Well-known esports organization G2 Esports announced its arrival into Rocket League today by picking up current World Champions iBUYPOWER Cosmic. The roster remains mostly unchanged with Cameron "Kronovi" Bills, Brandon "Lachinio" Lachin and Ted "Over Zer0" Keil starting as well as Cody "Gambit" Dover as a sub and coach. G2 seems to have won a tight race, as sources say that many other big teams were vying for the World Champions' signatures. With the world's best locked away, it remains to be seen where these other organizations will look to expand.
G2 Esports comes in off the back of a successful summer campaign in League of Legends, with its roster taking the number one seed from Europe for the World Championship. Picking up this highly successful roster in Rocket League suggests that G2 will have two world contenders heading into the fall. Featured at number one in our August power rankings for North America and being heavily favored to repeat their performance, G2's new roster looks strong and ready to continue this success.
This marks the second major brand change from the team formerly known as Cosmic Aftershock, which originally consisted of Kronovi, Randy "Gibbs" Gibbons and Kais "Sadjunior" Zehri. The team was one of the first to pick up a major sponsorship, which was signaled by a name change to iBUYPOWER Cosmic in Nov. 2015. As they have been through only two roster changes, Kronovi's boys have made up one of the most stable teams in all of Rocket League.
This development marks a sea change in the Rocket League scene. In the announcement, G2 stated, "The team will also be the first ever Rocket League team to achieve their dream; to be able to live off their player salaries only and dedicate their full time to their passion." It seems as though Rocket League esports may be ready to undergo a shakeup in the next few weeks. The very least that can be said is a new chapter is opening, both for Cosmic Aftershock and for Rocket League.