The 2022-23 RLCS season has come to a close for Dignitas. While the team won’t be competing at this year’s World Championship, there is still much to look forward to for the team. One of the most significant parts of that is the arrival (or, re-arrival) of Dignitas’ newest head coach, Jos “ViolentPanda” van Meurs.

While these are ViolentPanda’s first steps as a head coach, he is certainly not new to the professional Rocket League scene. His legacy includes multiple World Championships, one of which came while playing under the Dignitas banner. No professional Rocket League player has put in more time with the organization as ViolentPanda, and we are incredibly excited to welcome him back home!

We were able to sit down with ViolentPanda to discuss his legacy as a player, as well as what’s to come as a coach.

Hey, ViolentPanda! First of all, welcome back to Dignitas. How does it feel to return to the organization?

ViolentPanda: It feels great! I mean, I’ve had some of my biggest successes under this name. It feels so good to be back.

Well, let’s talk a little bit about those successes! Let’s start by going way back. Tell us about how you got started with Rocket League and when going pro started to become a viable option for you.

ViolentPanda: I was actually an engineering student! During my time in school, I was already playing Rocket League just for fun for about a year. Also, at that time, I had surgery on my chest. This meant I could play a lot more because I was at home and bed-ridden. So, I just started grinding Rocket League for fun. Eventually, I noticed I was becoming quite good. I played some small tournaments here and there until I finally became good enough to qualify for the second season World Championship in RLCS.

That was when I was teaming with Paschy90 and Deevo. We ended up getting 2nd place there, which we actually didn’t expect. We were good, but we just didn’t expect that. My family was there too, so they saw I made a pretty good sum of money there and said that I could make something out of it. My school wasn’t supportive of it though, so I had to make a choice and I went for Rocket League.

It certainly seems like the choice worked out for you! Talk to us a little more about that Paschy90 and Deevo roster and how that run at Worlds came to be.

ViolentPanda: So, Deevo and I were already talking a little bit. We decided we wanted to team up with Paschy90, but he eventually got an offer from Northern Gaming. It kind of left Deevo and I screwed. We were going to pick up a different player called Sikii. We played a tournament together called Rocket Royale, and we actually won that one. But then, Paschy90’s tryout with Northern Gaming ended up going poorly.

So, a lot of talking happened and we ultimately decided to pick him back up. Worlds ended up being a crazy run. It was a little bit of a Cinderella run, everything was going great for us. But, at the end, there was one big titan that we couldn’t defeat, and that was FlipSid3 Tactics. They were just the best team back then.

It was after that season when you ended up with Gale Force. You didn’t make it to Worlds in Season 3, but Season 4 was your big breakthrough. You won your first World Championship, alongside Kaydop and Turbopolsa. Tell us about the formation of that roster.

ViolentPanda: So, at the start of Season 3, we did really well. I think we started 4-1 in league play but ended up 4-3 and then lost in the Worlds Qualifiers. Basically, the first half of the year went really well, but we just died out. The organization I was with, Gale Force, felt like at that moment that I was the best player on the team, so they ended up backing me. We decided to start the roster over for Season 4. So, I had this friend called Kaydop. I was talking to him for a while and we were playing ranked together a lot. He ended up leaving his team, which did really well at Season 3 Worlds, to come with me. It was really special, and I’ll respect him for taking that chance for a long time.

So, we started looking for a third. We were also kind of between two organizations, Gale Force and Mock-It. He was already signed to Mock-It, so it was an option. But, we ended up going with Gale Force. Kaydop wanted to try Fairy Peak, but back then, I just didn’t want to yet. We decided to give him a shot though and played in a Gfinity Cup. But, when Kaydop asked him, he said he was actually already playing that one with Paschy90 and Turbopolsa. The funny story is, we ended up talking to Turbopolsa and he instantly decided to try out with us. But yeah, that’s how it came to be! It felt pretty good, so we played Dreamhack Sweden with him and ended up getting 2nd. So after that, we decided to officially pick him up.

That, of course, ended up being a pretty good decision because you did win your first World Championship in Season 4. Talk to us about the run and how it felt to get that first Championship under your belt.

ViolentPanda: So, another kind of funny story. We ended up playing in and getting second in like four different LANs. It wasn’t like the same team beating us as well, it was all different teams. But then, me and Kaydop played a 2v2 LAN and won it. Even though we didn’t have Turbopolsa there, I do feel like it kind of got the ball rolling. In Season 4, everything just felt easy for us. We were definitely the best team in the world at that time, and I think a lot of teams were just not there yet. Except for one series against Method, I felt like we won that one without a ton of resistance. Even though it was my first one, the Season 5 win is actually a lot more special to me.

And that’s a great transition because that’s exactly what we want to hear about next! Before Season 5 Worlds, you were actually picked up by Dignitas. You guys ran it back, won the title again, and brought a trophy to Dignitas. Tell us about that!

ViolentPanda: So, during league play, we were still under the Gale Force banner. Like you said, prior to Worlds, we got picked up by Dignitas. That LAN ended up being one of the best events ever in terms of how close it was. Of course, you have the 0-second JSTN goal. The crowd was amazing as well. So, to me, that run in Season 5 was the best of the World Championships that I won.

After that, you made it back to Worlds in Season 6, and made it all the way back to another Grand Final. You almost completed the three-peat, but you did fall to Cloud9 in the Finals. This also marked the end of the trio of yourself, Kaydop, and Turbopolsa. Looking back, what does that team mean to you and how would you describe your place in Rocket League history?

ViolentPanda: I think there hasn’t been many teams that have been able to have the domination that we had for so long. You could say Team BDS is up there, and I think teams like Karmine Corp were starting to get there. Honestly, I could see Team Vitality getting there if they keep going how they are. In the history of Rocket League, I think we were the most dominant team.

Even in Season 6, we won something like 20 series in a row. We did kind of choke and things went downhill, we got 3rd at ELEAGUE and things finally died out a bit. At that point, Kaydop decided to leave. But, overall, it’s a team I’m proud of. It started from just Kaydop and I being friends. It felt like it was kind of by chance that we became so good as a trio for so long. It was a great time.

So, let’s move forward a little bit, up to Season 8. At this point, you’re still under the Dignitas banner. After Kaydop left for Vitality in Season 7, you guys brought in Yukeo. After that season, Turbopolsa also decided to leave, heading across the pond to join up with NRG, which led you to bringing in Aztral. So, the trio of you, Yukeo and Aztral just barely snuck in to Season 8 Worlds, but you went on a really good run once you got there, making it all the way to the semifinals and playing one of the most insane series that I’ve ever seen personally against Team Vitality. Talk a little bit about the new-look team and what made that run happen.

ViolentPanda: So, when Kaydop left and we picked up Yukeo, we actually won a Dreamhack. It was the first event that me, Yukeo, and Turbopolsa played together. It was kind of a honeymoon period. After that, the vibes between myself and Turbopolsa weren’t super great. We kind of knew going in that this was going to be our last season together. He ended up being the one to pull the trigger and left to go to NRG. From there, we picked up Aztral. He was a player that people weren’t sure if they wanted to take the risk on because he was a rookie and wasn’t proven, and people weren’t sure about his mentality. But, I really wanted to try it. He was truly one of the best rookies out there. With the help of our coach, Virge, we tried to develop a playstyle that worked.

Eventually, we started to become better and better as the season went on, and that’s how we made it to Worlds. At Worlds, we had a good run. I still think that, had we got through Vitality, we would have gone on to win the whole thing. I actually remember [NRG's] GarrettG saying to me that they were actually more scared of us that event. Vitality was just our biggest struggle that season. They had a very smart playstyle to counter how we played.”

Let’s talk a little about the season that followed. The success at Worlds definitely carried over into Season 9. This season marked the end of an era for RLCS, after this would be RLCS X, which flipped the format on its head. Season 9 was also the first season to be impacted by the pandemic, so there was no World Championship. You did, however, earn top honors in Europe, winning the European Championship that year. Talk about the impact the lack of Worlds had on you guys and the season as a whole.

ViolentPanda: It was definitely a little demotivating that Worlds didn’t happen. But, besides that, we still tried to do our best and at least win the European Region. That’s how we were able to develop a playstyle that could beat Vitality and we were able to win the title against them. We definitely felt like this was our season. A lot of people would say it was kind of between us and G2, who were the best team in North America. It’s impossible to know what could have happened at Worlds, but I could have definitely seen us winning that one.

RLCS X started after that, introducing a more long-form format. Things changed for you guys again, but you remained the staple here at Dignitas. By the end of the season, you were teaming with ApparentlyJack and Joreuz. Talk a little bit about that team and your thoughts on the format change.

ViolentPanda: So, after the first split of RLCS X, I started getting tendonitis in my right thumb. That ended up impacting me heavily. I could barely play, it was very painful. Two months later, it started coming up in my left thumb as well. During this time, I was trying to do anything I could. I went to the doctors, got injections, painkillers, and so on. I could barely even get on to play ranked. I started to notice myself going down in terms of my gameplay because I couldn’t play as much and when I did, it was hurting. I definitely had a big struggle with that. I feel like because of that, I could just never get the results I wanted anymore. My personal skill was going downhill, but I did end up getting to team with Joreuz and ApparentlyJack. Honestly, we were a pretty good team, and we got some good wins. But, with what the format became, we had to play so much and it made my thumbs even worse. Besides that, the season was alright.

I do think it was a little too busy, with The Grid and stuff like that. I don’t know, I think the viewer should always come first in an esport like this. It just wasn’t very organized for the viewer experience; it was too overwhelming. We’d come into a tournament and the casual viewer probably had a hard time knowing what was happening. I liked league play a lot more, not just from a player point-of-view, but it was more structured for the viewer. Fans could see the schedule and know what was happening at the end of the week. Now, fans can assume that the two best teams may eventually meet in the Finals, but there’s so many different streams and it’s confusing.

It was after that long season that you finally parted ways with Dignitas. You had an unbelievable run here and stuck around for many years and through many different rosters. Despite the changes in the duo accompanying you, you kept finding success. After Dignitas, you kept things rolling with some other rosters as well, all the way up until you officially retired from play several months ago. Talk about your time overall as a player.

ViolentPanda: It was a great time. I think all of the years of competing were long, but I loved every minute of it. Even though there were a lot of down moments, I think they were all worth it. The LANs that I made and the experiences I had there made up for all of the downsides. But I would say that being a player is very mentally taxing. It’s a lot of emotional stress. I know that goes for all jobs, but the stress for players to perform is something special – and not always in a good way. I think it’s something to be improved on.

We need to make sure teams and players have the right support behind them because of how taxing emotional stress is on players. That’s something that I think can be worked on in esports. When I was playing, there wasn’t a ton of that, and I’d say it’s improving, but can be improved more. But yeah, overall, I loved every minute of it. But Season 5 was definitely my favorite!

Some very excellent points there. Well, that brings us all the way up to now. You’ve made your big return to Dignitas to take over as coach. What are your impressions of the job overall and what made you want to take on the challenge?

ViolentPanda: Coaching in Rocket League is very special as well. Rocket League is very mental-focused. There’s strategy in Rocket League of course, but a big percentage of it is how the players feel and how they feel with each other. The key for me is to keep the players in the right mental space. For this team, I was talking with Dignitas about coming back because the organization is something special in my heart. They backed me for years as a player and I found my big successes here. It was fitting for me to come back because of that relationship.

Finally, where can people keep up with you?

ViolentPanda: You can follow me on Twitter, and sometimes I stream on Twitch!

Thank you for taking the time!

ViolentPanda: Of course!

While this RLCS season has come to a close for Dignitas, be sure to tune in for next season and check back right here for more interviews!