Pittsburgh, PA (October 2, 2019) – The Pittsburgh Knights are excited to announce they have picked up a Rocket League team. Jirair “Gyro” Papazian, Slate “Retals” Thomas, and Nick “mist” Costello, formerly the Peeps, are the newest players to be knighted.
Often described as “soccer with cars”, Rocket League is a hugely popular video game. Released in 2015, the game has been critically acclaimed and has accumulated over 57 million registered users. The Rocket League Championship Series, or RLCS, began in 2016 and just wrapped its 7th season. The new Knights roster have been promoted from the Rival Series to play in RLCS season 8, beginning this October.
Most recently, the team came in first place in the Dreamhack Pro Circuit that took place at Dreamhack Montreal this past September. The victory was a nail-biting Cinderella story with the team rising from the losers bracket to defeat G2 Esports – widely considered one of the best teams in Rocket League.
“Honestly the Pittsburgh Knights were the first ones to believe in us,” says Gyro. “They believed that we could do great things in this game and they picked us up before Dreamhack. Every other org messaged us after (we won), but the fact that (the Knights) believed in us before is just really important to us.”
With all of the players being 16 years old, this lineup is the youngest in the League. “We’re really excited about this team” says Knights consultant Garett Bambrough. “We’re very impressed by the talent and drive these young men exhibit and believe they have the potential to be serious threats going forward in Rocket League.”
“Being able to represent an organization that is partnered with one of the biggest teams in the NFL is a dream come true,” says mist. Retals agrees, saying, “I’m excited to represent the Knights. Having such a prestigious org behind us is only going to make us a better team, and I couldn’t be happier with our decision to be Knights”.
This Rocket League acquisition marks the ninth competitive title for the Pittsburgh Knights. Check out Gyro, Retals, and mist this Saturday, October 5th playing against Ghost Gaming in the Rocket League Championship series, streaming at 3pm on Twitch.
