AtomiK on qualifying for the World Championship: "We want way more"

The Mate y Tapa/PCS Stride frontman sat down with Sheep Esports after winning the EU LCQ.

🇬🇧English

AtomiK competes with Twisted Minds at the Esports World Cup 2025. Credit: Sophie Barrowclough

"We [didn’t] really care if people [said that] we were bad or that we were not close to [being] the favorites, because at the end of the day, what matters is what you do on the field."

A stalwart of the Spanish Rocket League scene with five RLCS LAN appearances to his name, Sergio "AtomiK" Cortés recovered from a difficult RLCS 2026 campaign to qualify for the World Championship alongside Lautaro "ajg" Gusinsky and Ivan "Dorito" Jiménez at the EU Last-Chance Qualifier (LCQ).

Now, with an RLCS Worlds spot secured and the Esports World Cup LCQ just around the corner, AtomiK sat down with Sheep Esports to talk about his EU LCQ victory, EWC, and the state of professional Rocket League.

You, ajg, and Dorito just won the RLCS EU LCQ to qualify for Worlds, each of your first LAN of the season. What was your reaction right after winning?

Sergio "AtomiK" Cortés: “Our reaction right after winning was basically [massive relief] after the season we had, where [none] of us achieved what we expected, and after having bad results it was becoming a snowball of bad thoughts [that didn’t seem to] stop. Finally, with the work [we put in these last few weeks], [the results have shown], and we are more than ready to go and qualify for the main event as well as… the EWC.

Can you talk a little bit about how you’re feeling about the World Championship now that it’s been a few days since you qualified? Do you think you guys can make a deep run like NIP did last year?

AtomiK: Obviously, qualifying for the play-ins [is] a good sign [of] our performance, but we [won’t] stop here and we want way more; it's just our first step into Worlds. Hopefully, we can at least repeat what NIP (Ninjas in Pyjamas) did last year or even… do better, but no matter what, we [will] go slow and [approach] every single game as if it was our last.

That "one game at a time" mentality seemed to be extra important during the EU LCQ — you guys didn’t enter the event as the favorites, but we saw pretty early on after Geekay and NOVO got eliminated that all that mattered was beating whoever you ended up playing. Were you guys solely focused on your next series?

AtomiK: We just focused on ourselves from the beginning of the tournament; we [didn’t] really care if people [said that] we were bad or that we were not close to [being] the favorites, because at the end of the day, what matters is what you do on the field. Obviously, watching Geekay, NOVO, and Kaydop Corp losing could be a motivation point for other teams, but we knew what we were able to do in the tournament and didn't care about [the] others.

After a fairly successful season in 2025 with Twisted Minds and a decent first split in 2026, you had your toughest RLCS split since 2021 this Spring. How did you rebound from that before the LCQ?

AtomiK: I think if I had to say [what my strongest ability is], I think it's my mentality and never giving up no matter what the situation is; it was very hard to see that I couldn't make a major the entire season, but I never lost hope and kept [on] grinding and grinding.

This was your first time teaming up with ajg in RLCS, but you were teammates with Dorito on G1 in 2023. What was it like getting back on a team with him for this LCQ?

AtomiK: After the second split both [of our] teams had, [I spent a lot of time thinking about] what my next step [could be], and I [approached] the decision of choosing my next team very carefully as I didn't want to be disappointed in myself again. So, after some days and some offers, I decided to stick with ajg (Lautaro Gusinsky) and Dorito (Ivan Jiménez), since they were the ones I was [most] comfortable with… there's [also] a huge [thing] that helped us a lot during the time we've been working, [which is] the friendship we have.

Did you two ever consider teaming again before the LCQ?

AtomiK: After the G1 era, we didn't talk for a bit of time, but during this season we kept talking more and more, and I think all three of us felt like we just had to team up for the LCQ.

It seems to be more of a pattern now that players are getting back with old teammates. Do you think we're going to start to see more reunions like that in the pro scene, or maybe just teams sticking together longer in general?

AtomiK: I think [we’re] going to reach a time where teams are going to start to stick [for] longer, as it's impossible to keep doing a lot of changes every season and you can't really build synergy or chemistry as [well] as you could in 2-3 years. I think the perfect example is the old Falcons (Kiileerrz/Rw9/trk511), where they reached their peak chemistry when they had two years teaming up with each other, NRG (Atomic/Beastmode/Daniel) as well; obviously, there is going to [come] a time where [that] team is going to stop working, but I believe teams in the future will stick for at least two seasons (if the season is still only two splits long).

PCS comes into the EWC with a lot of momentum after winning the EU LCQ. Do you see yourselves as favorites for the EWC LCQ? Are there any teams that you feel you have to beat in order to qualify for the main event?

AtomiK: I believe we come [in with a lot of] momentum, but again, we don't feel [like we’re] favorites and we don't want to, as every team could be difficult. Also, it’s a LAN, and we know how [they work]. I believe there's going to be strong contenders in FUT, [Manchester City], and… [the] other LCQ winners, so it's going to be a fun tournament for sure.

The EWC LCQ brings back in-person qualifiers for LAN that we haven’t seen since Dreamhacks in 2019. Do you think these LAN qualifiers are a good thing for the scene, especially considering their financial cost?

AtomiK: The fact that players from everywhere in the world have to [fund their own] participation is for me a bit weird, but I understand it in [a way], and I think this tournament is going to be a good test to prove if this kind of format is helpful for the growth of the scene or [if] it doesn't really change anything. Right now, I can't really tell until the tournament is done.

If PCS does end up making it through the LCQ, your first match would be against Twisted Minds, your old org. Is that a match you’d be looking forward to?

AtomiK: It would be a fun match for sure, and I'm looking [forward] to it as I really like the org and players, but obviously [this] time I would not be rooting for them [laughs].

Last season, you became the seventh player to qualify for an RLCS LAN from two different regions. We’ve seen a lot of international transfers in recent years, especially from EU. Is this the new normal for RLCS? Do you think it will affect EU as a region?

AtomiK: I think eventually that number [of imports] is going to become higher in other regions, but I would say that it's quite difficult [to imagine] that number [rising] in EU, since it’s the hardest region by far and I don't know if other players would come to Europe to steal this LCQ spot.

Is the primary motivation for players more opportunities for spots, better pay, or a bit of both?

AtomiK: I think both; some players decide to travel to another region to steal the spot when they clearly know they are better players. ajg is the opposite, for example, as he decided to come to EU, a region way harder than SAM, and still managed to qualify, which I think [is] extraordinary.”