Genesis 5 is over, and with it came the conclusion of season 2 of the RCS and the crowning of a new champion. If you’re new to the scene, the Rivals Championship Series is our premiere circuit for official Rivals events. Players compete over the season to earn points and prizes, and eventually duke it out at our finals which took place at Genesis 5 this year. Read on for an in-depth wrap up on all of the action there as well as a hint at our competitive plans for 2018.
Character Reveal
Local events are always a great experience, and sometimes we get to make them even better by bringing something special. This time we revealed our next character – Sylvanos, The Heart of the Forest – and also held a live version of our new developer podcast.
Players who were able to make it over to the Folsom Street Foundry also got a chance to get their hands on him early by playing him in the GameVibes pre-G5 event.
Singles
In addition to this singles bracket being our most stacked tournament ever, we also had a record breaking prize pool of over $12,500. Players came from all over to meet their Rivals friends, compete, and test their mettle in the RCS World Finals. At the end of it all T2 | CakeAssault stood victorious as the RCS season 2 champion after winning an uphill battle through a game 5 reset.
Congratulations to @T2CakeAssault for winning @RivalsOfAether top 6 in a crazy game 5 reset! #G5 pic.twitter.com/NKnF8H5Si2
— GENESIX (@Genesis_Smash) January 21, 2018
Congratulations to all of our top 16, and thanks to all of our competitors who joined us at the event to help make this a piece of Rivals history.
| Standing | Player | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | T2 | CakeAssault |  |
| 2nd | Panda Global | FullStream |  |
| 3rd | MrLz |  |
| 4th | TUX | LBO |  |
| 5th | TUX | DolphinBrick |  |
| 5th | AF | Windows |   |
| 7th | Protagify |   |
| 7th | Kaos |  |
| 9th | FlySociety | TurtleBox | |
| 9th | TwistedSin | FailWhale | |
| 9th | T2 | Penguin |  |
| 9th | VexX | AZCards | |
| 13th | Jesier | |
| 13th | MSB | |
| 13th | Ralph | |
| 13th | ZeeBee | |
If you missed the action while it was live, you can find the VoDs from ShowdownGG and VGBootCamp already on YouTube. Jarek has also released one of his patented highlight videos if you’re looking for a shorter recap:
Doubles
The doubles bracket took place solely on Friday and also broke Rivals records for the level of talent and size of the event. Players made some exciting showings with their friends or sponsored teammates, with T2 | Penguin and T2 | CakeAssault eventually taking home the gold.
| Standing | Team | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Team Tempest T2 Esports Team (T2 | CakeAssault & T2 | Penguin) |
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| 2nd | Twisted Team (TS | FailWhale & TS | SBS) |
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| 3rd | FullBox (PG | FullStream & FS | TurtleBox) |
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| 4th | Cerveaux d’escargots (Kaos & VexX | AZCards) |
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You can find the doubles event VoD playlist on ShowDownGG’s YouTube channel.
Event Photography
This year we brought out Xenos Mccloud for some dedicated Rivals photography at G5. He did an impressive job capturing the event and you can find all of the images in his flickr album. Take a look to find a picture of you and your friends, or just get a better glimpse of what a major is like if you weren’t able to attend.
@RivalsofAether at #Genesis5 #G5 is now live!
Check out teh full album days 1-3 in the link belowhttps://t.co/cg3AyW41rH pic.twitter.com/ELv6bdPEqr— Xenos Mccloud @ Japan🇯🇵 (@XenosMccloud) January 23, 2018
What’s Next?
Even though this closes out season 2, competitive Rivals fans have nothing to fear. We’ve got plenty of esports endeavors in store for this year. In addition to our next Rivals event at Frostbite 2018, we have plans for a new official PR, season 3 of the RCS, and new events with exciting new partners.
Keep an eye out for more competitive news as well as a 2018 event schedule coming soon.