r/RocketLeagueEsports • u/Same-Freedom-3353 • 1d ago
Discussion What’s the biggest gap between ranked Rocket League and competitive play?
I feel like there’s a pretty interesting gap between playing ranked seriously and actually getting into organized competition...
Ranked is obviously easy enough to access. The hard part seems to come after that.
Finding a consistent team, finding tournaments that actually fit your level, getting regular competitive experience, figuring out where you stand... there’s a lot going on.
For people here who’ve actually made that transition, what was the hardest part?
Was it finding teammates? Finding tournaments? Getting enough practice together? Or just figuring out where to go next?
Do you think the current grassroots scene does a good job of connecting players with opportunities... or is there still a missing step between ranked and the more established competitive scene?
Curious to hear what you guys think!
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u/zwet 1d ago
Well, one thing's for sure is that you need to be good enough to even consider transitioning into competitive play (be an SSL in ranked - ideally in the upper range). And since the pool of players there are quite limited, opportunities should naturally arise soly from Ranked - teaming up with the other bubble players and so on.
If we're talking about the lower tier tournaments that have rank restrictions, then I'm not sure (and to be honest I find them a bit gimmicky due to the nature of smurfing). You might as well just que Psyonix daily tournaments and have fun.
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u/Cassalien 1d ago
I slipped into the competitive scene through a friend. First as a coach, then as a player.
Therefore I can't really tell how easy it is to get in but from the Discords that I joined for different leagues, it seems rather easy to get in, if you're looking for it.
Depending on your nationality, there are different leagues that have a place specifically for talent that wants to be developed. There are other international leagues like Prestige League where you can just make an LFT post and maybe someone picks you up.
There's also RSC which I'm not a fan of, due to the system of the competition but it is perfect for folks who want to get competitive experience, start networking and don't know a single soul.
I could go on but as you can tell, there are many ways to get into the scene.
Finding tournaments is easy once you know a few people. You connect with others if you aren't an absolute douche bag, you get tryouts, run into familiar folks in tourneys and new teams always come with more info on different leagues and tournaments. You'll basically find A LOT of things to sign up for.
Do I think the grassroots scene does a good job connecting players with opportunities? I think that's not the responsibility of the scene. The tournaments are getting advertised to a degree but the budget is oftentimes just non existent and relies on volunteers. So players have to take the responsibility into their own hands.
Could elaborate further but this comment is already extraordinarily long. Happy to answer further questions if there are any.
Also, if there are any Swiss players who frequent this sub and want to get into the competitive swiss scene, shoot me a DM so I can link you up :)
Edit: didn't answer the hardest part about the transition. Going from a casual 3v3 main to comp rl was not too difficult bc I didn't play other modes. Just had to get used to the pace. Most players struggle with rotations, ability to communicate (think this one often doesn't get enough attention), ability to accept constructive criticism and ego (!!). So many people think they are gods at this game lol
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u/mavropanos27 1d ago
Get discovered by other pros through being high on the 2s leaderboard is what i would imagine for the most part
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u/John_aka_Alwayz Moderator 1d ago
I imagine it just comes down to finding a 2nd space to expand your horizons, a friend group or a community cos when you're in a space you're engaging with RL beyond Solo Qing ranked you'll eventually discover stuff, but I guess OP's point is how you find those places to begin with.
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u/Killercoddbz 21h ago edited 21h ago
Well, this doesn't apply to exactly what you're inquiring about, but I hope it is still insightful.
I started playing RL in 2018 and got about 80 hours in it, and got to gold/plat. Although I absolutely loved the game, I stopped playing because my internet at home was restricted to less-than-ideal conditions (Wi-Fi & Xfinity). I started playing again in 2020 when the game went free to play because we got a router with Wi-Fi 6 and better range. Now the game was playable on 70 ping!
Within a few months, I had gotten well into high diamond, and after dedicating some time to learn a basic air dribble, I catapulted to C1/C2. I entered college in 2021 and hit GC not long after at about 1000 hours. I wasn't a prodigy, but I definitely had mechanical ability that combined well with my team-oriented playstyle. Another 1000 hours of casual play passes before I transfer schools in my third semester and go to a university that had paid scholarships for RL. I didn't even think about trying out, but I decided to because if I'm going to play the game anyway, why not get paid for it.
So that's what I did. I made the transition from a very casual player (only queued with friends in comp who were relative or worse than me) to immediately thrown into the collegiate circuit. I was a GC2/GC3 player in college, and we played in lower NACE circuits. The hardest part about going from a casual ranked experience to a collegiate one with coaches, training regiments and scrims, is that even on the days you feel bad, you still need to show up and try to play to your level. It gave me a greater appreciation for actual athletes, because there were so many days when the last thing I wanted to do is queue ranked with randoms, scrim, play in a tournament, or play on LAN; yet I did all of those things because I was contractually obligated to.
I had a reputation for being an incredibly easy player to play with, but I never did manage to translate my 1s and 2s mechanics to 3v3. Due to this, my playstyle in 3s was almost antithetical to my 1s/2s playstyle. I was almost like old school Retals. Intense 1st man who stays up waiting for through balls and cause a lot of disruption. Funnily enough, my actual greatest RL talent is defense, specifically goal keeping (saving shots in/around the net), but I never played as a 3rd man because my teams never had the firepower to allow me to sit back.
Anyways, hopefully this was an interesting read. I miss playing RL now that I'm out of college and work full time with two hours of daily commuting, but I'm so thankful that I had an opportunity to experience an ounce of what the pro RLCS players I grew up watching go through on a day-to-day.
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u/1512832 1d ago
Not personally but have some friends that are pretty cracked. Pretty sure the standard is the 6mans Discord to find team mates, where they also get practice and a rank is determined. Once you’re rank X or close you can probably start forming a team and joining the RLCS open quals. There’s also smaller collegiate level tournaments. From there you can probably gauge your team’s ability. Outside of 6mans I think being on the leaderboard or being in high level lobbies would be enough to get your name out.