The new Rocket League Championship Series 2021–2022 season is almost here and from the looks of things, it could be the most exciting to come. The prize pool at $6 million, the largest so far. There are also more regions and an updated format.
Let’s not waste any time and start with the new regions. These three new ones are joining the competition:
- Asia-Pacific North (APAC N)
- Asia-Pacific South (APAC S)
- Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
New Format
Since there are now more regions, it’s important to have uniformity in the leagues and competitions. As a result, all regions will follow the same format. These include:
- The season is divided into Fall, Winter, and Spring Splits, after which leads to the Rocket League World Championship.
- Each Regional Event starts with an Open Qualifier on smash.gg.
- Teams can auto-qualify to Regional Events through their performance at the previous Regional Event.
- For the first Regional Event of the year, all teams need to play in the Open Qualifier.
- Each Split has three Regional Events and is capped with a Major.
- Every Regional and every Major in each Split have 16 teams.
- Each Split features a different format.
- Teams earn points at each event, with Majors being heavily weighted over Regional Events.
- Points from Regional Events and Majors are used to qualify for the Rocket League World Championship.
- RLCS: The Grid won't be back for the RLCS 2021-22 season.
- Team broadcasts are taking place on the first day of every Regional Event in Europe and North America.
- Teams can make two roster moves throughout the season, with a max of one per trade window, without forfeiting their points.
World Championships
Changes are being made as well to the World Championship. This was needed because of having seven regions. Here are the changes:
- The World Championship now has to two main stages:
- World Championship Wildcard
- World Championship Main Event
- Eight teams will auto-qualify to the Main Event.
- Regions that perform the best at Majors are rewarded with auto-qualification spots to the World Championship.
- After three Majors, the best regions in the top eight of Major points are weighted against each other to see who earns the most auto-qualified slots to the World Championship Main Event.
- The Main Event features four double-elimination groups that feed into a high-stakes, single-elimination bracket.
- 16 teams qualify for the World Championship Wildcard which are:
- North America: Three seeds
- Europe: Three seeds
- Middle East and North Africa: Two seeds
- Oceania (OCE): Two seeds
- South America: Two seeds
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Two seeds
- Asia-Pacific North: One seed
- Asia-Pacific South: One seed
- The top eight teams from the World Championship Wildcard qualify for the World Championship Main Event.
- The World Championship Wildcard features a Swiss format.
Learn more about everything new coming to RLCS here.
Rocket League is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
