One Last Lunge for Fort Worth | RLCS Last Chance Qualifier Preview

It’s time for the return of one of the most fun parts of the RLCS Season. The Last Chance Qualifiers.

Just like last season, there are four LCQ slots, awarded to four regions that were the highest average points earners at the two Majors this season. Those were awarded to Europe, MENA, North America, and South America.

Last season, these same four regions earned an extra bid to the Rocket League World Championship. Europe’s slot was awarded to NIP, sporting a roster of Nass, Oski, and Yujin over in France.

Shopify Rebellion claimed North America’s bid, giving 2Piece and Wahvey their first RLCS LAN appearances alongside veteran Retals.

South America’s slot went to Made in Brazil, a roster made up of Brad, Droppz, and Reysbull.

The squad originally qualified under Corinthians before departing from the organization and being picked up by MIBR. The org kept Reysbull for the following season, and has already clinched a spot at Dickie’s Arena.

Finally, ROC Esports claimed the final bid from MENA, allowing Abdullah and Ghaazi to make their RLCS LAN debuts.

Those two are now favorites to win this MENA LCQ as well, playing alongside M7md under the R8 Esports banner.

We’ll get down to brass tacks and give you a look into what to expect for each of the regions, and when to tune in.

The Schedule

Now one difference from last season’s Last Chance Qualifiers is the schedule. Instead of each region getting their own weekend for their top 16 to be played out, the preliminary stages are much more aligned.

This will set up a big “Main Event Weekend” where each region has a day to play out the top 6 of their respective qualifier.

The remaining schedules are as follows:

Middle East and North Africa:

GSL Stage - Friday, July 10th @ 7:00 PM KSA (UTC+3)

Hybrid Elimination Day 1 - Saturday, July 11th @ 7:00 PM KSA (UTC+3)

Hybrid Elimination Day 2 - Thursday, July 23rd @ 7:00 PM KSA (UTC+3)

South America:

GSL Stage - Friday, July 11th @ 4:00 PM Argentina Time (UTC-3)

Hybrid Elimination Day 1 - Saturday, July 12th @ 4:00 PM Argentina Time (UTC-3)

Hybrid Elimination Day 2 - Friday, July 24th @ 4:00 PM Argentina Time (UTC-3)

Europe:

GSL Stage - Saturday, July 12th @ 5:00 PM CEST (UTC+2)

Hybrid Elimination Day 1 - Sunday, July 13th @ 5:00 PM CEST (UTC+2)

Hybrid Elimination Day 2 - Sunday, July 26th @ 5:00 PM CEST (UTC+2)

North America:

Swiss Stage - Friday, July 11th @ 7:00 PM EST (UTC-4)

GSL Stage - Saturday, July 12th @ 1:00 PM EST (UTC-4)

Hybrid Elimination Day 1 - Sunday, July 13th @ 1:00 PM EST (UTC-4)

Hybrid Elimination Day 2 - Saturday, July 25th @ 1:00 PM EST (UTC-4)

The Contenders

Middle East And North Africa

MENA has its sixteen squads set, but a few stick out amongst the others. The decided favorites are R8 Esports, made up of Ghaazi, Abdullah, and M7Md.

As previously mentioned, Ghaazi and Abdullah won the first ever MENA Last Chance Qualifier with a 4-1 thumping over Al Qadsiah.

The organization is also fresh off of their first ever RLCS Major qualification, as they beat out Team Falcons for the second spot from the MENA region.

Although they exited Paris tied for last place, they’ll be rearing to build off that result and fly higher than ever before.

Ghaazi and Abdullah had success in the Worlds Play-In stage last season, sweeping FUT and Gen.G Mobil1 Racing en route to a World Championship Main Event appearance.

R8 has yet to drop a regional match-up to any team that isn’t Twisted Minds or Team Falcons, and they hope to keep that streak alive to reach back to back RLCS LANs.

Team Stallions is the next man up in the Middle East and North Africa region. The trio consists of Twiz, Trook, and Nush. Nush broke out as a part of an exciting young trifecta alongside DrKnown and Ops, and the three came up just short of the World Championship last season, losing out to ROC Esports in the MENA LCQ Grand Finals.

If any of those three players has a chance to take revenge, it’s Nush. Stallions had a great second half of the season, placing in the top 6 twice and also grabbing a 2nd place finish in the most chaotic regional that MENA had ever seen.

The Stallions have yet to take a series off R8 in the RLCS, but they’ll be hoping that the do-or-die mentality can cause them to stampede through to the World Championship. 

DrKnown and Ops, the other two-thirds of the former Al Qadsiah roster with Nush, will be playing alongside Suspect in the MENA LCQ under the name DOS.

The trio has been much more consistent than Stallions over the course of the season, with three semifinal exits, one top 6, and one top 8. They just have the same issue that Stallions do. R8 Esports.

DOS also have been unable to beat the three big dogs of the region, but they have taken a series off Stallions, meaning that they might have a shot to take down R8 in the finals instead.

NMT, led by M7sn, is full of MENA veterans looking to finally break back through to an RLCS LAN. The LAN veteran M7sn is joined by Nadr and T7LM, who recently teamed under the Rafha Esports banner. The trio had DOS’s number, but couldn’t muster wins against Falcons, Twisted Minds, Stallions, or R8 Esports.

The final big contender is Qlean, made up of vFBI, Willie, and Rez. FBI and Willie are both extremely capable 1v1 players, with the former taking down both twins on the way to a top 4 finish in the RLCS 1v1: MENA Open a few weekends ago.

The trio previously played under the name “Everything,” and at least two-thirds of that squad made it to the playoffs in every single regional this season. Unfortunately, they also don’t have wins against the “Big 3” in the main gamemode, but they have beaten Team Stallions. Look for these guys on Championship Weekend.

South America

Kv1 started off the season alongside Drufinho and Motta as FURIA made a direct swap with Drufo and Team Secret’s star player Swiftt. After the move caused MIBR to leapfrog Secret for the second LAN spot in South America and Boston, Secret grabbed Suco to replace Uno before silently exiting the scene as they fell further down the rankings.

Thus began Kv1’s time in blue and white stripes. He joined Wisty and Crn under the German organization BS+Competition. The duo that he joined forces with had started the season under the name “Amethyst,” and had strung together three straight top four finishes.

Photo credit to BS+Competition

Wisty and Crn were both rookies in the RLCS 2021-22 season. Wisty broke out in the middle of the following season under the w7m banner, while Crn took a bit longer to develop. The Brazilian first started seeing results in the 2025 season before joining Wisty and Suco at the beginning of 2026.

The addition of Kv1 brought the same results for the next two SAM Opens. Two more semifinal exits, both at the hands of FURIA. Finally, with everything locked up, BS+ won SAM Open 6, putting themselves in great position for the Last Chance Qualifier. 

The Zebras are one of the big favorites to win the event, and have the chance to give Crn and Wisty long-awaited RLCS LAN debuts.

Meanwhile, Drufinho has picked up the pieces after his departure from FURIA and has teamed with Nxghtt and Motta to form Bigodes.

Three of the old guard of SAM have gotten together in hopes of toppling the gatekeeper of South America to make it back to the RLCS LAN stage.

They were one of the four teams to go 3-0 Swiss alongside the aforementioned BS+Competition, as well as Disasterclass and Fofuchos. They will take on BS+ in the Upper Bracket of the Playoffs tomorrow.

Another big team is Plot Twist, formed by owner of the teamname, Sosa. Flanking him are Brazillians Royales and Motta.

Royales tried his hand at North American Rocket League this season as he’s over in the States for college. He returned home to team with the Canadian and other former Team Secret Member to try and make it to worlds.

The trio struggled on Friday, dropping to the lower bracket, before bouncing back and eliminating NuTorious from contention and making it to the Top 8.

Novadrift shocked one of the 3-0 teams in Swiss and are now locked for Championship Weekend. The team, made up of Argentinian duo Rmn and Kevinacho with Brazilian KnS rounding out the squad, will face off against Fofuchos tomorrow afternoon.

The members of that team, Misery, Davinsano, and oViitin would also greatly benefit from a Worlds berth to help further their own career breakouts.

Europe

The European region is a little dicey after the top 5. Normally, the #6 seed would be the favorite, but that would be Geekay, who split up across the far reaches of the globe in pursuit of a better chance at qualifying for Worlds.

Geekay Esports now consists of TempoH, who joined in the trade window, and French duo MtzR and Alpha54, previously of Kaydop Corp. Kaydop Corp came up just short of a LAN spot, while TempoH, Joyo, and ApparentlyJack came up limping as soon as the starting gun sounded.

It’s clear that while TempoH is a great talent, the team just didn’t work. So Geekay brought aboard a French buff, times three, to try and right the wrongs of the trade window.

They are not the clear favorites however. Joyo always says to trust the process, and with Radosin on his side, it seems as if Kaydop Corp may have the upper hand.

Joining them is the German Rezears, who trounced TempoH earlier in the “All-Star Break” in the 1v1 circuit 4-0. He’ll need to rely on his 3v3 skills here though, but with Joyo and Radosin, they have the ultimate plot armor.

Radosin is searching for his second LCQ win in as many seasons.

Also in the running is Magnolia, an orgless team name that had to be dusted off from the 2021-22 season when it housed the, try not to sing along here, Rise, Joyo, Vatira trio.

Rise returns under the banner of the crudely drawn M.S. paint flower alongside Frenchman Yujin, and Englishman Toxiic. While Rise’s tenure overseas didn’t go quite as he had hoped, perhaps European soil was just where he was meant to be.

NOVO Esports is next on the contenders list, and the Blue Bloods are back to the duo that put the roster on the map at the start of the season. GiuK and Nico are once again joining forces, with Rehzzy in tow.

The Giuk-Nico duo made it as far as 2nd place in the previous European LCQ, upsetting the tournament favorites in Gentle Mates before losing to NIP and Radosin in the final.

Finally, Mate y Tapa sees the return of a duo notably last seen on G1: AtomiK and Dorito. The Spanish stars are bringing Argentinian Ajg along for the ride, who is hoping to become the first import LCQ winner.

There are plenty of other contenders in the mix, and we’ll find out who’s headed to the playoffs tomorrow!

North America

After some sweet, sweet primetime Rocket League action, North America finally has itself a top 16. FUT are the big-time favorites, as they were at the most recent Major.

The trio of Cheese, Chronic, and Jstn are poised to make it through to the World Championship, and give FUT Esports their second straight Play-In appearance.

Next on the list of top contenders sits Gen.G Mobil1 Racing. The squad parted ways with Rise after a disappointing five regionals to end the season. In comes Evoh, previously coming off a second stint with Dignitas.

He joins Frosty and MajicBear as Gen.G hopes to keep their World Championship qualification streak alive. Frosty has still yet to appear at an RLCS Major or Worlds, despite his Kickoff-LAN qualification at the end of the 2025 calendar year.

He can break that streak starting tomorrow, as North America looks to narrow its field down to 8 teams.

Speaking of Dignitas, it’s none other than ApparentlyJack to come and fill the void left by Evoh’s departure. The former Geekay player returns to the Yellow and Black for the third time in his career, tied for the most that one player has left and returned to the same org three different times in his career.

The only other player to do this was Rezears with the now disbanded organization Stealth7 (Rest in Peace).

With Bora fresh out of retirement and as mechanical as ever, and Fiv3Up rounding out the rotation, Dignitas could be a fun team to have go all the way.

The up-and-comers on M80 are looking to make their RLCS LAN and Worlds debuts of their own. Exciting young prospects Mech and Life have seen Noly replaced by another promising young star in PNDH.

The Canadian looks to bolster their roster after the Bomb Squad faded down the stretch of the regular season. They did have one blockbuster matchup in Swiss last night, but were swept at the hands of Gen.G Mobil1 Racing.

Next2Nu is Next on the list, with Aris, Aqua, and Dvo look to make a deep run in this thing. Aqua fell just short in the previous LCQ with “The Boys” alongside Evoh and Hockser.

The trio made it all the way to the finals before being dispatched of by Shopify Rebellion, now VirtusPro.

Dvo made a solid run under the 100x35 banner, making it to the playoffs before bowing out to Comm, Tawk, and company.

Meanwhile, Aris teamed with M80’s Mech in the previous edition of the event, and Aris combined with the rookie to take their series with Shopify Rebellion a serious distance before bowing out in the top 4.

Gimmick returns to a North American Top 16 alongside Squishy and GarrettG, as the veterans took down Alpha Kep’s Lil Step Bros to qualify through Round 5 of Swiss. It’ll be the former Cloud9 star’s first top 16 in almost two seasons.

Finally, some new blood is entering the ring. 16 year old Scythe has finally broken through to the top 16 after falling just short 5 consecutive times. A fellow 16-year old Monk and 17-year old Juice joined forces with veteran Xpurt to qualify for the top 16.

Finally, a newly emerging prospect in Dappdapp, who took down VirtusPro earlier this season in qualifiers, has made it to a main event alongside Fade and Plexi.

Lots of fun action is coming your way this weekend, let’s have some fun!