Karmine Corp wins the RLCS EU Winter Open

The Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) Winter Split is finally done with its first qualifier of the split, the Winter Open. The intense qualifier has concluded for four regions and we have seen four winners emerging from the frozen field! These winners have gone through quite an opening for the Winter Split that happened last weekend from Jan. 27 to Jan 29.

The results from this qualifier will be used to determine rankings for the upcoming RLCS Winter Major in April as well as the RLCS World Championship this August. Let's take a look at our winners and the updated standings in the RLCS Rankings.

Karmine Corp is usually on everyone's lips when asked about the strongest team in Rocket League. No one can deny they are a powerful team, especially with the lineup of Amine "itachi" Benayachi, Brice "ExoTiiK" Bigeard, and Axel "vatira." Touret. They had a successful Fall Split with them getting two runner-ups and one first place in the Fall qualifiers.

The French team survived the round-robin group stage of the Winter Open with a loss against Team Vitality. They went against Vertigo Esports and G1 in the playoffs before meeting up with German Amigos in the semifinals. German Amigos failed to bring down the French Titan, leading Karmine Corp to meet up again with Team Vitality, this time in the Grand Final. Team Vitality, previously wounded by their intense matchup against Oxygen Esports, ended up falling to Karmine Corp's aggressiveness. Karmine Corp emerges as the champion of the RLCS EU Winter Open with a score of 4:1.

The team is currently at the top of the overall RLCS EU Ranking with 86 points. They are also at the top of the RLCS EU Winter Ranking at 23 points, strengthening their possible invite to the Winter Major.

Team Secret was consistent throughout last Fall Major, staying in the top four but always short of becoming the champion of any qualifier. This time, they managed to snatch the championship, proving their improvement and consistency in the scene. Their current roster is Roberto Lima "Sad" de Souza, Olímpio "nxghtt" Torres, and Danilo "kv1" Michelini.

The team made a clean swipe in the round-robin stage of the Winter Open. They proceeded to go against the newly acquired The Club, beating them with a score of 4:1. Team Secret then defeated w7m esports in the semifinal before advancing to the grand final to face off Exceed. They didn't deter as no one can stop them from getting the crown and they took down Exceed with a score of 4:1.

In the overall RLCS SA Ranking, Team Secret stays at the top of the list with 86 points. They are also currently number one in the RLCS SA Winter Ranking at 23 points, working their way to get an invite for the RLCS Winter Major in San Diego.

The Japanese esports organization had quite a hard time in the Fall Split. They got second place in Fall Open, followed by 3rd-4th place for the Fall Cup, and top eight for the Fall Invitational. In this RLCS Winter Open, they managed to bring down Elevate, previously James Cheese, who had won all three Fall qualifiers this season. DeToNator's victory spells a new challenge for the APAC giant in the region.

In the Winter Open's round-robin group stage, DeToNator took down all three teams before meeting with Rezi's Minions in the playoffs. They proceeded smoothly with a score of 4:0 leading them to meet with Elevate in the semifinals. With two overtimes in the first two games, Detonator had their head straight and managed to take down the APAC champion. They then met up with Gaimin Gladiators and had an intense back-and-forth matchup leading to Game 7 when DeToNator finally takes the crown.

DeToNator is currently first on the APAC Winter Ranking at 23 points. The team is second on the overall APAC Ranking just behind team Elevate, with 61 points.

The American esports organization acquired the South African team, May contain nuts, in the Fall season. The team took all three of the Fall regionals, and it is to no one's surprise when they take their throne in this Winter Open. It's a tough team to take down, especially with a roster that emerged as the top three players of the SSA region last season, which are David "2Die4" Morgenrood, Gareth "Snowyy" Spiers, and Ethan "Darth." Deysel.

In the RLCS SSA Winter Open, Limitless has not lost a single game through the event. In a post-match interview, 2Die4 was asked how they maintain being on top of every team in the scene without a better team to compete and scrim against. 2Die4 answered, "We just constantly playing together, trying to improve, working on our chemistry. Because that's always the most important part-playing together as a team."

Limitless stays on top of the overall RLCS SSA Ranking with 86 points. They, unfortunately, will not be making it to the Winter Major in San Diego as the SSA region has not received any team quota for the majors this season.

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