With such a memey team name you would think that this is a bunch of unknown players just having some fun in the regional qualifiers. However, it would appear you’d be very wrong indeed! A subtle blend of new and old talent, The Last Resort’s roster took everyone by surprise last weekend by making Stage 2 of the European regional.
Sebadam (ENG), BoyScHoolQ (ENG) and Rehzzy (ENG) are a rare find in today’s Rocket League ecosystem. A full team of players all under the same national flag. Their previous results are high placings in NiceCactus and other weekly events, but only boasting 2 wins in the European bubble scene puts this team far out of their depth in Stage 2 of the European regional. So, how did they do it? We interview the Englishmen to find out.
I think it would be fair to say that very few people would have predicted you to make the main event of the regional, let alone stage 2. How does it feel to make it to the top 16 in Europe?
BoyScHoolQ: We always had the belief we could make the last 32 for the main event. Once we were there we knew it was all a learning experience and all we could do was put in our best performances and hope to cause some upsets. Once we had pulled off the comeback to finish 3–2 for the day and qualify I was almost in a sort of shock at what we had just achieved. It was a great feeling to show that we can compete with some of the top teams in Europe.
Rehzzy: It feels really good to a top 16 team in Europe and able to prove to everyone that we can compete at the highest level.
You qualified for stage two of the first regional event of RLCS X by beating a Fadeaway team that most would probably favour in that matchup. Did you go into that series with that in mind? Did you try to play a certain playstyle you thought would work against someone like Freakii and Tigreee or were you just focusing on playing your game like usual?
BoyScHoolQ: Our game plan did not change at all going into the match against Fadeaway. We had great momentum after starting 0–2 on the day to bring it back to a series 5 decider against them that we were buzzing and had lots of confidence in our ability to complete the turnaround. We always go into a game believing we can win or cause an upset and from the first kick-off it was full focus from all of us. We knew what was at stake and we knew being the underdogs could work in our favour and I’m just happy we took advantage of the opportunity we got ourselves in.
Rehzzy: Going into the series against Fadeaway, I knew it would be a tough series, but we had nothing to lose. Personally, I felt like the pressure was on Fadeaway as they had just lost their last 2 series, whereas we had just won 2 of our last series, resulting in us having a lot of momentum, and I really wanted to carry that into this series. With that said, I tried to motivate and uplift Boyschool and Sebadam as much as possible so we could play at our best.
<To BoyschoolQ and Rehzzy> I think it would be fair to say that Sebadam’s competitive experience in Rocket League is far greater than both of yours, more so at the top level. How is it teaming with someone with so much experience and how does that affect the team dynamic?
BoyScHoolQ: Seb brings an amazing mindset and positive attitude to the team which is the real difference. He is very forward-thinking and playing with someone of his calibre helps me to play more confidently alongside him and the team.
Rehzzy: As Boyschool said, Seb brings a really good mentality to the team and his positive energy really motivates me to play to the best of my abilities. His attitude towards every game pushes me to try and perform and win every series/scrim.
<To Sebadam> After being on some great rosters over the years, many would have thought you had either retired or taken a step back from competitive Rocket League. How does it feel to be back in the higher levels of the game with two great rookies by your side? Do you take the role of a mentor at any point?
Sebadam: Yeah, that’s a common misconception. I see a lot of people who perhaps aren’t super into the bubble scene ask why I stopped playing competitive Rocket League ever since I wasn’t in RLCS Season 2, even though I was playing in RLRS back in Season 4 and 5, and then after I never made an appearance back in RLRS, I was still competing and performing well in many online and offline tournaments.
So, I never really took a break or anything except for when I subbed for AS Monaco in RLCS Season 9. But, it definitely feels great to be playing with another high-level roster who are constantly trying to improve themselves in-game and this format is fantastic for generating a lot of playtime, especially for bubble teams who were essentially neglected by Psyonix previously.
I wouldn’t say I take the role of a mentor, the only thing I do like to bang on about is how important playtime is and that we won’t improve as a team and individually if we are lazy with how much we play and we find excuses instead of playing the game and improving that way, so that’s the only thing I do talk a lot about.
After making an impact in your first major tournament, there are going to be a lot of teams with their eyes on you in Stage 2. Who are you most looking forward to facing? Who do you want to beat the most?
BoyScHoolQ: Unfortunately for Stage 2, Rehzzy will be away on holiday and we will be subbing in Slush!. With that being said, I would love to play against BDS as they are looking very strong and it will be a good experience to play against the top quality players they have. Of course the team everyone wants to beat is Vitality, they are the best team in Europe and I got to see that first hand in stage 1. But, the team I would like to beat most would be the new Dignitas roster. They have an exciting new roster and are of course a big org so beating them would be an amazing achievement.
As a relatively new team, being only just over a month old, what are your goals for the season ahead?
BoyScHoolQ: We are all very competitive and do not like losing which is a great motivation for us to keep grinding on our way to reaching the top. I feel like reaching the main event from the regionals is a reasonable starting goal but of course, the main aim is to reach majors and eventually competing at the very top. I am never satisfied if I’m not winning!
Rehzzy: To be honest with you, I don’t really know, so far I am incredibly pleased with how we have performed, as I said, we have exceeded many people’s predictions of how far we would make it within this regional alone, anything further than this is a bonus, but I am hoping we can perform to a similar level in every other competition
<To Sebadam/BoyschoolQ> You guys made a recent change before roster lock, releasing Tylacto for Rehzzy. Were you worried at any point and how is everyone adapting?
BoyScHoolQ: A roster change is always a risk but we never had any doubts once we decided to bring Rehzzy in. I have been friends with him for a long time and have always seen lots of potential in his game. Immediately we clicked as a team in scrims and we qualified for the ESM monthly finals together by winning the 2nd qualifier. We all want the same thing, and that is to go for the win no matter who we are against. With that attitude, it helps us to learn to adapt to each other and make it work so we can achieve a mutual goal.
Sebadam: Not necessarily, I and BoyScHoolQ knew what type of player we wanted on our team so it was just a matter of being able to secure a player that we both wanted. As soon as Rehzzy told us he was down to play with us for the future. I was not worried as, from what BoyScHoolQ said, we did really well in the ESM Qualifier together so I knew that as long as we kept up our playtime and mechanics, we wouldn’t have much of an issue in regards to being able to perform at that level again.
Thank you to the boys on The Last Resort for the interview, and good luck this weekend!
Author(s):
Achilles (@achilles_xf)
Dion (@dionginge)
