RLCS X Championships finals preview: South America and North America

Editor’s note 06/19/21: This article was updated to correct the number of games between True Neutral and FURIA Esports. 

This weekend, the four finals of the RLCS X Championships will go down. With the cancellation of the World Championships, the regions have instead played a week-long championship in a new format. For the first time, teams will have to win multiple best-of series in order to take home the win. Here’s what to expect from North America and South America, but fans should make sure to catch Europe and Oceania as well.

RLCS X South America: True Neutral vs. FURIA Esports

Saturday, June 19 at 5 p.m. ET

The South American RLCS X Championship final is the first of four finals this weekend. The region is the newest of the bunch and would only have had two slots at the world championships. Therefore, the only match the region plays this week is the final between the top two of the regular season: True Neutral and FURIA Esports.

It is a Spanish versus Portuguese-speaking match-up, with True Neutral featuring two players from Argentina and one from Chile, while FURIA is fully Brazilian. There is a 500-point difference between the two in the rankings, which is similar to North America’s top two. They have met 25 times this season alone, with True Neutral leading 15-10 in head-to-head series.

Once upon a time, FURIA was unbeatable in South America. True Neutal put a stop to that, but they haven’t played each other since February. It is fate, then, that the two best South American teams get to duke it out for the title of South American champion at the very end of the season. The match-up between the two is always fast-paced and full of passion, so if their history is anything to go by, the weekend will start with a bang.

They will play for a $100,000 prize pool, with first-place claiming $70,000.

North America: NRG vs SpaceStation Gaming

Sunday, June 20 at 2:30 p.m. ET

Many consider North America to be the most enjoyable region. The top six were so close that every team in the RLCS X Championships could have been considered a potential winner. Whereas in Europe, the top two of the regular season also made it to the grand final without much resistance, the North American final is between the first and third-place finishers.

Spacestation Gaming had to battle their way through Rogue and Team Envy during the Championships but won both sets 2-0. SSG is clicking and it all comes down to putting in the hours, according to the team’s Slater “Retals” Thomas.

“Our team has put in the time more than any other team in this tournament,” Retals said. “Sypical alone has the amount of hours that Envy has combined on Rocket League in the last two weeks. We want it more than anyone here and we’re gonna show it. We’ve been grinding out playstyles, different ways to play and trying to figure out what’s best for this tournament. And this is what we want to go with. Me chasing around and being annoying, Sypical and Arsenal scoring disgusting goals. That’s what they’re best at and that’s what I’m best at.”

Now SSG will face NRG in the grand final and they have good reason to be optimistic. Out of the 10 series they played in main events this season, SSG leads six to four. Retals, therefore, is not scared.

“This is the team we wanted to match up with,” Retals said. “Garrett has been ridiculous this tournament, but we’re very confident in ourselves. This is, on paper, our easiest match-up out of the three. However, that NRG is looking scary. We’re gonna see how it goes. I’m not gonna jinx myself but we’ll see.”

Both NRG and Spacestation Gaming are in excellent form for the RLCS X Championships, so it looks like the tenth season of the RLCS will finish with a bang.

North America featured six teams and a $400,000 prize pool and the final two will claim $160,000 and $80,000 respectively.

Catch all the action this weekend on Twitch and YouTube.