The Renegade Cup is the new Rocket League esports event series that focusses on the grassroots movement of our scene. Over the course of four months there are 8 events, 4 for EU and 4 for NA, that are sponsored by Psyonix and organized by members of the Rocket League community. The first two cups were Project Phoenix (organized by Rival Esports in the NA region) and Grand Prix in the EU region which was organized by French Rocket League community hub Rocket Baguette.

Both events have concluded earlier this week with Splyce emerging victorious in the NA region and Red Reserve being the champions in the EU region. We wanted to take a closer look on the organizers behind one of those Monthlies, so we reached out to our friends from Rocket Baguette. Here’s what Rocket Baguette’s co-founder Boyan says a day after the Grand Prix has concluded.

“Such a format is brand new to the Rocket League scene”

Congratulations on the successful Grand Prix, the first Renegade Cup Monthly for EU. A lot of fantastic teams have played in the tournament. Now that these past exciting weeks are behind you, how do you guys feel looking back on the Grand Prix?

Thanks! What an adventure! It was a great honor to be chosen by Psyonix to host this tournament and kick-off the Renegade Cup in Europe. The experience was challenging, considering the duration of the competition and the stakes. Such a format is brand new to the Rocket League scene and we didn’t really know how the players would react. In the end, while everything was far from being perfect in the Grand Prix – I already know of a few things I would have done differently, I believe it was a successful tournament.

Red Reserve are the first Renegade Cup EU Monthly Champions and qualify directly for the Final Tournament next year where there will be a $20000 prize pool on the line. From your point of view: Did you expect these guys to win the tournament or what was your guess on who would win the Grand Prix?

We definitely expected Red Reserve as one of the teams to watch. We had the chance to broadcast them a lot since the initial roster formed a year ago, with Andom and Kassio, under the now legendary Triple Trouble name, witnessing their growth and evolution. Their Rocket League has always been pleasant to watch. They won The Play last summer in a great fashion, it seems like they are comfortable with the tourneys we host!

That’s a wrap! @RedReserve wins the Grand Prix in a tense 7-game finals against @teamsecret! Congratulations to all the teams that played this first #RenegadeCup this whole month, and to our friends at @RewindRL that helped us on this journey! pic.twitter.com/Ee7liTFNNu — Rocket Baguette (@RocketBaguette) October 25, 2018

What was in your opinion the biggest surprise over the course of the tournament?

7 out of the 8 teams that made it to the Quarter Finals of the Grand Prix are RLRS Season 3 contenders. In the middle of them, the full-norwegian roster of Schmookli. They had a great run, winning both of their pools, defeating Method in Round One and Red Reserve in Round Two. I was excited for their match-up against exceL in quarters… and they lost 4-0. A brutal ending I didn’t expect. Maybe the pressure got to them or it just wasn’t a good day, I don’t know.

“Schmookli had a great run”

Your own Twitch channel only broadcasted the French production, the English one was over at RewindRL. What was the reason to split the stream up and broadcast it in two languages?

Providing an English-language broadcast is mandatory for Renegade Cup hosts, it’s just a natural requirement for Psyonix-sponsored events. This was an additional challenge for us to tackle, even if we’ve done it already for The Play. The French broadcast was optional, we even considered going only for English, but it wouldn’t have been fair to our audience, and we don’t want the community to forget that Rocket Baguette is also a crew of Rocket League casters.

“Two friends on a life-changing journey together”

Rocket Baguette is the main content hub for the French Rocket League community. Tell me about when and why you started this project?

It’s about two friends deciding to go on a life-changing journey together. In July 2015, Spleen showed me this game called Rocket League and I immediately fell in love. I play a lot of football and for the first time, I was playing a video game that felt like playing real football. Also, when I was a kid, I wanted to be a football commentator. In Autumn 2016, we began casting our first ESL GO4 tourneys. We then expanded, naturally and rapidly, to offer a complete french coverage for Rocket League esports, filling a gap but also taking a shot at building something of our own.

What a week running such an event with the blessings of the gods. We brought a lot of people together. What a journey. I think I’m proud and I’m grateful for sure. #ThePlayRL — Boyan (@YoursBoyan) August 12, 2018

With PSG there’s one major sports brand from France engaged in Rocket League. How huge is Rocket League in France in general? Do you guys see a lot of interest from French organizations?

There is no doubt that the player base in France is huge, but it feels like most of them are just casual players that aren’t really aware of the existence of the esports scene. French esports insiders are well aware of the potential of Rocket League but so far it hasn’t been easy to bring in new partners. But I can’t see a future that’s not bright: France has got the best players in the world, three major football clubs involved (PSG, AS Monaco, FC Nantes) as well as a wonderful partnership between Renault and Team Vitality… The only setback right now is that the french audience doesn’t have access to the biggest Rocket League events, as there are no french-language broadcasts.

Now that the Grand Prix is over, what are your upcoming projects that you’ll be focusing on?

October was a very busy month. We had been running three tournaments simultaneously and two remain. Now, we’re preparing for the Trophée Randstad.game Finals at Paris Games Week, the biggest gaming convention in France, next Tuesday. LANs are always exciting and we expect a quite interesting competition with Get Wigglytuff’d (Fairy Peak! / Neqzo / Mout), Epsilon Esports, Exalty and Kawaii Kiwis. Then we’ll have to wrap-up the second season of RBRS (Rocket Baguette Rising Stars), a massive league with 160+ teams playing for 7 consecutive weeks. And then it will probably be time to sit back, take some rest, and prepare for 2019!

The Renegade Cup will continue in November with Rocketeers organizing the Rocketeers Thunderdome. Here’s everything you need to know about the next Monthly.