What is Rule 1 in Rocket League?

There are hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of dollars on the line. Many thousands of hours of blood, sweat and tears lay behind you on the road that lead you here. Every decision you ever made, every left turn you did or didn’t take, every friendship you made, lost, or missed out on brought you here. Now. To this moment.

To the final match of this year’s RLCS, where the opportunity finally presents itself to prove to your parents that skipping college to be a professional Rocket League player was the right move? No. The real challenge before you is more important than something as mundane as money. Or fame. Or family.

This is about Rule Number 1 of Rocket League. The first Rule Number 1, and the only Rule that matters. That will ever matter.

What is Rule Number 1 in Rocket League?

Rule Number 1 of Rocket League: Once your horns are locked with another player, only the nameless gods of Rocket League decide when you let go. Championship finals be damned. Family unity be damned. Financial stability be damned.

Rule 1 of Rocket League is essentially a game of chicken played with the highest stakes of any known sport. Above, you’re looking at an actual RLCS Match. Correction: You’re looking at two elites of Rocket League’s upper echelon adhering to the most sacred of Rocket League’s many unwritten rules. Bound together in sparks and steel, the moment they clashed hoods they knew.

Why does Rule 1 of Rocket League Exist?

Because it must. Rule 1 is the inevitable byproduct of a game where all cars possess the exact same speed and power as each other. What differs in Rocket League Cars is merely shape and hitbox. Indeed, Rocket League is no Gran Turismo, nor is it a Fifa.

Rocket League is a game about explosions, warped and smoking metal, burning rubber, and one, gigantic ball. Rocket League is a game of skill more than it is a game of stats, and the best of the best of Rocket League players aren’t the best because they train hard, play smart, and dedicate themselves fully to the craft; the best are the best because they know that sometimes…. sometimes you just gotta throw down in a fruitless and wasteful display of stubbornness no matter the consequences.

There’s no rhyme or reason behind why you’re not allowed to back down. Sure, you could do the “logical” thing and simply turn away, return to the teammates who depend on your cooperation, and do your best to win the match.

But there’s something about needlessly bringing a stop to any and all usefulness you might’ve provided in a show of excessively impotent bravado that just feels… right.

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