News

Season 5 Online Top 50 – Introduction

Each year we look back on the previous competitive season and the players who influenced our scene by creating a Top 50 Players list. Season 5 (July 2020 – January 2021) was a particularly interesting season, with players forced to adapt to an entirely online circuit. Even with these new challenges the year featured record breaking events happening left and right. Our minimum attendance this season was a whopping 374, with four of our events counting over 450 players! The RCS Finals proved to be our largest event ever, with 608 unique entrants, 21 hours of streaming, and four events over a three day period.

We recognize that this year is indeed different in nature due to the complexities of online and the shorter season resulting from COVID uncertainty in early 2019. Less eligible events than Season 4 and online results made our rankings a bit more difficult than previous years, however we count ourselves lucky to have such a dedicated community. Competitors, Tournament Organizers, volunteers, commentators, and spectators fueled a Season 5 that changed and molded itself before our very eyes. The fluidity and willingness to overcome obstacles together made Season 5 one for the books. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

Before we delve into the rankings this year, here’s an introduction on how the list was formed along with our events list and hidden bosses.

View more articles in the Season Five Online NA Rankings Series:

Player Qualifications

Two years ago during season 4 we saw events from the RCS circuit and grassroots community alike shape the Top 50 rankings. It was noted that, while it would have been nearly impossible to predict the massive success of non-RCS events, some transparency as to which events would be counted would be nice.

To address that issue in Season 5, we announced every event that would count towards the rankings at the start of the season. This method was ideal for players to enter events without fear of having unrelated performances affect their placements. However there were some events that popped up, such as Kingpin 4, that would have made great additions to the season. With this in mind, our next season could introduce applications for Tournament Organizers to include their event in rankings as their signups open, without being an official RCS event. This method would allow more fluidity to our season, while keeping players in the loop as events are announced.

For the Season 5 Online Rankings, we only considered players with 2 or more events from the list below to be eligible for the Rivals Top 50.

Season 5 Ranking Events
ROCS Finals
RCS Fire
RCS Air
RCS Earth
RCS Water
RCS Finals

Methodology

This year, we brought back the panel system from Seasons 3 and 4, ranking players based on a combination of their best wins/worst losses and their placements at eligible events. Disqualifications from losers bracket were considered as losses for the player that DQd, while not giving their opponent an artificial bump beyond their better placement. Finally, players who entered the minimum number of events (two) were scrutinized more heavily than others due to the lack of data to go off of. In the end, neither the considerations for DQs, nor the minimum event considerations affected player placements too heavily.

The age-old debate of offline or online was no longer a concern due to our exclusively online season. All events carried the same weight except for the RCS Finals, which was weighted heavier due to the high stakes and the fact that it was our grand finale. It is important to note that the ROCS Finals was originally meant to carry the same weight as a RCS Major when the potential for offline tournaments still existed, so it is considered to be equal to our Elemental Majors.

Once this ranking system was completed, a council made additional adjustments to the order based on head-to-head results, activity, and other data. This group consisted of players and Tournament Organizers from across the country in order to accurately represent the various regions of North America: Junior, Menace13, MSB, Renzo, SBS, and Sparx21. Protagify was brought in for a third party review once the list was completed.

Hidden Bosses

Players given the title of Hidden Boss were recognized by the panel as major threats to tournaments this season that just didn’t quite meet the requirements to be ranked.

Adi, Heyodogo, LBO, NCB

EU Rivals Championship Series Season 5 Wrap-Up

Season 5 of the European Rivals Championship Series concluded this month with our first ever region-specific Finals event making its way online. The EU RCS Finals brought out new the 2020 talent, with a few newer faces seizing the opportunity to make a name for themselves.

Some amazing sets with both Doubles and Singles live-streamed made this weekend one to remember. Read on for a recap featuring highlights, event breakdown, and more.

VODS

Let’s start with the VoDs in case you’re here to avoid spoilers. You can find everything we had on stream throughout RCS Season 5 over at our official channel. Singles and Doubles are available now.

EU RCS Finals | Singles

EU RCS Finals | Doubles

THE CHAMP

Congratulations to Fireicey for winning the RCS Championship!

Fireicey cemented himself as a household name after claiming the EU RCS Season 4 title and traveling to Genesis 7. Fireicey started Season 5 off with some familiar competition from Transco, Falling in RCS Fire and Air, before finding his first Major win at RCS Earth. Things looked a bit dicey as Fireicey dropped into losers side just before top 8, paving to way for a monstrous Sunday run, losing only 3 games in 6 sets to secure his victory.

Fireicey also went on to win an impressive doubles bracket with his teammate, OliveOily. Congratulations to our EU Champion!

SINGLES MAIN EVENT RESULTS

Just before Top 8, alki and Shayd achieved game 5 stunners to knock top seeds Fireicey and Japal into losers. This opened the door for Z0nyx to make a run of a lifetime, reaching the winners side of Grand Finals before eventually falling to a seemingly unstoppable Fireicey coming from the Losers side.

Standing Player Character
1st Fireicey
2nd Z0nyx
3rd alki
4th Japal
5th Shayd
5th DJ Dacus (Sportsfreund)
7th Jimbenator
7th Hukon
Full Standings >

DOUBLES RESULTS

OliveOily and Fireicey ran though a difficult Doubles bracket, dropping a few games early on but securing perfect victories in Winners Finals and Grand Finals.

Standing Player Character
1st OliveOily / Fireicey  
2nd FullMetal / Slimepuffen  
3rd DJ Dacus (Sportsfreund) / Dima Richman  
Full Standings >

VOLUNTEERS

A special shout-out to Frikinin for taking up the responsibility of head T.O. during RCS Season 5. This is not an easy job and he stepped up to the plate to create a wonderful competitive environment while working with production czar, Readek, who held down some amazing streams on  our official Twitch throughout the Season. In addition to streaming, Readek helped out Frikinin and OliveOily with event seeding, and put extra care into creating a universal stream tool while adding region specific aspects for the EU RCS events!

Finally, thank you to all of the wonderful commentators who helped bring the hype to the RCS Finals: Cyberstorm, Raven, Zakip, Hermoise, Guidobaldo, Defileus, Slimepuffen.

We hope you enjoyed the final event of the season. We hope to bring you more events soon, thank you!

AU Rivals Championship Series Season 5 Wrap-Up

Season 5 of the Australian Rivals Championship Series concluded this month with our first ever region-specific Finals event making its way online. The AU RCS Finals brought out the new and old guard alike, as Australian Titans met one final time.

Some amazing sets with a live-streamed Top 8, and two special side events made this weekend one to remember. Read on for a recap featuring highlights, event breakdown, and more.

VODS

Let’s start with the VoDs in case you’re here to avoid spoilers. You can find everything we had on stream throughout RCS Season 5 over at our official channel. Singles Top 8 is available now.

AU RCS Finals | Top 8

THE CHAMP

Congratulations to SNC for winning the RCS Championship!

SNC remained a constant threat throughout the RCS Season, taking 9th place in RCS Fire, 1st place in RCS Air, and 2nd place in RCS Earth. His bracket run this time seemed to be unstoppable, making it to Grand Finals without dropping a game – that all changed once grand finals began. Reeling from a 3-0 loss in Winners Finals, Jet came back with a vengeance and reset the bracket with a stunning 3-0 of his own, forcing SNC into a corner. SNC dug deep with the Championship on the line and responded in turn, shutting out Jet in the bracket reset to secure his thrilling 1st place finish!

SNC also went on to win a perfect doubles bracket with his teammate, Hammerhead96. Congratulations to our AU Champion!

SINGLES MAIN EVENT RESULTS

The winners side of phase 2 had a few major upsets, which really shook up Losers side of Top 8.

Standing Player Character
1st SNC
2nd Jet
3rd MAST!
4th OSU  
5th FEL
5th Katsune
7th Obscurity
7th Hammerhead96
Full Standings >

ARCADIAN SINGLES RESULTS

The Australian RCS Finals played host to a unique singles event aimed at shining a spotlight on unranked players in the region. While there were players overlapping Top 8s between the Arcadian and the main Singles events, a newer face ended up taking the whole thing. Xenix‘s Sylvanos proved to overwhelm the competition as the number one seed without dropping a single set.

Standing Player Character
1st Xenix
2nd Obscurity
3rd Random7Flame
4th speedrockstrong
5th Hammerhead96
5th jemic
7th RenderedSpy
7th Unladen

Full Standings >

DOUBLES RESULTS

SNC and Hammerhead96 dominated the RCS Doubles bracket without dropping a single game. Double Kragg CAN do it!

Standing Player Character
1st SNC / Hammerhead96  
2nd Katsune / Jarcino  
3rd Conga-Heli / Obscurity  
Full Standings >

VOLUNTEERS

A special shout-out to Katsune for taking up the responsibility of head T.O. during RCS Season 5. This is not an easy job and she did an excellent job balancing organization and competition throughout the Season. In addition to Katsune, a special shout-out to OSU for his role in helping put out fires when needed and for organizing streams for past RCS events. Finally, thank you to our volunteer commentators Irene and Random7Flame for stepping up to the plate and ensuring the Finals could be streamed live with the event.

We hope you enjoyed the final event of the season. We understand that Australia is able to run small-scale local events once more, so please be safe and continue to be responsible in future events!

Rivals Championship Series Season 5 Wrap-Up

Season 5 of the Rivals Championship Series concluded this month with our traditional Finals event making its way online. The RCS Finals shattered our previous attendance records and brought the fiercest competition and highest stakes our online environment has ever seen, with over $16,500 raised by the community for the collective events.

Outstanding sets, multiple events across multiple days, and other ambitious efforts made the Finals weekend one to remember. Read on for a recap featuring highlights, event breakdown, and more.

VODS

Let’s start with the VoDs in case you’re here to avoid spoilers. You can find everything we had on stream throughout RCS Season 5 over at our official channel. Singles and all associated side events from the Finals (Tetherball Doubles, Doubles, and Workshop Singles) are all available now.

NA RCS Finals | Pools

Workshop | Top 8

Season 5 Finale Promo

This year, before top 32, we played a special video highlighting the ROCS Finals and the 4 Elemental Majors that made up season 5. This incredible production was created by community member Casual Scrub, and can be found here for repeated viewing pleasure:

THE CHAMP

Congratulations to Penguin for his first place finish in singles. After falling just short of an RCS Championship title each of the last two years, he has finally cemented himself as the world champion.

Penguin also went on a tear in this weekend’s side events. He won a perfect doubles bracket with the help of his teammate CakeAssault, took first place after a thrilling bracket reset in Workshop Singles, and took home 4th place with his teammate Windows in Tetherball Doubles.

SINGLES MAIN EVENT RESULTS

Our top 32 was incredibly diverse at this event. Combined with new players and some top 16 upsets this led to some surprising matchups in top 8.

Standing Player Character
1st Penguin
2nd Kusi
3rd Halite
4th CakeAssault
5th Seggo
5th CheesyPotato
7th Xaro
7th ZeeBee
Full Standings >

WORKSHOP SINGLES RESULTS

Workshop Singles was an exciting event, with a lot of history going into it. Some incredible sets left the community shocked as the tournament’s 1st seed fell at 9th place. Top 8 was a mix of Workshop exclusive players and familiar champions from the RCS, making a truly unique experience for everyone involved!

Standing Player Character
1st Penguin Acid Rainbows
2nd CakeAssault Acid Rainbows
3rd 2004 Honda Civic Otto
4th gracefulknight Pomme
5th Zora Lyca
5th ZeeBee Gustav
7th Windows Astra
7th Ambi Lode & Puul

Full Standings >

DOUBLES RESULTS

Penguin and CakeAssault proved once again that their chemistry is unmatched, winning every single game they played for a decisively perfect bracket.

Standing Player Character
1st Penguin / CakeAssault
2nd Xaro / Mr. Mutton  
3rd MattyIce / Mr. Olsen  
Full Standings >

TETHERBALL DOUBLES RESULTS

Trace and ZeeBee both claimed to be the best Tetherball Singles players, so it is no surprise that they formed a superteam of sorts to take home the crown in our first ever RCS Tetherball event.

Standing Player Character
1st Trace / ZeeBee
2nd Menace13 / Tico
3rd Giga Bowser / Sawtooth
Full Standings >

VOLUNTEERS

As fun as this event was, none of it could have happened without the incredible work of community volunteers. We would like to give a special shout-out to these tireless behind-the-scenes workers now!

We hope you enjoyed the final event of the season. Make sure to keep an eye out for future promoted events, and our first ever Online Top 50 list!

Creatures Tournament League 2021

Creatures of Aether Esports is Getting a Shake-up!

Creature of Aether has been running weekly tournaments since its early day of Closed Beta in June of this year. Since then, the Creatures team has been working with our most competitive player base and our wonderful Tournament Organizer, Junior to cultivate the best tournament experience possible. Now, after half a year of events, it is time to re-format how we run our league with some exciting changes.

Creatures Tournament League 2021

If you’ve been looking to get into competitive Creatures of Aether, now is the perfect time. Starting January 9th, our brand new league format aims to foster laid-back, approachable weekly events with stacking participation rewards, and a new monthly series for players to truly unleash their competitive sides. Players will be able to participate in single elimination Saturday weeklies to fill out a seasonal “punch-card” of sorts, earning exclusive Champion card skins as they progress over the course of a three month season.

Here’s a look at how things are going to work:

Structure

Each season will span the course of three months, each generally consisting of three weeklies and one monthly event.

  • Weeklies will be Best-of-three, single elimination brackets.
    • Brackets will be on Saturdays at 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET to accommodate more regions than our previous events.
  • Monthlies will be Swiss style pools, leading into single elimination, Top 8 finals brackets.
    • Brackets will be on Saturdays at 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET to accommodate more regions than our previous events.

Rewards

Tournament rewards will range from unique Champion card art to in game currency for players that place well in events, or even simply participate. On top of our standard prizes, every event will also have bonus raffles that will provide two lucky participants with 100 Abyss Orbs each.

New legendary creatures can change the tide of any match!

Weeklies:

Weekly attendance will present a unique opportunity for players to receive some of our champion skins from previous seasons. Players will earn a specific skin for every other event they participate in, with attendance resetting at the end of each Quarter. This pseudo punch-card is as followed:

  • Weekly #1: Champion Zetterburn
  • Weekly #3: Champion Maypul
  • Weekly #5: Champion Absa
  • Weekly #7: Champion Orcane

While keeping these weekly events approachable is a key focus, we will still be providing Abyss Orb prizes to the Top 3 of each tournament as followed:

  • 1st – 300 orbs
  • 2nd – 200 orbs
  • 3rd – 100 orbs

Thwart your opponent with board manipulating abilities!

 

Monthlies:

With new battle passes coming out every month, we saw this as the perfect opportunity to keep active competitors up to date with the newest skins, while staying relevant to in-app events! Participants in these events will earn themselves a champion skin for the Rival in the current Battle Pass. In addition to participation prizes, Top 8 will be awarded their share of Abyss Orbs as followed:

  • 1st – 500 orbs
  • 2nd – 400 orbs
  • 3rd – 300 orbs
  • 4th – 200 orbs
  • 5th – 100 orbs

Master your Rivals’ ability for devastating plays!

League Champions:

Top 8 players by points at the end of each season will win 1,000 Abyss Orbs and a champion skin of their choice of any Rival in the game at the time.

League Points

League points are an easy way to track players’ progress and participation over the course of our three month seasons. Points are awarded each time you play in an event. Keep track of your points over the season here. League Point breakdowns are as followed:

Weeklies:

All players who participate and finish their bracket runs will receive 5 League Points.

Monthlies:

These events are going to be much more competition focused, and the League Points will reflect that.

  • 1st – 150
  • 2nd – 125
  • 3rd – 100
  • 4th – 80
  • 5th – 70
  • 9th-16th – 40
  • Participation – 10

Perfect attendance, including all weeklies and monthlies, will award players with 25 League Points.

Standings from our final season of 2020. Congratulations to Moyeah99!

The Creatures Tournament League is now live!

Check out the League Page and find your standings HERE.

Registration for the first Weekly, on January 9th, is open HERE.

Registration for the first Monthly, on January 30th, is open HERE.