French organisation Karmine Corp has won the Rocket League RLCS Birmingham Major, beating The Ultimates 4-0 in the grand final in front of a packed crowd in Birmingham, England.
Karmine corp were fairly dominant throughout the RLCS Birmingham Major, going 3-0 in the Swiss Stage by taking down Wildcard, Geekay Esports and Team Falcons. However, the first match of the swiss stage against underdogs Wildcard was a close 3-2 victory, which led some fans to question if Karmine Corp was on form entering the tournament. However, the survived the early scare and easily made it through to the quarter final stage.
Once the playoffs began, Karmine Corp seemed to turn things up a gear. Their 4-2 victory over NRG was a little closer than they would have liked, but an absolutely dominant 4-0 victory over Furia in the semi final was a statement of intent heading into the final.
On the other side of the final were The Ultimates, who had a 3-1 record in the Swiss Stage, featuring a loss to NRG but victories over Luminosity Gaming, Gen.G and Falcons. In the playoffs they had a couple of close games, beating Vitality 4-2 in what many considered to be a surprise win, then taking down NRG in a revenge game 4-3 to make the final.
The first game of the final between Karmine Corp and The Ultimates went to overtime following a 1-1 score at the end of regulation, but as always seems to be the case in overtime, it was Karmine Corp who score the crucial goal to go up 1-0.
Game two was a slightly different story, with Karmine taking an early 2-0 lead and never letting The Ultimates get back into things until a consolation goal in the dying moments. The game ended 3-1 to Karmine Corp, putting them in a commanding position very early on in the final.
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Game three was a little more entertaining, with Karmine Corp scoring first, but The Ultimates then fired straight back to even it up. The action was back and forth until Karmine Corp eventually scored to once again take the lead, and they held on to go to championship point.
With three championship points, Karmine Corp could have taken their foot off the gas in game four, but that’s not the way this team does things, once again taking a fairly early lead and pulling out some incredible defensive plays to keep hold of that lead. Karmine Corp would keep that 1-0 lead, becoming major champions in dominant fashion.
The win sees Karmine Corp become RLCS major champions for the second time, having previously won the winter major in the 22/23 season. This time the win nets them $102,000 and crucial RLCS points which puts them in prime position to qualify for the Rocket League World Championship later this year. But the title of being major champions once again will be the real prize for them.