Note: After the publication of this piece, We Dem Girlz was signed by Northern Gaming and now plays under the Northern Gaming name.
Earlier, we looked at the North American Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) team Kings of Urban and its journey from also-ran to top seed. Now it's time to explore the story of its European No. 1-seed counterpart: We Dem Girlz.
On August 6-7, We Dem Girlz will join the Kings in Los Angeles for a chance at the ultimate bragging rights in Rocket League: first prize at the Season 1 international Live Finals. Needless to say, each team has one thing on its mind: victory. We Dem Girlz know it's within reach, according to Nick "Maestro" Bang. "No one else, the winner is We Dem Girlz," he declares. With the squad's history, it's not hard to see why this team considers itself to be the heavy favorite.
Fast and furious
Unlike most other teams in this budding scene, We Dem Girlz did not have a humble beginning; from its inception this past March, it came out of the gates fast. With a core of Maestro and Marius "gReazy" Ranheim from Supersonic Avengers, the then-No. 2 team in Europe, the squad was destined for success. Tying it all together and sealing the team's near-immediate ascension was Remco "Remkoe" De Boer from Team Spectral.
When this roster was announced, the usual questions were raised: "Will it synergize well?" "Can Remkoe take the former Supersonic Avengers players to a new level?"
It didn't take long to find the answers. In its first event together, a weekly Gfinity tournament, We Dem Girlz took down top-ranked European team FlipSid3 Tactics 4-2 in the finals. After clearly demonstrating its ambitions in that first competition, the team looked to move forward and challenge top teams for more titles, particularly in the upcoming RLCS Qualifier 1.
With a style described as "fast and stupid" by gReazy, We Dem Girlz's unpredictability was an exciting draw but didn't always make for the most consistent results. We Dem Girlz headed into Qualifier 1 as the favorites alongside FlipSid3 and seemed to pull ahead with a top of the table performance in league play. Unfortunately, in the playoffs it had a tougher time making it into the finals to face off against FlipSid3, its newfound rivals. Ultimately, it fell just short of winning Qualifier 1, but it looked likely to emerge from the next qualifier as a top contender for the final showdown.
In RLCS Qualifier 2, We Dem Girlz changed up its playstyle and saw the flipside of things, finishing second in league play with some consistently strong offense. Its new high speed, rapid-shot tactics became something of a revelation as it began looking better and better vs. top teams. In the finals, it came up against two of the players' former team, Supersonic Avengers, who needed the series win to make the LAN finals. In what gReazy described as a "sad but necessary" match, they took down their former teammates to win the qualifier and advance as the number one seed from Europe. Remkoe described this feeling of standing on top of European Rocket League as "the proudest moment we've had together as a team."
Looking ahead
As it's been a couple weeks since Qualifier 2's finish, We Dem Girlz has had some time to reflect. When asked about its first round matchup against Genesis in the international finals just over a week away, Remkoe said, "Genesis hasn't been looking better than any of the other NA teams. We're just going to be trying to put out as much pressure as possible, and hopefully they'll not be able to handle it." gReazy went on to add confidently, "I feel bad for them."
With the confidence of a team that's been together much longer than four months, We Dem Girlz are coming in strong as a favorite to win the international finals. Given that top NA team iBUYPOWER Cosmic has just lost Cody "Gambit" Dover -- arguably NA's top player -- and FlipSid3 is having internal issues, it seems that We Dem Girlz are the most in-form team in the world. With heavy expectations riding on their shoulders, three of Rocket League's most talented players are ready to travel halfway around the globe to test their mettle in the game's most intense and high-stakes competition yet. Will they come out on top? They certainly believe so.
When asked about his team's chances, Maestro wasted no breath: "100%. I'm only there for winning."