Last season’s World Championship had a lot of highlights: Buzzer beaters, team drama and fantastic matches overall. But none of it would’ve been as much fun if it wouldn’t have been for two British Rocket League fans: Stumpy and Cole. Together they animated the entire crowd, filled the now legendary block #104 with life and came up with different chants for lots of players.

Without a doubt: LANdon was the best World Championship to date, and a lot of it has to do with the fantastic atmosphere Stumpy, Cole and their community created. Now everybody’s curious to hear what the two have planned for LAN Vegas, the RLCS Season 6 World Championship in Las Vegas. So, we asked.

“The best Rocket League we’ve ever seen”

Hey Stumpy, hey Cole. The World Championship is only a couple of days away. When are you heading over to Las Vegas and what are your expectations towards this event?

Cole: We’re heading down on the Monday – so by the time you read this we’ll probably already be there! My expectations? For the Rocket League to be by far the best we’ve ever seen. Most people have forgotten that at #LANdon the play was a bit scrappy for the first day or so until everyone settled down. Even Dignitas started slowly, getting smashed by NRG the first time they played. This time, I reckon anyone who starts slowly is going straight out.

Stumpy: Cole’s said when we’re heading out, so that’s covered! I think the NA crowd will take to chanting well, maybe not necessarily the more wordy chants. If we can establish a strong core of 20 people on day 1 then we’re set! We’ve got Yumi, Johnny, and Athena joining us so we’ve got a global group already.

“Most of the classics were made by people in our community”

In June you guys brought a couple of amazing chants to the arena in London, which made the atmosphere really special. Tell me a bit about how you came up with all these chants for the different players?

Cole: We get a lot of the credit for the chants, but in truth most of the all-time classics were made by people in our community. We had a whole team of guys and girls managing our @RLChants Twitter account, Discord posts, basically all social media, and that’s before you even get to who came up with the chants themselves. Again, the answer is a tonne of people! We’d craft them by committee in our Discord before trying them for real in the crowd. Some of them would bomb, but others picked up straight away and we knew we were on to a winner. Shout out to Jay and Craftman for leading a tonne of the chants alongside me, as well as RamS and Strykr for managing the Twitter account.

Stumpy: It was a case of practicing at various Insomnia events in the UK with the Rocket League tournaments and honing the ones that work. Once we’d seen the seating sections of the Copperbox we decided on section 104 to be the best placed, so made sure everyone in our community booked their tickets nice and fast! Most of them were made up on the day as we were given whiteboards by some lovely people in order to point at lyrics for everyone behind us to get involved.

“Almost every player has at least two chants”

What kind of chants can the fans in Las Vegas expect?

Cole: More of the same, with new material for almost every player. It’s tough to balance allowing a chant to become synonymous with a player (e.g. Hey Kaydop, ooh! Aah! I wanna knooow when you’ll score a goal!) with making sure it doesn’t get old. This time, almost every player has at least two chants, and there are a tonne more ideas going on in our Discord so if some start to lose their shine, we can substitute in a new chant that’s objectively just as good. We’ve also focused a lot on team chants as opposed to player ones. My favourite? The Imperial March for when Dignitas walk out. Credit to Mr SunlessKhan for that piece of genius!

We taught @CJCJ_RL from @TaintedOrg his #LANVegas chant! It’s just his name a buncha times. Ez. ?Join our Discord and suggest your own or learn the current ones! https://t.co/0Fugi3cXdu pic.twitter.com/VlhhMHBH6R — SubPar #Team104 ?? (@SubParButInHD) November 9, 2018

Stumpy: Well, I was DM’d by Panda saying that he wanted a new chant as he apparently isn’t going extinct, so that’s obviously making a comeback. We’ve looked into some American football/basketball/baseball songs and tried to adapt them to the teams in RLCS, so the American lads don’t feel we’re ignoring their home!

“Team 104 baby!”

What block in the arena will you be in?

Cole: Team 104 baby! As far as I know we’re right in the middle of it all this time. The players won’t be able to ignore us, so it’s on them to deal with the pressure and the (very vocal) attention they’ll receive. Also I’d like to take the time to send some appreciation Psyonix’s way. They’ve really bought into the chanting culture that’s starting to develop within Rocket League, including retweeting a tonne of tweets we’ve made and pushing #Team104 as much as possible. Much love to them.

How long was your throat sore after LANdon?

Cole: It’s only just recovered, just in time for #LANVegas.

Stumpy: After day 1 I couldn’t speak, and it was hard going into day 2&3. As we left the Copperbox and were walking to the after party, everyone was still singing and chanting even on the tube into the O2. I couldn’t speak properly for at least 5 days afterwards!

“Maybe CJCJ can do a few somersaults?”

Among the highlights of the RLCS S6 World Championship was the crazy entrance by CJCJ on his toddler car. How do you expect this guy to beat this?

Cole: Maybe he’s been practicing gymnastics and he can do a few somersaults out? I don’t know – the guy can do no wrong in my eyes so if he literally trips out the door and crawls the rest of the way then I’ll still see it as utterly legendary.

Stumpy: His teammates walk out, confusion on their faces. The search in the smoke behind them and there’s no sign of him anywhere. Suddenly, Gibbs walks out, everyone thinks it’s a prank! No. He peels away his suit and skin, CJ emerges a newborn babe. They go on to not concede a single goal and take home 1st place.

“Dignitas tear apart any opponent”

On paper, Dignitas are the favorite going into the tournament. Do you think that these guys might pull it off to secure another championship?

Cole: The thing about Dignitas is that they don’t just play well on paper. They tear apart any opponent they’re up against, no matter the context, or the pressure, or the prizepool. We’ve all seen that moment from Season 5, but what impresses me the most is Panda immediately turning to his teammates after JSTN’s buzzer beater and telling his teammates they still got this. Without missing a beat. That mindset is genuinely incredible. It’s world class. And it’s one of the key reasons that I think Dignitas are going to win Worlds again.

Stumpy: I’d love for them to be able to be taken down, but I don’t see it happening. Every Worlds they win just means that when they are beaten, it’ll be even better!

We’re back with @ViolentPandaRL & @Turbopolsa to teach them the epic @dignitas walkout song for #LANVegas. It’s the goshdarn Imperial March (credit to @SunlessKhan for the idea). ?Join the Discord to share chant ideas and learn the confirmed chants: https://t.co/0Fugi3cXdu pic.twitter.com/fyIF0zOjQ1 — SubPar #Team104 ?? (@SubParButInHD) November 9, 2018

“We need more bastards in the scene!”

You know so many of the players and teams that will compete in Las Vegas. Is there a team that you’re personally rooting for?

Cole: Every time I think I don’t care about a team I meet one of their players and immediately want them to start doing well. We need more bastards in the scene! Honestly, I know it sounds lame but at this point I have a reason to root for each and every team. Seeing a deep run from Tainted Minds would be great though, for multiple reasons.

Stumpy: We travelled over to Las Vegas with 2/3rds of WDG and we know them from the Gfinity Elite Series. I would love to see an orgless team go on to win as I think Reddit would have a meltdown. It’s also been a long time coming for EyeIgnite to get to this point and he deserves success for all the hard work he’s put in.

“We’re going to have mountains of fast food!”

While you’re in Vegas: What else are you guys planning to do? Have you been there before?

Cole: I’ve never even been out of Europe before, and I’ll never forget that it’s Rocket League that’s finally given me the opportunity and reason to do so. I plan to meet up with as many people from the Rocket League community as possible, wander around Vegas itself instead of just staying in my hotel, and record a tonne of stuff for a VLOG after (without taking myself too much out the live situation. Tough balance, right?)

Stumpy: We’re going to explore a lot hopefully. I love how crazy it’s always seemed in films and on TV so to be able to have a few days before Friday to hang out with the casters and some players will be lovely. We’re also going to have mountains of fast food!

When you come back we’re happy to see you again in the Rocketeers Thunderdome as casters of our Renegade Cup Monthly. There are already a couple of strong-looking teams. Do you dare to give a prediction who might win the tournament at the end of November?

Cole: Haha, that’s a big ask. I’d say Secret but every time we cast them in a finals they end up losing. I’ll probably go with Method. I love the way they play the game, and when they’re on form they’re able to make almost any team in the world look rushed and haphazard. And Kassio is a god. Saying that I’ve probably now cursed them and they won’t make it out of Round 2. Sorry boys.

Stumpy: I’ve got Method to win the Elite Series and I’ve also got them to win the Thunderdome. Incredibly strong team and despite missing out on the promo/relegation tournament, I have no doubts they’ll get there next season.