Featuring some of the best teams in the region, it is billed as one of the biggest Rocket League esports events of the year and one no esports fan should miss.

The Last Gung-Ho Before the Big Events

The RLCS Season X – Spring: EU Major will be the biggest European Rocket League event of the season. It will feature 10 of the strongest European Rocket League teams, who will duke it out for the title of champions, the lion’s share of the $100,000 prize pool, and the coveted RLCS Circuit Ranking points.

It will mark the last tournament of the regular season before the RLCS esports scene transitions to “Big Events.” Unfortunately, the upcoming events won’t be international due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The field will consist of nine of the best teams based on their RLCS Spring Ranking placement. They will be joined by an underdog team from the wildcard event.

Teams attending the RLCS Season X – Spring: EU Major

• Group A: BS+COMPETITION, German Amigos, Team BDS, Team Questo, Team Vitality
• Group B: Aether, Guild Esports, Solary, Top Blokes, White Demons

German Amigos are the wildcard team at the RLCS Season X – Spring: EU Major. They earned their spot at the tournament by finishing second at The Grid Wildcard in April.

Although they failed to win the tournament, the German Amigos finished second to Team BDS, who have already qualified for the Major as the top-rated team in Spring.

$36,000 up for grabs for the champions

The RLCS European Spring Major will run from May 15-16, featuring a $100,000 prize pool, split between all participating teams. The tournament winnings will be distributed as follows:

1st – $36,000
2nd – $18,000
3rd-4th – $10,000
5th-8th – $5,000
9th-10th – $3,000

Teams will also be awarded RLCS Ranking Points that count towards the RLCS X Championship event. The champions will receive 902 points, 700 points will be awarded to the runners-up, while 560 will fall in the hands of the third-fourth placed team.

RLCS Ranking Points distribution

1st – 902
2nd – 700
3rd-4th – 560
5th-8th – 420
9th-10th – 300

The teams will begin their road to glory in the group stage. There will be two groups of five teams who will play in a group round-robin best-of-five (Bo5) format.

In case of a tie, the game differential will be used as a tiebreaker. If that doesn’t break the tie, the tournament organizers will use a head-to-head record to determine which squad will finish ahead.

After the group stage concludes, the top four teams from each group will advance into the playoffs. Fifth-placed teams get eliminated and head back home.

The playoffs will use a single-elimination bracket. All matches will be played as best-of-seven (Bo7), including the grand finals, slated for Sunday, May 16.

Who will win the RLCS Season X Spring European Major?

One thing to consider about the Spring Major is that it’s the final esports event where European sides can earn points leading to the RLCS X Championships. That should make it very important to win; however, there’s a catch.

Because the teams will earn a minimum of 300 RLCS points, Team BDS, Team Vitality, Top Blokes, Guild Esports, Team Questo, and Solary are already qualified for the Championships.

This begs the question of what’s the point of even competing? For the top teams, it’s obviously money, but then there are White Demons, Aether, and German Amigos, who will look to prove themselves and get picked up by an organization.

At the time of writing, BetOnline have yet to release outright odds for the RLCS European Spring Major. Regardless, it’s very easy to spot out the favorites.

Team BDS enter the tournament as European top seed and are big favorites to win the title. They have, however, been beaten by Guild Esports in the third regional event and by Top Blokes in the second event, so they aren’t invincible.

A team that could surprise and have the motivation to do so are Aether. The org-less squad struggled early into the season but managed a runner-up finish in the second regional event last month.

There they beat Solary, White Demons, and BS+COMPETITION, but fell short to Guild Esports. With the questionable motivation of the top sides, Aether just might emerge as a dark horse team that could make a deep run.