RLCS 1v1 Recap: Grand Finals deliver, Nwpo and Diaz earn back-to-back bids

Will ConnellJuly 01, 20268:58 AM

The more some things change, the more others stay the same. That was the case with the 1v1 Opens this weekend.

Last weekend, South America and Europe crowned two different champions compared to the previous iteration of the RLCS 1v1 circuit, but North America and MENA decided to stick to tradition.

Let’s break down the 1v1 tournaments that wrapped up this past Sunday

North America

The Field of Sixteen

16 players made it all the way to the second weekend. Virtus Pro’s Wahvey and FUT Esports’ Chronic made it through Swiss undefeated, along with Shopify Rebellion star Firstkiller and new Gen.G addition Evoh from the other group.

Two different sets of 3v3 teammates, Spacestation’s Diaz and Zach, and Dignitas’s Fiv3Up and Bora, made it through to the main event with 3-1 records.

Ones mains Wizz, S5-Cosmic, and aZapatos qualified for the second weekend as well, and they were joined by veteran Ayyjayy, Canadian upstart Loakci, Cumberland University’s KnightYuh, content creator Forky, and FUT Esports’ Cheese.

Wahvey was one of the favourites going into the tournament, but quickly fell to the lower bracket at the hands of Zach in the Upper qualification match. Zach, who has been playing the best Rocket League of his life this season, would face defending regional champion and Spacestation teammate Diaz in the upper bracket of the playoffs.

Evoh took down Centio main aZapatos in the other upper qualification match of Group A to clinch his spot in the top 6.

AZap quickly recovered with a 3-1 win over Fiv3Up, while Wahvey bounced back and took down Forky to clinch top 8.

In Group B, Diaz stunned Firstkiller in game 5 to clinch top 6, and retired star Ayyjayy took the other upper bracket spot from the group with a win over Dignitas’s Bora.

In the lower bracket, Canadian player Loakci, who has never made a top 16 in any game mode in the RLCS, beat Cheese in 4 to put himself one series away from top 8, before losing to Bora.

Meanwhile, Firstkiller beat Wizz in the final match of the day to advance to Saturday.

Wishing Wizz Well

As a quick aside, Wizz has emerged as a very capable player these past couple of years. The 19-year-old made it to the top 8 in last season’s RLCS 1v1 North America Open with wins over Kehvn and Reveal. He also finished in the top 6 of the Ascension Protocol LAN, only bowing out due to a loss to Worlds Runner-up Mawkzy.

Wizz took to Twitter earlier this week and announced that he had been diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma, a rare, fast-growing cancer, shortly after his elimination from this weekend’s tournament.

As a quickly improving player and a great personality, we’d just like to take time to wish Wizz luck in his battle with cancer, that we’re rooting for him, and we’re excited to see him take the pitch once again in the future after he wins an all-important 1v1 outside of the game of Rocket League.

The race for Sunday

With two favourites sitting in the lower bracket, four matches away from a title, we were in for a dogfight all the way to the finish line. Bora tested Wahvey but ultimately fell short in game 6, and the VP star would be heading to the final day of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Firstkiller cruised past Azap, and Evoh swept Ayyjayy to head to Championship Sunday. The fourth match of the day featured a showdown between teammates Zach and Diaz.

Although Zach did jump ahead to a quick 2-0 lead, the reigning Regional Champion stepped in and took the next four games to clinch a spot in the semifinals.

On Sunday, Firstkiller and Wahvey both grabbed 4-2 leads and moved on to the semifinals. Firstkiller took on Evoh and dominated, clinching a Grand Finals appearance.

Meanwhile, Diaz marched ever closer to a repeat title with a sweep over Wahvey.

Despite the underwhelming semifinals, the finals delivered. The two players traded blows, and Firstkiller managed to force a game 7 with a 5-2 win on Neo Tokyo. With Firstkiller up late, 6-5, Diaz managed to find an equaliser in the final minute before winning on an air dribble in game 7 overtime.

The Brazilian was heading back to the LAN 1v1 Bracket to face off against Nass at Dickie’s Arena.

Middle East and North Africa

Nwpo continues to dominate

Twisted Minds star and defending RLCS 1v1 World Champion Nwpo proved to still be untouchable in the ones scene. He went 6-0 in his Friday games to make it to the top 6.

He was joined by his teammate Trk511, Team Stallions standout Nush, and one half of the Team Falcons one-two punch in Kiileerrz.

The other half of that combo was nowhere to be seen on Saturday or Sunday, however, as he was sent home early with a group stage game 5 loss to vFbi. Other fan favourite player Dark(?) was disqualified after failing to show up to either of his matches.

Joining Fbi among the lower bracket qualifying players were Ops, Willie, and Fahad506.

Fbi continued his lower bracket run of destiny with a 4-1 win over Fahad, while Ops outlasted Willie in game 7.

Nwpo crushed his 3v3 teammate in five games, meaning that Trk would have to take on ops in the lower bracket. Nush outlasted Kiileerrz in the other upper quarterfinal to place himself in the top 4.

Trk would advance to play him off of a forfeit, and managed to overpower the less experienced Nush in six games. Meanwhile, Fbi completed his run with a win over the other Falcons twin for a shot at Nwpo.

Nwpo ended the linsanity run with a sweep, and advanced for a rematch against his teammate in the Grand Finals.

The rematch was much more entertaining, with Trk511 on his game. With his back against the wall, Nwpo dropped 19 goals in games 6 and 7 to win the series and earn his second straight bid to represent MENA 1v1s on the World stage.