Jos “ViolentPanda” van Meurs, Thomas “Tho” Binkhorst and Ole “Oaly” van Doorn are teaming up together for the next season, the players announced on Monday.
The Dutch trio played together throughout the offseason in various events. After Tho was officially announced to leave Guild Esports earlier in the day, two-time Rocket League Championship Series World Champion ViolentPanda confirmed the rumored lineup.
Anouncing our roster for RLCS XI, @ViolentPandaRL 🇳🇱@ThO_RL 🇳🇱@OalyRL 🇳🇱
Coach: @Virge 🇺🇸We will be looking for an org to represent, DM if interested.
— ViolentPanda (@ViolentPandaRL) September 6, 2021
Violentpanda continues to scout talent
ViolentPanda, a Rocket League legend, has never shied away from playing with less-accomplished players. He is known for picking up new talent and lifting them to new heights.
Tho and Oaly are not exactly new, but they still have a lot to reach for in the RLCS. Oaly made his debut last season, but is already proven to be one of the Netherlands’ top players. Tho has similarly proven himself to be mechanically skilled, although he made his debut a season earlier. Together with Mike “MikeBoy” Verkuijlen they finished in second place in the Intel World Open, where they represented their country. They only lost to one of the world’s highly skilled nations in France.
The Dutchmen will be coached by the American John “Virge” Willis, who worked with Violentpanda for years on Dignitas. The coach is considered as one of the best in the scene.
The roster is not yet represented by an organization, with ViolentPanda coming from Dignitas, Tho from Guild Esports and Oaly from Wolves Esports. The latter was expected to be allowed to form a team around himself as the last standing member of Wolves, but in the end the Dutchman left the orange-colored organization.
The Flying Dutchman, as the team has been called in the meantime, is expected to do reasonably well. With decent performances and a good mix of individual talent and experience between them, the Dutch team could prove to be a dark horse and push one of the established top six out of the running for a Worlds spot.
