Soon-to-be-signed and recently promoted underdogs ‘The Peeps’ have done the unthinkable by winning Rocket League‘s DreamHack Montreal. Consisting of Jirair “ExplosiveGyro” Papazian, Slater “Retals” Thomas, and Nick “mist” Costello, the team recently promoted to the North American RLCS. But before their first RLCS season has even begun, they have stolen a major title from under Renault Vitality’s and G2’s noses. By defeating both in spectacular fashion in the semi-final and grand final respectively, the Peeps claimed $50,000 and the DreamHack Champion title.
A STORYBOOK ENDING 📚
The Peeps do the UNTHINKABLE and are your #DHProCircuit Montreal Champions!
📺: https://t.co/3RUVjqqBLM
🚀: https://t.co/YaSObt9CJg pic.twitter.com/XPZQXtUdvs— Rocket League Esports (@RLEsports) September 9, 2019
A massive underdog story
The Peeps already proved to be dangerous in the first two days, but it wasn’t without losses. In fact, they lost to their grand final opponents, G2, on day two. But the team showed resilience as they defeated the Europeans of TSM and qualified for day three alongside the likes of Renault Vitality and Cloud9.
They weren’t the only underdogs in the final bracket, however. GC Aura, consisting of European RLRS and former RLCS players, had also made it to day three. But unlike GC Aura, The Peeps fought their way through European powerhouses mousesports and Renault Vitality to claim a spot in the grand final — their first ever.
The Grand Final
Initially, many considered G2 the favorite of the tournament alongside NRG, Cloud9, and Reciprocity. Especially considering The Peeps’ loss to G2 earlier in the weekend, many thought G2 would take their first major win since ELEAGUE back in 2017. After The Peeps’ powerful showing against Renault Vitality in the semi-final, however, the vibe began to shift. Where G2 is usually the team with the most support from the crowd, the majority was now shouting and cheering for the underdogs.
The Peeps, though, showed they were no longer an underdog – and that their run through the bracket had not been a fluke. They kept up with G2 and even overwhelmed them. They went up 3-1 in the best-of-7, requiring only a single win to take the title. G2 managed to fight back somewhat by forcing a game seven, but it wasn’t enough. After composing themselves from those two consecutive losses, the Peeps continued where they left off and completely overwhelmed the RLCS World Championship runner-ups once more.
With a 4-0 victory in the final game, the Peeps crowned themselves the DreamHack Montreal champions and kept the streak of new teams winning a major going. There have now been eight unique teams to win a major tournament in a row, starting all the way back in December 2018 with TSM (then known as We Dem Girlz).
The Peeps have already signed a contract with a yet-unknown organization, but the announcement was delayed until after DreamHack Montreal. The owners must be shooting themselves in the foot for that now, as one might imagine. Still, the Peeps are looking to be a strong contender in the next season of RLCS. As Retals himself said in the post-game interview, they have set their sights on the RLCS World Championship title.
