How Rocket League tournaments work, and how to find a teammate for them
Last updated 4 October 2026
Most pages about Rocket League tournaments give you a schedule. Few mention that the game enters your party at its best player's rank, or that a teammate who quits leaves you a player short for the rest of the bracket.
This guide is for a player who enters the game's tournaments, alone or with friends, and wants a regular partner or trio for them instead of whoever the game hands them. It covers how the brackets work, when they run, how tournament rank and rewards work, the rules for entering as a party, how to find a partner who fits them, and what lies beyond the in-game brackets. For other games, see every game's team format.
In short
- Rocket League runs free Competitive Tournaments every day in every region: 32-team single-elimination brackets in 2v2, 3v3 and extra modes, with best-of-three semifinals and finals.
- You can enter alone and the game finds you teammates, or bring a partner or a full team.
- A party enters at the tournament rank of its best player, so play with someone near your rank. A duo entering 3v3 must be within three ranks of each other.
- Quitting before the end bans you from the next tournament, so pick teammates who stay to the final whistle.
- Your tournament region is set in Settings and can change only once every 24 hours, so find a partner who plays the same region's brackets.
How Rocket League tournaments work
Competitive Tournaments are Rocket League's own brackets, free and open to everyone, under Play, then Tournaments. Epic's page on them, which calls them Competitive Auto Tournaments, describes each one as a 32-team single-elimination bracket of teams at a similar skill level. Every round is a single match until the semifinals and final, which are best-of-three.
- Matches last at most 11 minutes, kickoffs and replays included. A tie goes to the team with more shots, and if those are level too, to a coin flip.
- Second Chance. A team that loses its first match, or arrives after the start, can join a Second Chance bracket.
- No limit. You can enter as many tournaments as you like.
- Modes. The schedule has 2v2 and 3v3 Soccar, the standard game, a daily Extra Modes tournament, and a "Soccar or Heatseeker" one. By Psyonix's 2021 announcement of 2v2 tournaments, Extra Modes tournaments award Credits and titles but don't move tournament rank.
- Brackets by rank. Each tournament is named for its rank, as a Gold or a Diamond tournament, and winning one earns a title for that rank.
When tournaments run
Every day, several times a day, on a schedule for each region. The Tournaments menu shows today's brackets for your region, and Epic's tournament schedule gives them in UTC:
| Region | 2v2 Soccar | 3v3 Soccar | Extra Modes and others |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | 22:00, 02:00 | 00:00, 04:00 | Extra Modes 20:00; Soccar or Heatseeker 03:00 |
| Europe | 15:00, 19:00 | 17:00, 21:00 | Extra Modes 13:00; Soccar or Heatseeker 18:00, or 14:00 at weekends |
| South America | 00:30; 20:30 at weekends | 22:30 | Extra Modes 20:30, or 16:30 at weekends; Soccar or Heatseeker 23:30 |
| Oceania | 10:00 | 08:30 | Extra Modes 07:00; Soccar or Heatseeker 11:00 |
North America's 02:00 2v2 is 10 PM the evening before on the US East Coast in summer, the "10 PM tournament" North American players arrange to meet for. Epic gives no full schedule for the Middle East, Asia, South Africa or India, and the schedule changes from time to time, so the Tournaments menu has the final word.
Your tournament region is a setting of its own: Settings, then Gameplay, then Tournament Schedule Region. By Epic's page on regions, it can change only once every 24 hours, and not within 24 hours of a tournament you've entered ending. The regions are US-East, US-Central, US-West, Europe, Asia-SE Mainland, Asia-SE Maritime, Asia-East, Middle East, Oceania, South Africa, South America and India. Neither of you can switch from one evening to the next to follow the other, so a partner has to play your region's schedule, not just your servers.
Tournament rank and rewards
Tournament rank is a ladder of its own. Epic's page on tournament rank calls it "a separate ranking system for tournaments": it starts from your competitive rank and then moves with your tournament results each season, apart from your ranks in 1s, 2s and 3s.
Only 2v2 and 3v3 Soccar tournaments move it, a little for each round won or lost, so it can sit well away from your ranked ranks: Diamond in 2s and Gold in tournaments, or the other way round. Rocket League trackers show it beside the playlist ranks.
A party enters at its highest player's tournament rank. Psyonix's 2020 description of the tournament system gives the example: two Gold II players who team up with a Diamond I player are entered into a Diamond tournament. Players report the same today.
Tournament Credits go to every team that completes the first round, by Epic's tournament rules, and more the further it goes and the higher its tournament rank. Everyone on the team gets the same. Bonus Credits come from your top three placements each week, which reset every Sunday, and Credits buy Cups, which hold the season's tournament items. Titles go to the winners, one for the rank of the tournament they won.
For a team, that means the player with the highest tournament rank sets the bracket for everyone. A Gold player entering with a Diamond friend plays Diamond tournaments: more Credits for a win, and fewer wins.
Entering alone, as a duo or as a team
You can register alone, as an incomplete team or as a full team, by Epic's tournament rules. Alone or short, the game fills your team. With a partner or a trio, you choose who you play with, and these rules apply:
- A duo in 3v3 must be within three ranks. Epic's matchmaking page calls two players entering 3v3 an undersized party, and they "need to be within 3 Ranks of each other". Its example: Platinum II and Diamond III are four ranks apart and can't queue together, while Platinum III and Diamond III can. The rule doesn't apply in 2v2 or Extra Modes, or to a full trio. Players report that in tournaments it's measured on tournament rank, so a duo whose ranked ranks are close can still be refused.
- The highest player sets the bracket, as the section above explains.
- Leaving early is punished. Quitting brings a 15-minute matchmaking ban, a ban from the next Competitive Tournament and the loss of that tournament's rewards, and leaving before the final results show counts as quitting. Do it again and the penalty rises to a 24-hour tournament ban, then a 7-day tournament ban with a 24-hour matchmaking ban. Finishing tournaments brings the risk back down.
- A solo entry is a gamble. You don't choose your teammates, and if one leaves, the team plays on a player short. The game can even start you in a 3v3 bracket with nobody beside you.
- Platform doesn't matter. Psyonix's 2020 post on cross-platform play put every platform in one pool, ranked included, and the friends list is Epic's on every platform. A PC player can partner a PlayStation, Xbox or Switch player, unless one of them turns crossplay off.
Finding a regular tournament partner
Recruit for one slot: your region's schedule, the evening you'll play and a rank near yours. Then play that bracket every week.
Pick the bracket first. Region, format and time. A partner who plays North America's 02:00 UTC 2v2 is worth more than a better player who can't.
Match your rank. Within three ranks for a 3v3 duo, and in 2v2 close enough that the bracket the higher player sets suits you both. Compare 2s or 3s ranks first, since those are what players post, then check tournament rank, which is what sets the bracket.
Keep the good ones. After a match, Party Up keeps you playing with the same players, as Epic's matchmaking page describes. The Recent Players tab of the friends list holds the last 25 players you played with or against, by Epic's friends list page, so a good random teammate is a friend request away.
Clubs. A club holds up to 20 players, by Epic's page on Clubs, and players join by invitation, which arrives under Notifications in the friends list. Epic describes no way to search for one, but a club whose members play tournaments gives you a pool to fill a team from on any night.
The official Discord. Epic's page on finding teammates points players to the official Rocket League Discord and its #looking-for-group and #club-recruitment channels.
Agree to finish. Say in your post that you play every bracket out, and ask the same of anyone who answers. How to make an esports team covers tryouts and keeping a team together.
Post on TeamTavern. Put up a player post with your 2s and 3s rank, your server, your platform and "Scrims and tournaments" ticked under "Looking for", and say in the description which bracket you play, by region and time. If your tournament rank is far from your 2s or 3s rank, say that too, since it decides the bracket and who can enter 3v3 with you. Players write ranks short there, as C2 for Champion II or GC1 for Grand Champion I. Add your Epic ID as a contact. A duo looking for a third puts up a group post the same way. Then filter the posts for "Scrims and tournaments" and message the ones that fit.
Rocket League players and groups on TeamTavern
Beyond the in-game brackets
The in-game tournaments are the everyday format. Above them are community cups and leagues, run on Discord servers and start.gg, and the RLCS, the game's official esports circuit.
- Community cups are usually free, often weekly, in 2v2 or 3v3, and entered as a team. They come and go, so look for the ones in your region once you have a partner or a trio.
- The RLCS. In 2026 it held Opens for teams of three in seven regions, and by Psyonix's 2026 season post, at least two of a roster's three players must be citizens or permanent residents of its region. The 2027 season begins with the Club Championship in London on 9–13 December. By Psyonix's announcement, 20 clubs are invited and four more places go through an Open Online Qualifier starting in November, whose sign-up and eligibility Psyonix will publish before it opens.
Frequently asked questions
How do Rocket League tournaments work?
They're 32-team single-elimination brackets of teams at a similar tournament rank, run every day in each region and free to enter. Every round is one match until the best-of-three semifinals and final, and a team out in the first round can play a Second Chance bracket.
Can you play a Rocket League tournament solo?
Yes. Register alone and the game finds your teammates, though you don't choose them, and if one leaves you play on a player short.
Why is my tournament rank different from my competitive rank?
Tournament rank is its own ladder. It starts from your competitive rank and then moves with your results in 2v2 and 3v3 tournaments, while Extra Modes tournaments don't count, so the two drift apart over a season.
How do I change my tournament region?
Go to Settings, then Gameplay, then Tournament Schedule Region. You can change it once every 24 hours, and not within 24 hours of a tournament you've entered ending.
What happens if you leave a tournament early?
A 15-minute matchmaking ban, a ban from the next tournament, and the loss of that tournament's rewards. Repeat it and the bans grow to a day, then a week.
Find your partner
- Pick one region's bracket and one evening.
- Play with someone near your rank, since the highest player sets the bracket.
- Keep a 3v3 duo within three ranks.
- Finish every bracket.
Post as a player with your ranks, server and platform, and tick "Scrims and tournaments" under "Looking for", or post as a duo looking for a third: Rocket League players and groups on TeamTavern. The official Rocket League Discord has a #looking-for-group channel too.