Leading into the the very final week of the Rocket League Central Pro League, the Playoffs, we’ve decided to get some insight from the pros on their matchups and the tournament in general. I’ve also snuck in some fun questions for the fans. Starting us off we’ve got M1k3Rules from Flipsid3 Tactics who will be taking on Pluto from Untethered.

CjLink - Your final week of the Pro League brought a very good result for Untethered with a 3-1 victory and then a fun game your team also won on Underpass. I, for one, did not foresee this result. Has the team synergy or individual skill increased recently for you guys, or is it just the matchup against iBP, which you have a history of at least playing very close series against?

Pluto - IBP have been our "rivals" since August, we have been playing them for so long and you never quite know which team will take the series on any given day. We were fortunate enough to warm up against MyXMG before our matches and I would like to believe that helped greatly. We were all playing well Sunday so that was a big factor as well. Sometimes you won't know if you will be on point or not until game time.

CjLink - In fact, your last 3 weeks of the Pro League were all 4-1 victories. Your team is on quite a hot streak going into your quarterfinal matchup against F3. Although they hold only the #2 seed, Flipsid3 is a favorite for taking the tournament outright. How is your team preparing for the challenge? What do you think your chances are of winning? Are there any key things your team will need to do to win?

Pluto - We will be doing some scrims this week that is for sure. Our chances honestly aren't great BUT I know we are capable of beating them. The only key I can think of to winning would be to stop F3 from developing their offensive plays, if we can stop them before they get in position to start something like a passing play or a dribble we may be able to take the series.

CjLink - Given a victory over Flipsid3 you’ll be facing either Kings of Urban or Supersonic Avengers. Your last Pro League matchup against KoU ended poorly in a 4-1 loss. Would you rather face the NA or EU team in the semis? Which do you think will make it to semis?

Pluto - NA hands down. Our team is at a huge disadvantage on EU servers with Vafele being on the west coast and me having internet issues lately. I do believe KoU can take the series if they can execute the teamplays they do so nicely.

CjLink - On the topic of NA vs EU, there have been predictions of EU sweeping the quarterfinals. The EU All-Stars also won the game yesterday against your teammate Lachinio and the rest of the NA All-Stars. Do you think that NA can match up to EU? Have any predictions for C&J vs FTL? iBP vs XMG?

Pluto - There is no doubt EU teams are dominant, we have seen that first hand in the last few weeks of Mockit's 3v3 tournaments. As much as I hate to say it...I do not think EU will sweep the quarter finals though. As far as predictions, I think C&J will only drop a game and with iBP vs myXMG I would say myXMG could take it. But it could go either way, honestly.

CjLink - Is there any one shortfall that your team has? Any synergy issues or play styles you have trouble playing against?

Pluto - Missing shots definitely hurts us. Not saving the ball hurts because it usually results in a goal scored...

CjLink - Would you rather go ice skating or bowling? Why?

Pluto -  Are you seriously making me decide between the two? FINE. Bowling. Because I have been bowling my entire life and I love it more than Rocket League.

CjLink - This is the big one, the tournament that ends 7 weeks of pro league action. Will Untethered take it all? (if not) Who is your personal favorite for winning? (if yes) Who will your stiffest competition be?

Pluto - Obviously every team in the playoffs is CAPABLE of taking the tournament, I would like to believe we will win it all. But if we don't we will be rooting for either KoU or MyXMG. Our stiffest competition would be Flipside.

CjLink - I appreciate you setting some time aside to talk to me, got one last topic for you. The talk all over social media right now is roster swaps after Pro League. You aren’t going anywhere, are you? Any new teammates you might be looking at? If you could make a super team out of the NA squads, who would you choose?

Pluto - We are not going through any roster changes that I know of. We may need to find a new sub with Insolences joining Mockit eSports though. If I could make a super team out of NA players it would definitely be Lachinio, Vafele and Pluto… wait, sorry, that’s only in my dreams... I would pick Lachinio, Kronovi and Gambit.

CjLink - It’s been a couple weeks since we’ve seen F3 in the Pro League. Your last game was a 4-1 stomp over SK Gaming, one of the few teams to ever beat you guys in a tournament settings. The week before, week 5 of the RLCPL, your team suffered its only loss to Supersonic Avengers. Would you say that 2-3 result was Flipsid3 being out of form, SA playing above potential, or a style mismatch that gives them an advantage against your team?

M1k3Rules - I think the loss to Avengers was a bit of a slack performance from us in a lot of respects. There were a couple of hiccups connection-wise, but overall we didn't match their high energy approach. 2-3 was probably a fair reflection of how the series went.

CjLink - The full team played in Gfinity this past friday, making it to the semis where you faced the new Crown & Jewels lineup as Remember Our Names. The series ended 3-0 in their favor, a stark contrast to your 4-1 victory over them in the Pro League. Do you think the addition of Scrub Killa to their roster was what made the difference or were there other reasons for the result?

M1k3Rules - The series against Crown and Jewels in Gfinity was the latest in a long line of defeats that made us think a little bit. Scrub Killa is a fantastic player and will only benefit Crown and Jewels moving forward, so it's up to us to go again and see if we can stay one step ahead of the competition, as we always strive to do.

CjLink - How do you see C&J’s chances? They’ve got the new kids on the scene, Failure to Launch, then either myXMG or iBP if they get to the semis. If your teams happen to meet, it will be in the final. What is your predictions of how that game would go with the current state of both teams?

M1k3Rules - Since I haven't talked about how certain playstyles work better against some teams than they do against others, I'd like to touch upon the prospect of Crown and Jewels semi-final against Cosmic, for arguments sake. I think if that match comes to pass, it might surprise some people. I see Sikii as the anchor of that Crown side, and Paschy as a kind of roaming link-up player between attack and defence, then with Scrub liable to be doing just about anything. That's basically Cosmic in a nutshell, too. If both teams play well, Crown will win. But if Cosmic are organized and Crown aren't at the races, the long format will serve Cosmic well - and we might very well see a bit of frustration creep into that Crown side. Cosmic are going to need to be at the very height of their powers to get into that Final though, and I think that will largely depend on the form of Sadjunior. As for a final between us and Crown, I'd rather not talk about that. We're just focused on our Quarter Final against Untethered.

CjLink - Okay, so let’s talk about that matchup against Untethered. They’re coming in as the #3 team for NA, yourselves the #2 for EU. Both of teams are some of the oldest in competitive Rocket League, and you’ve been in tournaments together since the MLG days. What is your prediction for the outcome of the match? If you beat Untethered, how do you favor your chances for winning the playoffs outright?

M1k3Rules - The match against Untethered should be a blast, I'm really looking forward to it. We played Untethered in the MLG Pro League play-offs, a series we managed to take away from them 4-0. We'll need to play well to have another repeat of that scoreline, but our aim going into every series is to to not drop a game, so we'll approach it no differently than usual.  We're confident in our ability to get into the final, but we'd have a tough semi-final to navigate no matter the outcome of the other Quarter Final. I think it's important to just take it one game at a time and just beat the team that's put in front of you, and put in a performance you can look back on with no regrets.

CjLink - What’s your prefered beverage of choice? Any tips for late night, drunken Rocket League?

M1k3Rules - Beverage of choice? I'm always up for a Slow Comfortable Screw Against The Wall personally. Failing that, just about anything you have handy and will do. We're not trying to impress anyone here, we're trying to get absolutely buckled. As for tips, I have none. Drunken Rocket League is a rite of passage in every players life, after all. Loss of friends, ranking points and possibly expensive equipment from all that projectile vomit is just par for the course.

CjLink - Many people have you favored to take home the grand prize, beating everyone in your path. Your team has been notorious for showing up just before the games and rarely practicing as a squad, making the one question about Flipsid3 “will they have time to warm up.” The playoffs are single elimination, though the first two rounds are best of 7. Has this been a myth that your team does not practice together or does it hold truth? Do you plan to get some team practice in before your quarterfinal matchup or do you believe it actually favors your team to head into the games without any formalized practice?

M1k3Rules - Yes, it's true we never practice as a team. We've only ever "scrimmed" once, against Avengers, and that was directly after an early tournament exit anyway, so it doesn't really count I don't think. I personally find playing outside of a competitive arena mundane, I'm not sure about the other boys. I think it'd be useless for me anyway, because I know in my heart of hearts I would never be giving it my all in a friendly match. I don't think it particularly hinders or favors us, it's just how it is. We'll be going into the game against Untethered 100% ready.

CjLink - Is there any one team in the playoffs that you would prefer not to play or that you think is the strongest with their current lineup?

M1k3Rules - Like I said earlier, we'll play whoever is put in front of us and give our all to take them out, we're not afraid of any match-up. I think every team that made it into the playoffs is there on merit so we can't afford to focus on one particular team because they look good on paper. You have to treat every game like a final, (especially in the play-offs) and play it out in that fashion.

CjLink - Your good buddy Shalthis made a bold prediction earlier today, saying that he believed it most likely for every EU team to win their quarterfinal matchups. Although a very close series yesterday, the All Star Game went to full length with the team you captained winning in OT of game 9. In your opinion, is EU on a completely different level than NA? Are you expecting the same all EU semifinals as Shalthis?

M1k3Rules - I think there's more depth in EU, yes. The quality, and more importantly, the consistency at the very top is slightly better also. This was always the case in SARPBC too, so there's some crossover obviously. If I were to disclude old SARPBC vets from this discussion, I still think EU takes the cake. NA has some fantastic new players such as Genocop, Jacob and Moses but EU also has some great new talent in Maestro, Greazy and Miztik, remkoe, the list goes on. Maestro in particular has already surpassed plenty of veterans, and has the right attitude to become the best player in the game, in my opinion. Whether we'll see EU dominate the quarters or not is entirely a different prospect though. I don't see it happening.

CjLink - Thank for your time, one last question. The talk around the Competitive Rocket League community right now is roster changes after Pro League. Flipsid3 Tactics has been the most dominant team in the, albeit somewhat short, history of Rocket League. Do you see any new acquisitions to supplement your roster with a substitute or any possible changes from the existing roster in the near future?

M1k3Rules - After Pro League, we'll be having a talk about what we wanna do and where we're going as a team for sure. We're all good friends and have been playing together for years now, so that'll be an easy discussion to have (or not have, in Kuxir's case). Whatever happens though, it's been absolutely insane to see the growth of this little game we used to play for kicks on PS3. When you take a step back and realise where it is now, it's still a bit surreal. Hopefully it'll keep going.

Keep your eyes on www.rocket-league.com as we’ll be bringing you more Playoff interviews throughout the week!

-CjLink