With Team BDS lifting the trophy in Fort Worth back in September, the 2024 season of the Rocket League Championship Series is officially in the books. The announcement that came out of that same broadcast deserves a closer look, because the 2025 season is going to be the most ambitious year RLCS has put together since the post-League-Play reboot.
The headline numbers
- $5,000,000 total prize pool across the season.
- The RLCS World Championship expands from 16 to 20 teams.
- A brand-new 1v1 tournament joins the circuit.
- A Last Chance Qualifier slot opens between Major 2 and Worlds.
- BLAST continues as tournament organizer in its second year running RLCS.
What's actually new
The 3v3 circuit's structure stays largely the same — two splits, three regional opens per split, two Majors, one Worlds. The Major 1 venue has been confirmed as Birmingham (UK), with Major 2 in Raleigh, North Carolina later in the year.
The big format change is the way teams move through each Open. The 2025 system uses two Swiss groups of 16, with the top 8 from each advancing to a GSL stage, and from there a hybrid elimination bracket. It's a faster, more decisive sequence than the 2024 system — fewer matches between bracket reset points, more games that immediately matter.
1v1 is now official
The most genuinely new thing on the calendar is 1v1. Each region (NA, EU, SAM, MENA) gets a 1v1 tournament at each Major, with regional winners qualifying for a 1v1 World Championship that will run alongside 3v3 Worlds in September.
On paper, this is a side event. In practice, it's going to reshape the conversation about who the best individual players in Rocket League actually are. Pros who have spent years building a reputation in coordinated 3v3 will now have to prove it stripped of teammates, with no rotation to lean on. We expect surprises.
The best 3v3 player on a roster isn't always the best 1v1 player. We're about to find out exactly who is who.
The teams to watch
Heading into 2025, the contenders we're paying closest attention to:
- Karmine Corp — Vatira-led, came in 3rd-4th at Fort Worth after stumbling against G2 Stride. Still arguably the most mechanically talented EU roster.
- Team BDS — Defending World Champions. The roster around M0nkey M00n that won at Fort Worth doesn't lose easily.
- G2 Stride — 2024 Worlds runner-up and London Major winner. They've been knocking on the door all year.
- Gentle Mates — Copenhagen Major champions in 2024. Won't sneak up on anyone in 2025.
- Team Falcons — MENA's best, and the team most ready to break the Europe/NA stranglehold on international trophies.
What we're watching
- Does the Worlds expansion to 20 teams genuinely change competition, or just add a play-in round of mostly-foregone conclusions?
- Does any non-EU region win a Major?
- Who claims the inaugural 1v1 trophy — a 3v3 superstar or a specialist?
- Can the 2024 reboot's open-qualifier model survive at scale, or do we see another structural redesign for 2026?
The first regional opens kick off in late January. We'll have power rankings, roster move analysis, and Major previews as the calendar fills in. For now: welcome to the 2025 season.