Kronovi

Pre-RLCS
A veteran of SARPBC, the prequel to Rocket League, Kronovi was widely considered to be the best player in North America in the early days of competitive RL, and is now one of the most popular players in the entire scene. His involvement in competitive RL started shortly before the game’s public release, when he formed a pickup team with two other SARPBC veterans, Sadjunior and Gibbs. Their team, Cosmic Aftershock, quickly became a fan favorite after winning several notable early tournaments and were acquired by iBUYPOWER. This new iBUYPOWER Cosmic (iBP) team continued to dominate the North American scene for the remainder of 2015, second only to Europe’s best, Flipsid3 Tactics (F3). In early 2016, they tied for 3rd place in the RLC Pro League, losing 3-4 in a close semifinal game against team Crown and Jewels. This was the most significant pre-RLCS tournament for the team but was Gibbs' last as a professional player.

Season 1
Prior to the first season of the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS), Gibbs stepped down to become team manager/substitute while Sadjunior was dropped from the roster. Gambit and Lachinio were brought in to form the second iteration of iBP Cosmic centered around Kronovi. Later, 0ver Zer0 was picked up as a substitute. These roster changes proved successful as iBP Cosmic comfortably finished 1st in the Group Stage of Qualifier 1 and defeated their rivals Kings of Urban in the online finals. The team fell into a slump in Qualifier 2, only placing 5th and failing to make the online finals. However, they still had enough points to qualify as the number three seed in North America during Season 1 LAN Finals.

A month before Season 1 LAN Finals, 0ver Zer0 was moved from substitute to starter as Gambit announced he would be taking a break from competitive Rocket League due to health issues. Considering the sudden roster change and their performance leading up to the tournament, iBP Cosmic were no longer viewed as favorites to win LAN. Fan perspectives changed when the team met favorites Flipsid3 Tactics (F3) winning 3 - 2 in the first round. They ran through the winner's bracket, sweeping The Flying Dutchmen 3-0 and defeating Northern Gaming 4-2. This set up a rematch between iBP and F3 in the grand finals, where they won the inaugural RLCS World Championship 4-2. 0ver Zer0 delivered an MVP performance despite not having played a single game with his teammates during the Qualifier, Group Stages and Online Finals.

Season 2
Riding high on their success from Season 1, iBP Cosmic was acquired by G2 Esports, with Kronovi, Lachinio, and 0ver Zer0 as starters. With their newfound sponsorship, expectations for the coming seasons were high for the North American fan favorites. Unfortunately, they performed poorly in League Play, coming 7th and barely missing out on a spot in the Regional Championship, losing to Revival in a tiebreaker. Given they did not make the Regional Championship, G2 were unable to qualify for LAN finals.

The ensuing roster shuffle during the offseason resulted in the departure of Lachinio and 0ver Zer0. G2 began the search to build another roster around Kronovi. Eventually the announcement that JKnaps and Rizzo were signing with the organization was made public, and it became the second iteration of G2's roster, which was much different from the first.

Season 3
Although the new roster announcement was made late into the offseason, strong performances in online tournaments both before and after the team was officially announced served as a promising sign that G2 (and Kronovi most of all) could redeem themselves from Season 2’s performance. Though, this was not the case as the team performance proved to be inconsistent. Although G2 made a very strong start to their season, they lost three consecutive series to end League Play at 3rd place, the result of a 4-way tiebreaker. They faced the 6th-placed team Denial Esports in the Regional Championships which would determine who would advance to the World Championships. G2 ended up losing 3-4 in a close series, missing RLCS LAN for the second time in a row.

Following another disappointing end to their season, G2 decided to stick together as a team to grind during the off-season. The only roster change during that time was adding Turtle as a substitute. In contrast to previous off-seasons, this was the busiest one yet. G2 found success online, winning RLCS Summer Series 1 and finished as runners-up in RLCS Summer Series 3. Their LAN results were mixed. G2 tied for last place at the FACEIT X Games Invitational 2017 after being eliminated 2-3 by Selfless Gaming in the lower bracket. On the other hand, their DreamHack Atlanta 2017 (DHATL) performance was very promising. G2 tied for 3rd as they pulled out a 3-2 win against Flipsid3 Tactics in the quarters. Then they lost 2-4 in the semifinals to the eventual DHATL winners, The Muffin Men. Later, G2 was represented by Kronovi and Rizzo in the Universal Open. They finished tied for 9th after being swept by Ambition Esports and Incognito.

Season 4
Following good results during the off-season, G2 qualified for RLCS without dropping a single game during the Play-In. The team displayed strong and consistent performances throughout League Play with three game 5 wins, which was the most match point games in North America. They ultimately redeemed themselves by winning 3-2 against Ghost Gaming in the last week of League Play, thus finishing 2nd which auto-qualified the team for the World Championship, Kronovi’s first since Season 1. With their LAN spot already secured, G2 played in the Regional Championship for their seeding spot. They lost 1-4 against both Ghost and NRG making them drop to the number four seed in North America.

After League Play but prior to the Regional Championship, G2 won SPL: The Gauntlet and tied for last place at the Northern Arena Rocket League Invitational, losing 1-3 against Cloud9 (C9) and Ghost.

In the most competitive and challenging RLCS World Championships to date, G2 was not considered a favorite to win the tournament but capable of making a deep run. Playing in the first series of the tournament, G2 grinded out a 3-2 win against the Chiefs Esports Club but were subsequently sent to the lower bracket in a 1-3 series by the eventual champions Gale Force eSports (GFE). On the second day, they started their lower bracket run with a 3-2 defeat of Mock-It eSports. Then, on the third and final day of LAN, they showed up with a 3-1 against PSG eSports, before being knocked out 2-3 by Cloud9. G2 finished 4th in the world and 2nd in North America behind Cloud9.

G2 built on their success at LAN, making an exceptional start to the off-season by winning the ELEAGUE Cup 4-3 versus GFE and upsetting the heavy favorites in a war of attrition. The ELEAGUE Cup was the largest and most significant non-RLCS LAN tournament up to this point and it was the last major event of 2017. The win marked Kronovi's first major LAN win since RLCS Season 1, as well as the first major LAN win for Rizzo and JKnaps.

The team also finished 2nd behind C9 in the CyberPowerPC EGS - Fall 2017 online tournament.