Paris Major Deep Dive: Can the French Rewrite History at Home?

For the second time ever, Rocket League Esports is heading to France. After a barn-burner World Championship in Lyon, the RLCS will come to Paris, France, for the second Major of the season.

Sixteen teams will enter, but only one will be crowned Champion in front of Esports’ greatest fans.

Here’s a look at the squads vying for the trophy and some momentum heading into the World Championship.

Group A

Team Vitality [EU1]

Team Vitality is entering the Major with one of their strongest splits since Zen’s rookie debut in the spring of the 2022-23 season. Vitality won all three regionals and then capped off the league’s first-ever Grand Slam with a Spring Regional win. The Golden Hornets then went on to win Worlds as well.

Vitality had won only a single regional in the four splits after their Grand Slam, but in a return to form, they exploded, winning two European Open Championships this split. They enter as the number one seed from Europe and will likely battle regional rival Karmine Corp for the top spot of Group A.

Much of their success can be attributed to Zen, who remains one of the best players in the World. He leads Europe in rating and shots per game, he’s second in assists per game, and he’s third in score per game and goals per game (minimum of 25 games) in the second split of the season.

Stizzy’s role as the successor of Monkey Moon has also been quite successful in the second half of the season. With the Spaniard sitting at 5th in Europe in rating, and 6th in goals per game and shots per game, he’s put together a solid showing in the season following his true professional breakout with Dignitas.

Karmine Corp [EU4]

Karmine Corp and Team Vitality always seem to have inverse splits and seasons. When one is up, the other is on the decline. That seems to be the case with the Blue Wall. After their Grand Final loss to Gentle Mates in Open #5, they found themselves unable to win two regionals in the same split for the first time since the 2022-23 season.

After a top 4 exit to round out the regular season, this is also the first time that KC has failed to win at least one regional in a split since that fateful second split of the 2024 season, where they failed to make the regional and finished in 17-24th. They’ve now won a regional in six of the twelve splits that they’ve participated in.

All that aside, this hasn’t necessarily been a bad split for the boys in blue. It’s just that this team has sky-high expectations every year with the captain Vatira leading the squad, and for good reason.

Vatira was second in rating, 8th in score per game, 2nd in goals per game, 4th in assists per game, second in shots per game, 5th in goal participation, and third in demos per game in the second split (minimum 25 games played).

Atow has been a brilliant second punch to Vatira’s first, racking up 0.68 assists and 3.21 shots per game. Juicy, meanwhile, is a bit below league average in terms of shooting, passing, and defence, but it’s hard to fill the shoes of Dralii, who was a brilliant third man for the Blue Wall last season.

Karmine Corp has all three players in the top 10 in demos per game, as Atow and Juicy rank second and ninth in the league, respectively.

Wildcard [OCE1]

Wildcard have gotten their get-back, and their reward is the absolute woodchipper that is Group A. Not all hope is lost, however, as the Paris Major sees the top three teams of each Group make it through to the playoffs, instead of the two we saw escape the preliminary stage in Boston.

Wildcard now sit tied with Team PWR in the Worlds standings, and will officially pass them once they play their first match, locking up their spot at the RLCS World Championship. Their elimination of their closest adversary in the semifinals of Open #5 proved to be the difference, as the two teams traded Grand Final wins, bookending the split for OCE.

This will be Torsos’s 17th RLCS LAN appearance, and the World Championship will be his ninth Worlds appearance of the ten he was eligible to play in.

All three Wildcard players led Oceania in rating– Bananahead in first with 7.76, Fever in second with 7.58, and Torsos in third with 7.52.

Bananahead seems to be putting in another campaign for Oceania MVP, an award he’s earned three times already. The Australian not only leads the league in rating, goals, and shots per game, but also ranks second in score per game among qualified players in split 2.

After a short LAN break, Wildcard have a chance to build off their 2025 Worlds momentum, but have been stuck in a tough group to try and do so.

FUT Esports [NA4]

FUT Esports made a gamble during the trade window and opted to lose all of their points in exchange for what they felt would lead to quick success to get them into the Major conversation, and possibly into Worlds outright. While Worlds is still a ways away, they did make the jump to the NA four seed with the addition of Jstn and Chronic.

Three top 4 appearances, including a second-place finish in Open #5, were enough to propel them into a Major spot amidst a tightly contested Major race in North America.

Chronic, Cheese, and Jstn are 4, 5, and 6 in the qualified rating rankings in North America this split. Jstn is currently scoring 0.82 goals per game and has assists at a similar rate with 0.62 a game, good for seventh best in the region this split.

Cheese himself has put together a solid offensive campaign during the second half of the season, scoring 0.79 goals per game and leading North America in shooting percentage at 28.98%. Chronic has proven to be a solid third man with 2.20 saves per game.

FUT are searching for the org’s first ever LAN series win, as they’ve exited in last place in each of their first three LAN appearances. While this will be a tough group to break the mold in, FUT could be a sleeper candidate and shock one of the EU powerhouses if they can transition their success to the Paris studio.

Group B

NRG [NA1]

It’s clear that NRG still has the fastball despite rounding out their third season with the same roster. After stumbling in Open 1, the longest standing organization in Rocket League responded with 3 regional wins in the next 5 Opens to reclaim the top spot in North America.

Their playstyle is so interesting to look at in terms of stats, because just by looking solely at their defensive metrics you would assume that their defense just isn’t that good. Daniel has the highest number of saves per game on the team with 1.58, good for 35th among qualified players.

But when you shift over to shots per game, it’s clear that NRG just has an insane amount of offensive pressure game after game. It’s a death by a thousand cuts offense. Each player on the top seed from North America averaged over 3 shots per game in split 2, a stat shared only by Gen.G Mobil1 Racing.

NRG is looking to build off of their top 4 finish at the Boston Major by giving North America its first Major title of the season, and the trio’s third LAN win since forming.

MIBR [SAM1]

South America was closer than it’s been in a while this split, and MIBR were the ones to emerge from the fire as the top seed from the region. Even though the trio of Reysbull, Sad, and Aztromick fell to FURIA in Open 4, they responded quickly with an Open #5 win, and then eliminated FURIA from Open #6 in the semifinals to secure their spot in Group B.

MIBR aren’t ones to statpad, but instead utilize their team chemistry to the max in order to get the leg up on their South American rivals.

Reysbull is third in the league in assists per game this split however, and Aztromick is a top 10 defender and one of SAM’s most lethal shooters. He understands it now.

After suffering two tight losses to Gentle Mates and Shopify Rebellion in the Group Stage of the Boston Major, I’m sure that the MIBR boys are eager to make it out into the playoffs this time around, and show the world what SAM has cooking.

Man City Esports [EU5]

There’s a new five seed on the block, and hey look, Seikoo’s back. This is a new look for the 2022 Rocket League World Champion, as he is now accompanied by Ejby and Accro and donning a significantly lighter blue kit.

Ejby and Accro will finally be making their first RLCS Major appearances after finally breaking through to the top 16 in the 2024 and 2021-22 seasons respectively.

There isn’t a comeback player of the year award in the RLCS like there is in say, the NFL, but if there was one, Seikoo would definitely be on the ballot.

After a decent first split with Geekay, Seikoo recorded a 7.19 rating, 428.56 score per game, 0.79 goals per game, and 3.58 shots per game in split 2. Playing with a bit of a chip on your shoulder can bring out the best in you, sometimes.

For a longer tenured player, the mechanics have seemed to have a surprising resurgence as well. For MIBR and NRG, you can never be too comfortable in this group, and Man City definitely have some upset potential.

Five Fears [SSA1]

Five Fears took their Open #1 defeat to the Pioneers personally and won the next FIVE regionals to secure a sweep over the Sub-Saharan Africa LAN spots this season. While they were generally challenged in Grand Final matchups in split 1, the trio of Gunz, Snowyy, and TehQoz have dominated to close out the regular online season, only dropping one game across three Grand Finals series.

TehQoz and Gunz are such a breath of life to the SSA scene as well. These are players with more recent breakouts compared to players like their teammate Snowyy, and they have been a deadly combination on offense, leading the region in both goals and assists per game.

While the social media team has kind of accepted the “hey, we’re just happy to be here vibe,” there’s nothing that says Five Fears can’t come out of the gate and shock some poor Paris Major hopeful in the studio. We’ve seen stranger things happen in this esport after all.

Group C

Twisted Minds [MENA1]

What do you get when you combine the ever youthful Monkey Moon with MENA’s Golden Boy and the defending 1v1 World Champion? That’s right, a Twisted Minds MENA 1 seed.

With R8 surging into the second half of the season and a second split collapse from Team Falcons, Twisted now finds themselves as the favorites of Group C. Their reward, however, is Group Stage Firstkiller and a piping hot NIP.

Preliminary opponents aside, Twisted Minds do have what it takes to top this group.

Their fiery offense has them scoring three goals per game, and NIP and Shopify Rebellion both have goal per game averages that pale in comparison.

TSM have proven they can score in regionals, but we have yet to see them really translate that goal scoring prowess one-to-one in international competition.

Ninjas in Pyjamas [EU3]

NIP has jumped a spot in the rankings in terms of seeding for split 2, and it comes off the back of a super consistent split. They made the semifinals all three Opens in the back half of the season, and even made a finals appearance in Open 4. They were one game win off of making it back in both Opens 5 and 6.

Joreuz has really made a name for himself as consistent, and not in a facetious way like from his time with M80. We’ve seen solid, repeatable results from him both last season with Dignitas, and now here with NIP. Oaly is always a slept-on star, as he led Geekay to a couple of deep runs in LANs at the end of last season, and Crr looks to have returned to his former Complexity self this season as well.

Twisted and Shopify have exploitable defenses, and NIP have the weapons to be able to drive cracks in their armors and possibly grab the top spot of Group C.

Shopify Rebellion [NA3]

With a resurging Spacestation bolting back to life, Shopify has dipped down to NA3, but maybe that’s exactly where they want to be. They avoid FURIA, R8, and Mates, and have a more favourable fourth team with TSM, who doesn’t quite have the regional gauntlet of a schedule that the rest of the teams do.

Firstkiller is living up to that first in his name, leading the region in nearly every statistical category, and his duo from last season’s Ultimates squad is right behind him in goals and assists.

If they can find a way to get Kofyr some one-on-one chances and let him clean up the field some more with increased demolitions, they could be a force to be reckoned with in Group C.

TSM [APAC1]

TSM survived a scare from KINOTROPE this split, and Sphinx, Catalysm, and Kevin get a chance to improve upon a last-place exit in Boston. The squad saw themselves quickly fall behind in the standings after a huge semifinal upset loss to Northstar, but were able to right the ship and dispatch of the Kash-led KINOTROPE Gaming in back-to-back Grand Finals to secure their place in Paris, and at Worlds.

While they were given a tough draw, the Sphinx and Catalysm duo have shown fireworks in the past, putting themselves a series away from the top 8 in Birmingham, securing a series win in Raleigh, and escaping the play-in with upsets over Shopify Rebellion and MIBR.

One 0-3 Group Stage doesn’t erase that, and with TSM playing with house money, there’s a chance that TSM could shock the world and escape the group.

Group D

Gentle Mates [EU2]

The script writers have decided to give Gentle Mates an even tougher test in the second Major of the season. The defending Major Champions of Nass, Archie, and Oski, will do battle with a new and improved Spacestation Gaming, a FURIA with a 2021-22 Season Caliber Yanxnz, and a team that managed to defeat Falcons online. Twice.

As is the case with most teams with Archie on it though, the Mates are cool, calm, and collected. They had the top offense in the region in split 2, and applied midfield and upper-third pressure super well. They have been forced to make the least amount of saves out of any of the qualified European teams in the second split, and give up the fourth fewest goals per game.

If Nass can return to his MVP form in front of the deafening French crowd, the Mates may very well lift the trophy on home soil.

Spacestation Gaming [NA2]

All North American greats have young, mid-career retirements, it seems. Well, I guess it’s only really been BeastMode, but it seems to be working wonders for Zach, formerly Scrzbbles. With Spacestation reeling after a disappointing early exit in the Carolinas, Zach has returned to the league in place of Chronic.

And quicker than you can say “instant-impact,” Spacestation was immediately back to contending. While Firstkiller has always been considered to be “the guy” in terms of North American statistical excellence, Zach is giving him a run for his money. The 16-year-old leads the region in rating and assists, is second in score per game, and third in goals per game.

His teammates Diaz and Reveal are also hovering around a goal per game, making the Spacestation offence one of the most explosive in the region, and maybe even the world.

Expect SSG to give the Group of Death (?) a run for its money.

R8 Esports [MENA2]

In a shock result, R8 Esports will be representing the Middle East instead of the regional kings of Team Falcons.The team that the general public expected to once again play third fiddle in the region just like they did on ROC Esports last season has decided to take matters into their own hands. Key breakouts for Ghaazi, Abdullah, and new addition M7Md have taken the Falcons by surprise, as R8 took them down not once but twice, and became the fifth organisation ever to win a MENA regional.

The new Kuwaitian breakout is R8’s offensive cannon, scoring nearly a goal per game. Ghaazi and Abdullah aren’t far behind, scoring a goal in three out of every four. Ghaazi is also a top 3 assist-man and a demolition merchant in the region, leading to plenty of explosions both in the net and out of it.

Look for R8 to test all three of the more experienced teams in this group, especially FURIA and Spacestation, two teams that don’t counter the demo as well.

FURIA [SAM2]

FURIA may have come up short of the SAM1 seed for the Paris Major, but man, if Yanxnz doesn’t look like a man on fire, then I don’t know what to tell you. 458.23 score per game, 1.12 goals per game, 1.06 assists per game, 4.60 shots per game. Is that good??? (Yes. Yes it is.)

While prodigy Swiftt definitely has taken a back seat to the longer-standing duo of Yanxnz and Lostt, if it’s working, at least online, why play with it?

They should be working to get the young gun a little more involved, just to spread the defences out more.

While Yanxnz is efficient at peppering the net every chance he gets, giving Swiftt the space to cook with his creativity and 1v1 prowess will help to keep defenders guessing. With that said, they’re only one switched result against MIBR from flipping to SAM1, so this is a terrifyingly capable team even if Swiftt isn’t getting as much time on the ball.