AUTHOR: CHRIS "BEARLIGHT" LEE | @BEARLIGHTGAMING
Only eight teams will make the Turbo Tuesday Summer Series Invitational next month, and seeing as Week 5 will ultimately serve as a two-weeks notice for teams below the threshold, we saw our Stay Plugged In Rocket League recruits striving to push the boundaries of their craft. To paint a picture of appealing traits for college recruiters consisting of relentless gameplay and a driven mindset. For the top 5 teams in the standings, this past Tuesday was an opportunity to solidify a spot in the Invitational, and potentially lock in their seed. For the remaining teams, a scrum ensued for points still available for [0-2] teams in Round 3. Next week will be the deciding night on who makes it in, and with the remaining spots still wide open, the last thing players want to do is look back here in Week 5 and wonder why they weren't able to do more. This week we examine which teams on the bubble are making the biggest moves, and which of the top 5 teams emerged from Week 5 with a ticket to the $1000 Turbo Tuesday Summer Series Invitational
BUBBLE TEAMS LIKELY TO PLAY IN AUGUST
(T-5) FUNKY BOIS [5-4] - 180 Points
Funky Bois began the night all the way down in 7th place. Having missed the past two weeks and only earning 40 of the possible 101 points the last time they competed (Week 2), they were up against a well-rounded #3 Stellar team to start off the night. Stellar was also the team to send Funky Bois to [1-2] on the night in Week 2. In their chance for revenge, Funky Bois were able to grab a game away from Stellar, but fall (1-3) in the series.
This sent Funky Bois to a [0-1] matchup against Rekt Gaming, where they gained a bit of momentum back with a pretty routine sweep. Then, in Round 3, due to the number of teams in their pool, Funky Bois would get their second chance at revenge against Stellar in Round 3. The squad took what they learned about Stellar's playstyle in Round 1 and drew up the perfect strategy. Lifted by the exceptional passing performance of Spookii (6 assists), Funky Bois won the first game 5-3, the second 6-3, and completed the sweep in 3-0 fashion, both in the final game and in the series. Their adjustments from the first to second series against Stellar, along with that first win over a top 5 team, gives me a pretty strong sense that Funky Bois will be on the pitch for the Invitational.
(T-5) REGIMENTGG [5-4] - 180 Points
Regiment may have missed the last two weeks, but I can tell you that when they do show up, they've made Doodle Bangers, GnS, and Stellar sweat to get the win. Sitting at an above .500 record at [5-4], they just need one big win over a top 3 team to transition from a "bubble team" to a legitimate threat to win it all. Considering they earned two of the three player awards for Week 1, we all know they have the individual talent to compete. It will be up to them to show up and show out in the final week of the regular season. Either way, they did enough in the first half of the season to keep their chances high in making the post-season
(#8) HUMPHREY GANG [3-0] - 101 Points
Out of the three teams I've listen in this section, Humphrey Gang worries me the most. Yes, this team won C2C a few months back and is easily good enough to make it to the playoffs. In fact, that is the only reason they made my list in the first place. The issue here is attendance. They've played just one week of the Summer Series regular season. However, in that week they put on a pure clinic. They took out both Stellar and Regiment in their perfect [3-0] night, and displayed the same high-paced, intuitive gameplay that won them the C2C title. They just need to show up the next three weeks and their chance to win it will be as good as anybody's.
TEAMS SECURING THEIR INVITATIONAL APPEARANCE
(#4) 1THOUSANDVOICES [5-7] - 195 Points
Just nine points over the number needed to confirm their post-season slot, 1ThousandVoices took a large risk to take a week off here late in the Series. Luckily for them, not a whole lot of teams sprang up from the immense pool of teams outside of the top 8. Like RegimentGG, it appears as though their decent track record through three weeks is what held them afloat. They may be in the Invitational, but with both Funky Bois and Regiment only behind by 15 points, there is a much more likely chance that they play from a seed lower than where they are now. A big performance next week from 1ThousandVoices is needed to keep them at number 4.
(#3) Stellar [7-5] - 250 Points
Aside from their questionable loss in 5 games to Among Us in Week 2, and their recent loss this week to revenge hopefuls Funky Bois, all other regular season losses thus far for Stellar have been to undefeated teams (2x to Doodle Bangers and 1x to Humphrey Gang). They truly are the gatekeepers of the top 3 in Turbo Tuesday right now. The team has some work to do if they want to challenge for the title at the end of the playoffs. For now, they have created a decent sized gap between themselves and 4th place 1Thousand Voices, earning an almost certain #3 seed when they head into the Invitational.
(#2) GnS [10-2] - 342 Points
Technically, GnS can still be challenged by Stellar for their 2nd place spot, though just showing up in Week 6 will end that motion. GnS is the only team able to beat Doodle Bangers in a series so far this Summer. Too bad it was only in a non-point based payout tiebreaker, otherwise we would see a pretty exhilarating push for the top spot. Instead, they are now mathematically too far away from 1st place to get the 1st seed, and as mentioned above, more than likely too far ahead of Stellar to slide to 3rd. GnS is in a metaphorical lonely void that indicates that they are 2nd best, but maybe just until we hit the post-season.
In the meantime, they continue to trade game-for-game with the supposedly "invincible" Doodle Bangers. Even this week, the match against DDB went to 5 games, where two of the games were won by just 1 goal, and the rest were decided by 2 goals. One look at this past week's VOD should leave you wondering whether DDB can continue to hold off GnS next week, and again in the Invitational
(#1) DOODLE BANGERS [15-0] - 505 Points
This week marked the fifth weekly win in a row for the DDB in the Turbo Tuesday Summer Series. Such a big accomplishment for this team who continuously proves that they belong on top. Congratulations again to Knight, skies, and our Week 5 MVP luca on holding off GnS in the process. I believe the close matches against GnS will serve as motivation to continue scrimming and finding ways to win in the upcoming weeks. Doodle Bangers will come into the Invitational as favorites to win it all. Expect them to not hold back when August comes around.
PLAYER AWARDS
TOP STRIKER
Name: ICEBORG
Team: FUNKY BOIS
SPIN Rating: 6.800
Notes: IceBorg put up a remarkable 67% shooting percentage, burying 16 of his 24 shots taken. IceBorg almost reached a hat-trick per game average of 2.67 goals-per-game, and contributed an additional 1.17 assists per game to open up even more scoring for his team. No-brainer in the decision to mark IceBorg as your Week 5 Top Striker.
TOP PLAYMAKER
Name: SPOOKII
Team: FUNKY BOIS
SPIN Rating: 6.650
Notes: I feel like I've been saying this for two years straight. Spookii is the ultimate wing-man. His passes are perfectly placed for no one other than his teammate who is in a position to score. In a week of full defensive lockdown, Spookii was one of two players who averaged above 1.00 in assists-per-game with his superior 2.83 (the other being IceBorg with 1.17). Spookii sits at the throne as this week's Top Playmaker.
TOP SAVIOR
Name: WALKER
Team: REKT GAMING
SPIN Rating: 4.110
Notes: Rekt Gaming has had a tough couple of weeks to start off the Summer Series. Though as the top teams were playing at peak levels, and as a day of limitless defensive plays, walker still found a way to the top of the average saves list with 2.20 per-game in Week 5. Walker's efforts led Rekt out of a [0-2] slump to finish off with a big win over Father Finders to finish off the night.
Need more content regarding the Summer Series? No problem. You can check out the main page with all the stats, standings, and results here.