Banned. Prodigy. Champion.

sometimes the path to glory is a winding one and if you haven't heard about Zen's situation he is currently banned from participating in the rlcs sometimes no matter how good you are something stops you from proving yourself the streak has ended Ras is the man to do it and Zen is out of here I mean I can understand that he must be absolutely devastated but for the true Champions all the weight and the struggling is worth it for the moment they ascend doesn't hit it and then look at that he keeps going forward oh my and he knows the dude's going to go for it gosh Marquee player let's see a marquee play put hero R right way here's up high takes it up Zen across tries to get the fli do just fakes it out leaves it for the man the magician the Superstar it's the s watch it love it you're all living in it welcome to the age of all right so before we get into today's video I just want to remind you all to please like the video sub to the channel and ring that notification Bell I would also like to remind you that we have merch check out our second drop over at shop. thescore.com all right now let's talk about Zen Zen got his start playing games as a child but one game in particular became something special for him rocket league and the more he played it the better he got by the time he was 13 Zen was already taking on Pros like scrub killer and it felt like there was nowhere to go but up everyone was basically certain that he'd Go Pro that is until one bad decision changed everything the rlcs X Falls European qualifier had many hopefuls but team space kns were in trouble one of their players Azu was unable to compete in the tournament due to a family emergency and unfortunately space kns had no time to find and register a sub instead they Enlisted the help of a then 13-year-old Zen who played using ozu's account now until very recently in order to play in the rlcs a player had to be 15 years old or older so when space Knight's player substitution was inevit discovered Zen was doubly in trouble all four players were banned from official rocket League tournaments for one year but because Zen was only 13 and therefore not eligible to play in the rlcs to begin with his ban wouldn't officially kick in until he actually turned 15 meaning he was out until February 20th 2023 an entire 3 years Zen started not being able to play 15 was the age has now dropped down to 13 but 15 was the age limit to start playing in the rocket League Championship Series and this kid that is on the up and up and wants to get into it like every kid of that age wants to do get into the rocket League Championship Series you can't cuz you get banned by playing and subbing into a team while you're underage and playing in the rlcs that's against the rules so what did Zen do while he was waiting for another shot to compete at the pro level well he took this time as an opportunity to build himself up further both as a player and a recognizable Community figure first Zen Drew attention by excelling in 2v2 ranked play online getting yourself at the top of uh a leaderboard that 2v tws is where you're going to get noticed cuz that's where anybody is just playing and grinding their times sure we don't have an actual competitive scene really behind twos but it is the way to get your name out there first then Zen began playing in and Winning Side tournaments against active rocket League Pros D was just did that the exact same play again now Zen reset in team Vitality signed him in October 2022 4 months before his ban was up but just because Zen had a guaranteed spot on a team the instant he was unbanned didn't mean he was about to rest on his Laurels seeking to prove himself as more than just a promising Prospect Zen took the path that so many before him took participating in show matches on noted rocket League personality Johnny Boy's YouTube channel the extraordinary thing about those show matches though wasn't what Zen was doing it was how he was doing it Zen demolished everyone I think that the base of the way kickoffs have been going the comeback is going to be very very hard to see loss is going to pull this off Zen is just scoring will it be Zen's or will it be game five he charges in as we've come to expect from him and finishes it in 11 seconds Zen charges in again Daniel not reading these early challenges Zen who played defensively for most of this game has switched things up on him and he doubles in a lead Zen won 11 straight matchups going all the way to the final match with Ras which would determine who was the Undisputed best 1V one player in the world will he go off the ceiling for this yes he will confident aerial play from Ras and the pitch oh my goodness well that's just as good as anything we've seen from Zen again Ras able to read exactly what kind of boost Zen's on but he's underestimated his speed here though leaves an open perfect timing by Ras Z quickly up into the air Ras just demos him what how has Ras scored here Zen has to score here he's going for the full prit air dribble he's got one reset and a shot on and in to the top shelf the streak has ended Ras is the man to do it and Zen is out of here I mean I can understand that he must be absolutely devastated ultimately Ras came out on top but Zen's 11-0 win streak still stands as one of the most mindblowing 1V one runs in rocket league history this is where Zen really got that attention put on him because ones is the purest form I think of Rocket League it's where you really get to Showcase what is going on up here there's a lot of thinking you have to do there's no teammates that you can rely on and it's where a lot of players really prove their medal I mean it's been incredible with Johnny boy just supporting the 1V one scene and then showcasing these players that eventually make it onto rlcs teams the question always comes with ones can you bring that to threes but remember Zen was still banned none of this was taking place in Pro matches to truly prove himself he'd have to perform at this level in the rlcs and his chance to do so was almost upon him in February 2023 Zen's rlcs ban was lifted he was finally free to officially pursue a career as a rocket League Pro on team Vitality his first atier tournament with the team was the EU Regional spring split one and expectations were sky high high too far away from the ball 1 n five without an answer Zen looking to be the answer from being able to get any kind of meaningful clear out great pass though and Zen hit him with a hard re oh it's a little sky hook shot you see from the Midfield where doen sends it on its way Zen backwards touch everybody's committing has team like little for Boost there the attack slow down now here comes a chronic reset tries to fake The Defenders out but the both waiting for him he's given them the ball Vitality are going to win this they've done it in their first Regional is Zen they are the champions of Europe Zen's debut was Sensational Regional splits two and three were easy pickings for the newly minted Pro as well making Vitality the only team in a major region to ever win three splits in a row it's just about stealing away those extra seconds counting away the seconds until you've done what no other team in rocket league history has managed to do in EU or North America Zen passes it to Alfa and it's almost over on the 0 second Mark Vitality earn themselves the European Regional travel the rlcs Springs split major was Zen's First International Event despite his team's Triumph at the Regionals this was a whole other caliber of competition and yet Zen didn't falter eyes gleaming looking for an opportunity they need to create something here demo on the play Z gets the B has an openn and we're all tied go Zen he's got a lane to shoot through oh for take off with a double tap Z so far away from the opponent's goal but that never stops with the pace that he has a flip reset a pre flip rise is there Rise the numbers fly from their mouths Vitality with victory in their veins find success in b the major became another tournament where Zen's incredible mechanics carried Vitality to Victory and earned him the title of MVP already winning three regionals in a row and sweeping it is unheard of it's unprecedented it's never been done before and your new player that's never played in the rlcs if people don't understand how incredible that is to come in an already mature esport and just dominate everyone around you it's mind-blowing how this kid was built for this this game it honestly is a new era because of Zen now there was only one mountain left to climb one tournament that would cement Zen as the goat of Rocket League the rlcs world championship going into it this first year rookie was already a legend but with the whole world watching could he really live up to his fearsome reputation I think everyone from Team Vitality is making an impact going in well look at what Zen does zen reads the play and he jumps up and back flips to make sure joyo can't get to this ball that is so smart that is so smart got another touch off buto R it right way here's up high takes it up Zen across tries to get the fli do just bakes it out leaves it for the man the magician the Superstar it's the S got vs have got to score with sometime left on the clock rosent off the wall every single clear is getting them closer and closer team Vitality they have done it the best rocket League team in the world and your world champion Zen's win at Worlds was an unprecedented achievement in rocket League sure there have been other dominant prodigies in the game's history but never like this he doesn't make mistakes I don't know how he doesn't make mistakes every time you look at him he's in the right spot he's using mechanics and his smarts to make sure the team is playing it's not Zen playing it's the team playing and that is what's so special about Zen we've seen so many mechanical players drop into the rlcs do well even but hit their Peak but not for Zen because there is no peak when you're constantly adapting to make sure the team you're with is performing their best too you bring out the best in your teammates you're going to have the greatest team in the world Zen took home every trophy there was to take in his very first pro season setting the bar for himself and the rest of the rocket League Community ridiculously high it didn't matter that he had to spend 3 years waiting to be allowed to play in the rlcs with this sort of record all the sins of Zen's past were forgiven and forgotten and him having to wait for his chance to prove himself on the big stage made his Triumph that much more impressive no individual player has been able to make an impact like that in years and for Zen to achieve it on his rlcs debut you truly can't beat a performance like that he looks like he's a year ahead of everybody else uh in rlcs he just looks like he's a little bit more advanced just a little bit more um polished than a lot of the other players some players are close but I don't think they're quite on his level just yet without a doubt Zen is a generational Talent the likes of which only come around so often but he's also so much more than that Zen is setting a standard for a new generation of Rocket League Pros he is already the mountain the rest of them have to climb in order to truly be the best and the scary thing is Zen is just getting started thanks for watching if you want more content like this hit the sub button and ring the notification Bell for Unique bite-size videos you won't find anywhere else hit us up on our Twitter Instagram Facebook and Tik [Music] Tok

Channel: theScore esports

Views: 172,555

Keywords: esports, gaming, theScoreesports, thescore, rocket league esports, rocket league tournament, rocket league world championship, rocket league finals, rocket league dribbling, rocket league vitality, rocket league sideswipe, rocket league montage, zen rlcs highlights, zen rlcs, zen rl settings, zen rl highlights, zen rl clips, zen rlcs goal, zen rl settings 2023, zen rl gameplay, zen rocket league, esports documentary, thescore rocket league

Id: Kd_dP1e4Mrs

Length: 12min 57sec (777 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 20 2024