Post-Worlds Interview with Violentpanda

Our Rocket League team was able to pull off an amazing lower bracket run on Championship Sunday of the RLCS World Championships, defeating NRG in the Grand Finals to take their 2nd RLCS title together. We spoke to the team captain, Jos "Violentpanda" Van Meurs, about what is widely considered to be the best Rocket League tournament to date!

Your second RLCS World Championship! How does it feel?

ViolentPanda: Together with my first championship win, it is one of the highlights of my life. Rocket League and eSports is what I dedicated my life to, so winning the biggest tournament up to date is really amazing.

It was an incredible lower bracket run. Were you confident going into Championship Sunday that you could pull it off?

ViolentPanda: After Saturday, I knew for sure I wanted to go for that lower bracket run and go all the way. When we finally got up to the Grand Final, I was already really happy and satisfied with what we had shown on Sunday. So no matter what happened in the Finals, I was happy and proud with second place this time. This is why there was no pressure on us really and we felt really comfortable going into the match.

Could you hear the crowd through the headsets during the games, and how did it feel having a crowd, full of energy, backing you all the way?

ViolentPanda: Yes, we could hear it. Saturday, we didn't have the crowd behind us that much but when we finally started showing on Sunday what we were able to do, they were cheering for us and it felt amazing while playing.

In the Grand Finals, you were up 3-1 in games against NRG. Did you think you had the series in the bag at this point?

ViolentPanda: You never have the series in the bag in Rocket League. Everything can happen at any time. Bigger reverse sweeps than that one have happened in Rocket League before, so no we had to keep our heads up and focus.
 

What was going through your mind when JSTN scored that 0-second goal to send it to overtime?

ViolentPanda: Nothing. I kept my mind straight and kept focused and tried to cheer my teammates up like I always do. You can't feel sad if something like that happens. You have to keep focusing or else things go wrong. That's why I always try to keep my team's mind straight in moments like that and cheer them up.

You scored some impressive goals over the course of the weekend! Which one was your favourite?

ViolentPanda: I don't really have favourite goals, but I do like the passing plays that me and Kaydop made in one of the games, also the ceiling shot in the last game of the first series was an important goal so I guess that one, too.

Coming through the lower bracket, you had to play 5 series on one day. How do you stay focused for such a long period of time?

ViolentPanda: Try to keep your nerves down. The nerves and adrenaline in a match could make you really tired and unfocused. Just try to keep calm and drink a lot of water, haha.

Our CEO, Mike Prindiville, had a wonderful reaction to the ending of the final game caught on camera, emotions that were similar to all Dignitas fans. Is it reassuring to know that everyone at Team Dignitas shares the same raw passion for the team?

ViolentPanda: Knowing that the organisation you work for has your back and gets excited about the games you play is amazing. Also, that video from Mike was hilarious and awesome.

During the tournament, we saw several ceiling passes being brought out by you and the rest of the team. Was this something you had specifically worked on or was it just improvisation?

ViolentPanda: All improvisation, there's hardly anything to plan in Rocket League. It's a really fast-paced game and everything happens so quickly. Meaning it's mostly muscle memory and field awareness to pull something off.

Your own chant for the weekend from the crowd was: “You’re going extinct, You’re going extinct, Violentpanda, You’re going extinct!” What was your initial reaction to hearing this?

ViolentPanda: On Saturday, it was that chant which was kinda stupid, but when we showed them wrong on Sunday they were cheering I was no longer extinct. Always fun to prove people wrong.

Out of all the players who played, who do you think exceeded expectations the most during the event?

ViolentPanda: Not really anyone I think, most of the players that were expected to play good played good. Like JSTN, everyone was surprised by him but I already knew he was a good player.

Some big names failed to make it to Day 3 of the LAN (Vitality, G2). Is this a sign of how close the teams are in skill or did they just underperform?

ViolentPanda: It was both really, they underperformed but also the competition in Rocket League keeps risings which means other lower teams will have more of a chance to beat other favourite teams.

Looking forward, NARLI is next. Do you think that it will be more of the same for Team Dignitas?

ViolentPanda: I don't know honestly, I do hope so, but everything can happen. Also depends how good the event will be.

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. Any final shoutouts that you have?

ViolentPanda: Shoutout to the entire Team Dignitas organisation for the insane support they've shown us. Also, thank you @mikeprindi for sharing that awesome video. Big thanks to all the fans that cheered for us and lastly a shoutout to my family and friends for coming to the event to support me and my team.

 

Huge thanks to Violentpanda for answering a few of our questions, go drop him a follow on his socials: 

Twitch 
Twitter