RIYADH: American stars Version1 tasted the “phenomenal feeling” of victory in the Rocket League tournament at Gamers8: The Land of Heroes on Sunday night, after beating Saudi Arabian team Rule One 4-1 in the grand final.
After four days of action involving 24 elite teams at the Esports Arena at Boulevard Riyadh City, Version1 claimed the coveted Gamers8 trophy and the $500,000 top award from the whopping $2 million prize pool.
Version1, featuring Comm, Beastmode and Daniel, reached the final after beating another Saudi Arabia side, Team Falcons, 4-2 in the semifinal, while Rule One claimed their spot by triumphing 4-1 over Swiss side Team BDS.
The conclusion of Rocket League brought the curtain down on the elite esports tournaments at the eight-week Gamers8: The Land of Heroes, which was organized by the Saudi Esports Federation.
Comm, who described his goal that took game five into overtime as “by far the biggest goal” of his career, said: “I’ve been playing professionally for almost three years — Version1 was my first team — and to come here and finally show that we have what it takes to win it all in such a big tournament is a phenomenal feeling.
“The home fans were very loud, but we’ve had a lot of practice over the years of teams not exactly rooting for us so at this point we’ve learned to tune it out.”
Daniel said: “We just trusted in each other and played as a team and that’s why we won.”
Version1 coach Fireburner praised the standard of the Saudi Arabian teams that they faced at Gamers8.
“Falcons and Rule One I already had in my head as two of the top three or four teams along with us and Vitality,” he said. “I think we had a pretty tough road to the final. In the championship, Rule One showed themselves to be the second-best team in the tournament but we just felt that on the day, and especially after making it out of groups, that something clicked. We felt that as long as we held our nerve and stuck to our game plan, there was nobody that could beat us.”
Meanwhile, Beastmode praised both Saudi Arabia and Gamers8.
“I love it. It’s amazing. The people here are so kind. Saudi Arabia in general is amazing, so I’d love to come back. The format itself of Gamers8 is so different and so unique — it’s so fun and enjoyable. I love it.”
