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Top 10 Rocket League players of 2020
Following on from the top 10 roster moves of 2020, we’ll be looking at the best players from the entire year.
Trying to come up with a list of the 10 best players is a difficult task in and of itself, but trying to rank them is nearly impossible. Nobody is going to create a top 10 list that makes nobody upset, because there are wayyy more than 10 players who have an argument to be here.
The last thing to note before we actually get into the list is that it, like all other lists in this series, is based on the entire calendar year of 2020. This is not a “top 10 players in the world right now,” nor is it a “top 10 players of season x” list.
Now that we’ve got the boring disclaimers out of the way, let’s begin by looking at our honorable mentions:
Honorable Mentions
Atomic (Ghost Gaming/Team Envy)
Atomic was insanely hard to leave out of the Top 10. As one of the fastest and most mechanically adept players in North America, he, like basically everyone else on this list, can be the best player in the world on any given day.
While we’ve always seen his potential, Atomic truly broke during the Season 9 Regional Championships, where he absolutely dismantled Cloud9 and the Susquehanna Soniqs almost entirely by himself.
The addition of Turbopolsa to Team Envy seemed to help Atomic maintain this potential as one of the scariest players to face in the world. His status as a consistent force has only improved since season X began as his team finds themselves at the top of the region.
MaRc_By_8 (Team BDS)
MaRc_By_8 is not the “worst” player on Team BDS, he’s simply the least perfect.
During BDS’s dominant run, MaRc got the least amount of credit for the team’s success from analysts, casters, and fellow pros alike. However, no team dominates this much without all three players being incredibly consistent.
Every member of BDS has near-perfect rotation and speed. He’s easily still a top 15 player in the world, but his lack of ridiculous solo plays and flashy goals in comparison to his teammates are what have him as the lowest-ranked player on the best team in Europe.
Archie (Clappers/Top Blokes)
My current vote for Season X EU MVP, Archie has been nothing short of brilliant for as long as he’s been in the spotlight.
Turning ex-Veloce around after a tumultuous season 9 was sure to be an incredibly difficult task, especially for a 15-year-old rookie, but Archie managed perfectly. His game sense and mechanics are second-to-none, and his ability to elevate his teammates to the best play of their career rivals that of Turbopolsa.
He sits at an honorable mention simply because of his absence in the first half of the year, but mark my words: Archie will be a top 5 player by the end of 2021.
Rizzo (G2 Esports)
For some reason, G2 decided that they would trick everyone into thinking they’re washed back in Season 8. They looked terrible, placed dead last, and without JKnaps’s heroic performance in the relegation tournament, were staring down the barrel of the RLRS.
Unlike literally everything else in 2020, however, G2 took a significant turn for the better. They absolutely dominated the first half of the year in North America with a second-place League Play finish and a convincing win against SSG in the grand finals of the regional playoffs.
While you can blame the team house, I choose to select Rizzo for the reason behind this turnaround as he has stepped it up in 2020 more than anyone else on his team.
His improvement in mechanics and speed between Seasons 8 and 9 was one of the largest we’ve seen from any player as he transitioned from a third man role to one that focused more on disrupting his opponents through midfield challenges, boost steals, and demos.
Rizzo, along with NRG’s SquishyMuffinz, is the poster child of “underrated because he’s popular.” Having one of the biggest fanbases in the scene will obviously result in diehard fans wrongly calling you the best player in the world, but critics seem to overcompensate for this by underrating him.
Rizzo is not just popular because of his personality. He’s also really damn good at Rocket League.
Turbopolsa (NRG Esports/Team Envy)
Despite his basically unanimous status as the GOAT, I can’t seem to find a time in RLCS history where Turbo was considered the best player in the world “right now.”
Turbo has never been the fastest or mechanically reliable player. The goals Turbo is known for aren’t flashy or very mechanically impressive, but rather ones that stem from just being at the perfect place at the perfect time and just a little bit of luck.
What Turbo has been and always will be, however, is a winner. He just knows how to win. You put him on your team, and you will win more matches. It’s basically a guarantee at this point.
A list of the best players cannot be complete without the GOAT, especially considering how he has played with Team Envy.
I know I said he isn’t known for his mechanics and that’s true, but that’s not to say that there hasn’t been significant improvement in them this year. His lacklustre Season 9 with NRG is what keeps him from breaking into the top 10. But Season X has seen Turbo at his fastest and most confident, which is a terrifying sight for the rest of the world.
#10: Extra (AS Monaco/Team BDS)
If only he had a real team around him in Season 9. Extra has been absolutely maniacal all year, even when he went 0-9 on AS Monaco and auto-relegated.
I think I knew he was going to be a top 10 player when he hit a ridiculous cross-pitch air dribble flip reset against Mouz, and I was not wrong.
After his team’s disbanding, Extra found his way over to Team BDS, which in retrospect was probably the best roster mover of the entire year, because it resulted in a string of dominance we haven’t seen since Season 5-6 Dignitas.
Extra has looked near flawless all season as BDS has crushed the competition. He’s an absolute blast to watch, can score basically at will, and has one of the best challenge games in the world. Extra is truly everything you want in a player.
#9: Arsenal (Spacestation Gaming)
Nevermind him being arguably the best entertainer in the game (Seriously, go check out his YouTube… The kid is hilarious), Arsenal has been playing absolutely out of his mind at a mind-bogglingly consistent level.
There isn’t a thing on the pitch he cannot do, but what stands out to me most is his creativity and aggression. Arsenal always seems to find new ways to score, pass, or defend, and he’s probably the most disruptive player in North America as well.
His place on SSG is perfectly defined and he fits the role exquisitely. As one of the most demo-heavy and mechanical players in the game, Arsenal is surely annoying to play against but that’s part of what makes him so good.
He’s always had incredible mechanics but it seems the addition of Retals to SSG has allowed Arsenal to go for more of the solo plays we knew he was capable of but rarely saw. Boy, have they been a treat.
Arsenal has quickly developed into one of my favorite players in the world to watch and it’s obvious as to why.
#8: Mist (Ghost Gaming/Team Envy)
Mist’s arrival on Ghost prior to Season 9 really excited me. I knew he had the potential to lead a team, but we didn’t see that much in his time with Pittsburgh Knights as most of the offense ran through Gyro and Retals.
A change in scenery was exactly what Mist needed and boy did he choose well. Every week since the start of Season 9 has increased his standing amongst the community. He was the biggest facilitator on Ghost, and once they transitioned to Envy and picked up Turbo, he turned into a hard carry.
Mist’s fall split was absurd. He took over series after series and led Envy to third place in NA despite some growing pains between Atomic and Turbo. Once the winter split came around, the team truly clicked and vaulted into the number 1 spot after winning two regionals in a row.
It’s Mist’s consistency that gets him the nod over his teammates for the top spot on the list (Envy is one of only two teams with all three players here), as he’s largely the reason Envy is widely considered the team with the highest floor in the world. At the same time, though, he’s the reason their ceiling rivals anyone else’s too.
#7 Firstkiller (Rogue)
We’ve reached the point in the list where literally every player from here on out has been called the best player in the world at some point this year.
What is there to say about Firstkiller that hasn’t been said? He can do things literally nobody else can do. His time in the 1v1 scene has made him a 50/50 god. Rogue’s success basically lives and dies with Firstkiller.
Since he joined Rogue, he has been their undisputed best player and a consensus top 5 player in NA. His boost usage is also off the charts, resulting in him being one of the fastest players in the world.
Despite finally entering the 3v3 scene in 2020, Firstkiller’s 1v1 game hasn’t deteriorated one bit, as he’s still one of the most formidable foes one can come up against. In fact, his success in 1v1 tournaments is what has him higher than several players with significantly better 3v3 results.
There are few scarier sights than Firstkiller with the ball in open space. Even the thought of it makes defenders freeze up. He puts in fantastic goals and makes fantastic saves with fantastic consistency and has cemented himself as a titan of North American Rocket League in his first year of RLCS competition.
#6: Fairy Peak! (Renault Vitality)
Ask any European pro which player they’d like to team with regardless of their current team and I guarantee you at least half of them say Fairy Peak.
And for good reason. For his entire career, Fairy has been the ideal teammate due to his perfect rotational skills and willingness to let his teammates take over a series.
However, 2020 saw Fairy step up into the carry role quite a bit. While Alpha was still adjusting to life with Vitality, Fairy was a strong MVP candidate and won the title of Golden Striker for Season 9 and has continued his unparalleled consistency throughout Season X as well.
Maybe his most impressive feat of the year was his 1v1 victory against OKhaliD in the Fusion tournament. It was Fairy’s first 1s tournament in quite a long time and he came against the best 1v1 player in the world at the time in a thrilling seven-game series. Fairy’s ability to remain cool under pressure continues to be unmatched throughout the region.
There isn’t much else to say about Fairy Peak that hasn’t been said already. He’s a top 10 player of all time in 3v3 and arguably the 1s GOAT and he has not regressed in the slightest in 2020.
#5: AztraL (Dignitas/Oxygen Esports)
Since he entered the RLCS in Season 8, AztraL has been a top 5 player in Europe.
He had already realized most of his potential at the Season 8 world championships but he became a different beast in Season 9. He absolutely deserved the MVP honors he was given in Season 9, and for much of the year, was considered the best player in the world.
This was especially clear in the Season 9 Regional Championships in which he carried Dignitas to a first-place finish over Renault Vitality. Not only did he single-handedly take over the series, he did it against what was widely considered the best team in the world at the time.
AztraL has popularized a few mechanics as well, such as using his second jump to propel himself back to the ground. (Not saying he discovered it but he was the first player in RLCS I saw do it)
Even though his results with Oxygen have been pretty middling so far in season X, AztraL has maintained himself a mechanical force on both sides of the pitch and will always have the potential to dominate even the best teams in the world.
#4: M0nkey M00n (Team BDS)
M0nkey M00n is the only player I can argue has been the best player in his respective league for all of 2020.
I find myself hard-pressed to find a soul in the world that thinks anyone but M0nkey was the best player not only in the European Rival Series in Season 9 but the Rival Series as a whole.
He was probably better than many RLCS players at the time, too. After leading BDS to a near-perfect record and first-place finish, it was obvious that he was destined for greatness.
And greatness he has achieved. M0nkey M00n has been the leading force behind BDS’s insane stretch of play over the course of the last several months. He is both the offensive initiator and defensive mastermind on the best team in Europe. He owns several of the best plays on both sides of the field from the entire year. He’s led the systematic dismantling of every top team in Europe several times this season. He’s running away with the European MVP vote and has been called the best player in the world by basically everyone whose opinion I take seriously multiple times.
M0nkey M00n is an absolute force to be reckoned with every time he takes the pitch and has rightfully earned his spot on this list.
#3 Sypical (Spacestation Gaming)
Full disclosure: Sypical is my favorite player in the world. Every single time I watch him, I am absolutely mesmerized at how someone can have his level of car control. He’s probably the most offensively creative player in the world with the exception of the two people above him on this list.
It’s genuinely difficult for me to describe just how fascinating Sypical is to watch. Any time you see Sypical take to the air with the ball you can say “yup, that’s a goal” and 8 or 9 times out of 10 you’ll be correct. That’s how consistent he is.
I’ve mentioned several times in this list that certain players have the ability to dismantle an entire team over the course of the series but Sypical has the unique ability to dismantle an entire defense of three pro players in a single dribble.
While I can’t recall who said it, the most accurate thing I’ve heard about Syp is as follows: “If you’re playing 2s with Sypical and you lose, you just have to accept that it was your fault because he does not make mistakes.”
While Spacestation didn’t really begin dominating the North American region until the addition of Retals, it’s Sypical who has been leading the charge on the most electrifying team in NA.
#2 Alpha54 (Renault Vitality)
Alpha had a few struggle series in his first season with Vitality, but since then, he’s been either the second or first best player in Europe, maybe the world. Absolutely nobody can do the things Alpha does on the offensive side of the ball.
It’s not even his nutty solo play ability, which quite literally is the best in the world, it’s the fact that his general striking is also arguably the best in the world. From anywhere past midfield, Alpha can put a shot anywhere on net that he feels like with blistering speed. It’s an incredibly unique skill to hone to his level and one that has helped keep his status as a world-class player.
I’ve been talking up every player on this list as a mechanical wizard but something about Alpha is just different. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s one of a very small handful of pros who still only uses standard air roll instead of air roll left and right, or maybe it’s just the fact that he’s insane. But it seems that every touch he makes on the ball is threatening.
Regardless, Alpha is the most dominant offensive force in the world and has been for the majority of the year. You could have called Alpha the best player in the world at literally any time in 2020 and I would’ve found it hard to disagree with you. There’s only one other player who I think can match that claim.
#1 Jstn (NRG Esports)
Calling jstn the best player is almost too easy. He seems to be a player people are afraid to call the best in the world simply because he’s the safest and most casual answer to the question. I disagree. I watch every single game of the RLCS. Jstn deserves this spot.
In all seriousness, jstn has been the best player in the world for the past two, probably two and a half years basically nonstop. There’s no other way to put it: it just looks like he’s playing a different game from everyone else.
At his lowest of lows, jstn is still a top ten player in the world. When he’s peaking, well, I think Scrub Killa said it best. Maybe it’s just a natural affinity for the game, as his hours aren’t anything out of the ordinary for a top-level pro, but something about the way jstn approaches Rocket League allows him to consistently be the best player on the field no matter who he’s up against.
Jstn is an absolute marvel to watch. The man hits quadruple taps against Spacestation and can double flip reset all over Team Envy. It doesn’t matter who’s on the other side, when jstn gets it going, there is absolutely no way anyone is stopping NRG. Any time a player pulls off a goal that looks like the first of its kind, there’s probably a clip of jstn somewhere doing it first.
Although I didn’t make this in-depth of a list, jstn was my number 1 player of 2019 as well. He has done absolutely nothing to lose that accolade. It’s going to take a legendary effort to rip the title of “best player in the world according to mbs,” and just as legendary an effort to rip the world championship title from NRG.
Jstn isn’t a secret weapon, he’s the worst kept secret in the world. He’s just a weapon: one that nobody has found the counter for.
The top 10 Rocket League players 2020
So here it is the top 10 best Rocket League players in 2020.
This fact alone would disqualify from him from most peoples lists but that would be allowing you to overlook one of the most mechanically gifted players in the game.
And not only a mechanical god, but one who was the driving force behind PSG’s DreamHack 2018 Leipzig major win, FC Barcelona’s rise from RLRS to Day 3 of Worlds in just two seasons, and in his 3rd and final season with the Spanish side took home both the European Regular Season MVP and Clutch Playmaker awards.
Of course, we have to caveat all of that with questions about his attitude and ability to work in a team. Which have cost him, but that’s why he’s 10th on this list and not 1st.
Don’t believe me? Check it out.
Season 3: 2nd Savior of the Season and 2nd in Clutch Playmaker.
Season 4: Regular Season MVP.
Season 5: 2nd in Golden Striker and 2nd in Regular Season MVP.
Season 6: Golden Striker and 2nd in Regular Season MVP
Season 7 Grand Finals: Day 2 MVP.
Season 8: Promotion Playoffs MVP.
SquishyMuffinz is one of Rocket League’s OGs. The Canadian rose to prominence as one of the games most jawdropping tricksters, uploading videos to YouTube that showcased his skills and goals.
He got his big break in Rocket League esports when he joined Kyle “Torment” Storer and Jesus “Gimmick” Parra to form Muffin Men which would later become Cloud9.
They finished their first RLCS season as the no.1 team in North America and would ultimately win it all when they dethroned the Dignitas Dynasty in the RLCS Season 6 Grand Final.
SquishyMuffinz has always been the main man at Cloud9 and by any metric is their highest performing player. They are struggling at the moment, a poor showing in RLCS Season 8 saw them in a relegation fight and Season 9 hasn’t started as they would have hoped but the one shining light in the team is SquishyMuffinz.
An unbelievably nutty player who will surely be back to winning ways sooner rather than later.
And he has the trophies to back it up all that talent. His time at PSG saw him lift two DreamHack majors and he has been dominating Europe with that same roster, now under the banner of Team Reciprocity. They finished 1st in RLCS Season 8 Europe and took home the Regional Championship in a 4-0 demolition of Renault Vitality in the final.
That’s all thanks to the immense understanding that Team Reciprocity’s trio of Chaussette, Emil «fruity» Moselund and Victor «Ferra» Francal share. They have played together for the best part of two years and everyone knows what each other’s role is in the team, their rotations are perfect and Chaussette is always there to pull off a spectacular save or nudge it over the line after relentless pressure.
He is a player you never really «see» before it’s too late and that’s just how Team Reciprocity like it.
No one has had bigger shoes to fill in the history of Rocket League than AztraL had when he was signed to replace the departed Pierre “Turbopolsa” Silfver, and while it would be a stretch to say he has done that yet, few Dignitas fans would say they aren’t excited to see what the Belgian can do for the team.
They have carried that good form into RLCS Season 9, playing out of this world and AztraL has been at the heart of everything good about the side.
He is unbelievable attacking force and easily one of the best passers in the league. Time seems to stop when he has the ball and you never know if he is going to put it on a plate for a teammate or dribble it around the opposition and score himself. Need more convincing? Out of the all the players from EU and NA that have played over 50 games in RLCS he has the highest win percentage (58.23%) and score per game (407.96)
A prodigy in the true sense of the word, Scrub Killa started making a name for himself in his early teens when he began dominating in 1s most notably in fellow Scot, John «Johnnyboi_i» McDonald’s iconic show matches. He would challenge players much more established than himself and it was easy to see that he could not only hang with the best, he could beat them too.
These performances made him much sought after by teams but they would have to wait because he was under 15, the required age for an RLCS player.
It was French organisation Renault Vitality, that would win the race for his signature, joining Victor «Fairy Peak!» Locquet and Philip «paschy90» Paschmeyer, for the start of RLCS Season 6.
His first season wasn’t the fairytale entrance into the top tier that everyone predicted. Vitality missed out on LAN with the only saving grace being Scrub’s Savior of the Season award on account of a couple of clutch performances that turned a potentially disastrous season into a strong foundation to build on.
Vitaly would replace paschy with Alexandre «Kaydop» Courant heading into Season 7 and this roster move helped Scrub to unlock his potential.
He would take home Clutch Playmaker in the regular season and pick up the Day 1, Day 3 and World Championship MVP award after defeating G2 esports in the Grand Final in Newark.
Scrub would be let go, but his reputation was far from diminished. He had proven himself as more than simply a promising wunderkind, but a capable performer at the highest level.
To say Garrett is an allrounder would suggest he doesn’t excel at any one part of the game but that wouldn’t be the case. He excels at many aspects of the game and is just very very good at other parts.
His main strengths are his clinical shooting and an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time which has helped him become the top goalscorer in RLCS history.
He has been at the heart of the domination of the North American scene They gave won the North American Regular Season three times since he has been there but success at Worlds has always alluded them and that had put an unfair question mark over the team and GarrettG’s abilities.
But that was all to change with the signing of Pierre “Turbopolsa” Silfver heading into RLCS Season 8. The three-time World Champion gave NRG a swagger that elevated his teammates’ performances.
They stormed through the regular season placing 1st with a 6-1 record losing only a dead rubber tie against Rogue Gaming in Week 5.
It would have been for nothing though if they failed at the World Championship, but the NRG roster that turned up to Madrid was different from anyone that had come before it.
As the top seed, they had to win just four games and duly did that, beating previous World Champions Renault Vitality twice, to take their place at the top of Rocket League esports with GarretG’s front and centre.
(Credit: Justin «jstn.» Morales)
Justin «jstn.» Morales has already proven himself to be one of, if not the most mechanically skilful players in the game and he has the wins to back it up. So much so that it might already be a mistake to place the American only 3rd on this list.
He made his competitive debut with Out of Style in the RLRS and blow that competition up finishing 2nd in the Regional Championship, earning them a and jstn. a place in the RLCS. He would make his RLCS debut that season but it would be for another team. NRG saw the obvious potential that he possessed and the North American powerhouse picked him up.
His impact was immediate and he quickly established himself as one of the best attackers in the region. There is no better dribbler in the game, bringing an energy and unpredictability to NRG’s attack that makes them the best team in the game.
He is also cool under pressure, his iconic zero-second goal in the World Championship final against Dignitas forcing a game 7. They would go on to lose that game but jstn’s reputation as a man for the big moment was cemented.
Heartbreak would turn to ecstasy in RLCS Season 8. Jstn. dominated league play getting 2nd in the in Regular Season MVP and Golden Striker and picking up two player of the week awards. But it was the World Championship he, and NRG, wanted.
They went through the World Championship undefeated taking down Renault Vitality 4-3 in the Grand Final and left the impression that there was much more to come from jstn and this NRG side.
Kaydop has been a fixture in the RLCS since Season 3 but made his name before that as one of the best 1s players in the world. Winning a string of Gfinity and Mock-It eSports tournaments.
He couples a technically proficient playstyle with an ice-cold competitiveness that has seen him become one of the most successful players in Rocket League history.
He has won the RLCS World Championship three times, once under the banner of Gale Esports and then Dignitas. Creating a literal dynasty that people coined, funnily enough, the Dignitas Dynasty. That team is no more with Turbopolsa making his move to NRG and Kaydrop heading to Renault Vitality.
Success continued there for the Frenchman. He won the RLCS in his first season with the organisation, followed up with a runner’s up medal after losing to NRG in the World Championship of Season 8.
A phenomenal player, with a track record beaten only by one other player. More on him later.
Few would disagree but some might so I am going to make a case for Turbopolsa being the GOAT of Rocket League.
This is a man who was subbed in for Northern Gaming before the RLCS Season 3 World Championship, went through an insane lower-bracket run ultimately meeting and defeating Mock-It in the Grand Final.
With one World Championship under his belt, Turbopolsa was on the move.
He went to Gale Force Esports, joining up with Alexandre «Kaydop» Courant and Jos «ViolentPanda» van Meurs to create what would ultimately become known as the Dignitas Dynasty. In his first season, they defeated Method to take another World Championship and Turbopolsa’s second.
But he wasn’t finished, Season 5 brought further success and another Grand Final. This time against NRG, and yes «THIS IS ROCKET LEAGUE!» A game that will long live in the memory of any fan of the game. Justin «jstn.» Morales scored a 0-second goal to take it to a Game 7 and it looked like momentum shifted to NRG and Turbopolsa’s dream of a third straight World Championship was slipping away.
Times were a-changing at Dignitas though, another Grand Final appearance in Season 7 was secured but this time they lost to North America’s Cloud9. Kaydop left for Renault Vitality while Turbopolsa stayed another season but it was a miserable time for the Swede, the failed to make LAN and something had to change.
It was then that he made history again. This time becoming the first Rocket League player to move from Europe to play in North America, joining NRG with the goal of getting them their first RLCS World Championship.
They cruised through League Play and honestly the World Championship itself setting up a Grand Final against Renault Vitality.
The stage was set and NRG duly delivered winning their first and Turbopolsa’s fourth Worlds with a Game 7 overtime goal from «jstn.»