Update, Oct. 26, 6 a.m. ET: Landon “BeastMode” Konerman has made an official statement about his departure from Shopify Rebellion on Twitter. He explains that his retirement is temporary and that his situation was too stressful and taking a toll on his mental health. He intends to come back to Rocket League competition after spending time with friends and family. The original story from Monday follows.
Shopify Rebellion player Landon “BeastMode” Konerman has unexpectedly retired at the start of the 2021-22 season of the Rocket League Championship Series. The news had already come out in the community on Sunday, Oct. 24 and was confirmed by the organization on Monday.
BeastMode was considered one of the top talents in North America. At just 15 years old, he had proven his mechanical prowess throughout RLCS Season X and was a standout player for his individual highlight plays. According to his teammate Jalen “rapid” Parker, Beastmode retired in order to focus on real-life sports.
A statement regarding Beastmode: pic.twitter.com/3uvZDDilDN
— Shopify Rebellion (@ShopifyRebels) October 25, 2021
“We’re disappointed to share that, as of today, BeastMode will be stepping away from Shopify Rebellion and competitive Rocket League. We wish him the best in whatever he takes on next,” Shopify Rebellion said in a tweet. “We’re currently evaluating replacement options for this split and beyond and remain wholly committed to Rocket League for the future, despite this setback.”
BeastMode retirement forces Rebellion to play with a sub
With an offseason of three months, Rebellion had a long time to prepare with BeastMode. They were strong in smaller tournaments and showed promise going into the 2021-22 season. But, a week after the season’s start, BeastMode leaves Rebellion a man down. The next transfer period is not until Dec., after the fall major. Rebellion will have to decide whether to play until then with their substitute Zach “nexuhty” McClintock or forfeit their points and pick up a new player.
Rapid already alluded, on Reddit, that they will play until the transfer period with nexuhty. However, after a disappointing fall regional 1 event with BeastMode, Rebellion sits at only 70 points. They also failed to qualify for the second event with nexuhty, which starts on Oct. 29. It is not unusual for teams to forfeit their points at this stage and start the rebuild early.
The players have not yet revealed the future of Rebellion but, despite disappointment in the situation, rapid is focused on getting Rebellion back on track.
“Sucks that BeastMode is quitting so early into our season, but the grind continues,” rapid said. “Just got to have a little time to be able to find a replacement and get back to work, and get back to where we were last season.”
Dignitas player Jack “ApparentlyJack” Benton also shared his two cents on BeastMode’s decision to depart from Rebellion and the game.
“You can criticize the timing of the quitting all you want but never the actual decision to quit,” he said. “Some people don’t realize how stressful it can be at times and jump to conclusions that it’s the greatest job in the world that has no negatives.”
So, while BeastMode’s timing may be considered unfortunate, the reason he made this decision is still unknown. However, with such a long offseason, fans feel for teammates rapid and Michael “Memory” Moss, who could have used that time to prepare with a different third.
