Interview with the Kansas City Pioneers roster on RLCS X, Memory’s return, and competitive formats

Prior to the start of the season, things weren’t looking so hot for the newly-signed Kansas City Pioneers. Having won just one single series across the entirety of the off-season’s Community Takeover, few saw them as serious contenders at the top of North America. However, halfway through the inaugural season of the revamped Rocket League circuit, KCP currently sit in sixth place in NA (having peaked at fourth), tied with The Peeps for the last world championship spot. We spoke with Landon “BeastMode” Konerman, Micheal “Memory” Moss, coach James “JG7” Guarino, and manager Dion “Base” Rees-Harris.

What were your aims for the roster heading into the new season?

JG: We knew we had a talented team, so our goal were to break into the top of the scene as soon as possible since for some reason everyone thought we would be awful.

Base: Coming off the season we had just been relegated, a lot of people had their doubts about us. Even more so as we experimented with a lot of different options and combinations of players in the summer. Our aim was to be at the cutting edge of the region, fighting for a spot at Worlds. We need a good performance in the remaining winter regional & major to keep that dream alive.

Why did you initially make the decision to bring Memory back to the roster?

BeastMode: The reason we initially made the decision to bring Memory back to the roster was because we felt we had more of a higher ceiling with him and we could do more consistency-wise.

JG: Sea-Bass is a great player in his own right, but with Memory we got an added level of consistency in tournaments due to his experience. With BeastMode being so new, that was something we valued a lot. Early on, Memory also provided our team with the vocal in game leadership we needed.

Base: Memory is one of the most experienced players I’ve worked with. After Flight disbanded, Memory was trying out with eUnited and we expected him to stay there. After that fell through, it was a no brainer to bring him back and add the experience back to the roster. He’s had some amazing performances in fall and winter, so I’m glad he was slept on before RLCS.

Without the revamped format, you guys wouldn’t have been competing in the RLCS this season — do you think the opportunity to play in the RLCS again has been a driving factor behind your strong form?

BeastMode: I think it has somewhat in my opinion. I feel like it makes us happier and want to grind more but it definitely has had a great impact.

JG: I still think auto-promote/auto-demote was one of the worst decisions ever made by Psyonix. Thank god for this new format, as it has given us the opportunity to prove we belong at the top.

Memory: For sure. This format is very friendly for teams like us — we are able to compete at the top without having to worry about going through a tier 2 circuit first.

Base: The new format allows for new teams to break into the scene much easier, as well as teams that aren’t solidified as top tier. We’ve had to fight our way through all but one regional qualifier so far to make it to main events, but it’s better than being frozen out of the top flight of Rocket League for 6 months.

If you could make one change to the format, what would it be?

BeastMode: In my honest opinion, I don’t think there is anything much to change to the format, I really like it a lot.

JG: RLCS teams from Season 9 should not be given auto-invite for winter split. Also, any other format is better than a double-elimination bracket.

Memory: I would change this split’s regional format. A double-elimination bracket is not a good idea, and I’m not entirely sure why they went with it. It should be groups or swiss like the first split.

Base: The winter split regional formats are not pleasant. 24 is a number that doesn’t work well with double elimination brackets. I hope that they stay away from double elimination unless its 16/32 teams.

What are the team’s goals heading into the rest of the season?

BeastMode: To be consistently at the top in the world.

JG: We want to make Worlds.

Memory: Right now we’re working on consistency. Our recent performances have been pretty disappointing overall and we know that we can do a lot better. Our ceiling is very high but it takes a lot of work to be able to realize that potential consistently

Base: Qualify for worlds, whether the event goes ahead or not!

Thank you to the team over at Kansas City Pioneers for the interview! 

Author
Ben Hurst (@NotBlondeMonkey)

Editors
Dion Rees-Harris (@dionginge)
Jalen Jones (@1jayski)