Coupe de France Slash 2026: Gentle Mates' Vatira, zen, and Atow Superteam Defeats Team Vitality 4-1 to Claim Its First Trophy
Just two weeks after assembling the most anticipated francophone lineup in modern Rocket League history, Gentle Mates wasted no time turning hype into silverware. On Thursday, November 12, 2026, the powerhouse trio of Axel "Vatira" Touret, Alexis "zen" Bernier, and Tristan "Atow" Soyez captured the Coupe de France Slash 2026 championship with a commanding 4-1 victory over Team Vitality in the Grand Final. Organized by NEO from November 2 to November 12 and broadcast on France.tv Slash (France Télévisions' digital youth network), the pre-season tournament saw the organization co-founded by Corentin "Gotaga" Houssein, Lucas "Squeezie" Hauchard, and Kevin "Brawks" Georges secure back-to-back national crowns following its inaugural 2025 triumph, claiming the €10,000 top prize out of a €15,000 total prize pool.
A Dominant 9-1 League Play Campaign Before the Playoffs
Ever since Gentle Mates officially confirmed the signing of Vatira, zen, and Atow for the RLCS 2027 season on October 28, expectations across Europe have been sky-high. Competing in the tournament without an officially announced head coach following the offseason departure of Danish tactician Nicolai "Snaski" Andersen, the newly formed roster showcased immediate synergy throughout the double round-robin group stage.
Across ten league play series recorded on Liquipedia Rocket League, the Gentle Mates squad finished alone atop the standings with a 9-1 series record and a dominant 27-6 individual game differential. Their lone defeat during the group phase came at the hands of Team Vitality, setting the stage for a high-stakes rematch in the knockout bracket. Meanwhile, Karmine Corp,rebuilt around two-time World Champion Evan "M0nkey M00n" Rogez alongside young prospects reyyN and bibbaba,endured a grueling campaign, bowing out in 5th-6th place after finishing league play with a 1-9 record.
Sweet Revenge in the Best-of-7 Grand Final Against Former M8 Stars
Advancing to Thursday's single-elimination playoffs, Vatira, zen, and Atow first dispatched Geekay Esports (mtzr, juicy, Seikoo) with a clinical 4-1 victory in the Best-of-7 (Bo7) semi-finals. That victory set up a storyline-packed Grand Final clash against Team Vitality.
While Team Vitality recently overhauled its RLCS 2027 roster around Oski, nass, and diaz under returning Belgian head coach Benjamin "Eversax" Wagner, the Parisian organization had to play the tournament without 18-year-old Brazilian star João "diaz" Henrique, who remained sidelined by visa processing delays and was replaced by former World Champion Andrea "Radosin" Radovanović as a stand-in. Even so, the final pitted Gentle Mates' new trio directly against two of the players who had won the Boston Major and the 2025 Coupe de France Slash under the M8 banner: Oskar "Oski" Gozdowski and Nassim "nass" Bali.
Despite Vitality handing Gentle Mates their only loss earlier in the event, the Grand Final belonged entirely to Vatira, zen, and Atow. Controlling midfield boost and suffocating Vitality's defensive rotations, Gentle Mates closed out the series 4-1 to lift their first trophy together, while Team Vitality took home €5,000 as runners-up. Building on the chemistry zen and Atow displayed when winning the RLCS 2v2 World Championship in September, the victory sends a clear message ahead of the RLCS 2027 London Kick-Off LAN starting December 9.
The Strategist's Take
What stands out most when breaking down Gentle Mates' replay tape from this two-week tournament is how naturally their pitch spacing clicked without an official head coach even calling timeouts behind them. On paper, stacking three mechanical alpha carries on the same three-man pitch always carries the risk of double-commits and boost starvation. On the field, their role distribution already looks seamless: Atow thrives as an aggressive first-man disruptor hunting demos and forcing awkward fifty-fifties, zen turns every loose midfield touch into an instant solo outplay, and Vatira anchors the backline as the ultimate third man whose defensive reads shut down counter-attacks before they cross midfield.
Context still matters, of course: Team Vitality played the entire event with Radosin filling in for diaz, and the true international litmus test will arrive at the London Kick-Off LAN on December 9. Even so, posting a combined 35-8 game record across group stage and playoffs while immediately avenging their lone regular-season loss proves that this roster is far more than a collection of big names on a buyout sheet.
Born and based in Montreal's Mile End district, Maëlle "Kaelen" became close friends with Chaya during their university software engineering years, bonding over late-night coding labs, campus LANs, and World of Warcraft raids alongside Grimtag and Heimdall. A game systems balancing consultant and lifelong theorycrafter, she cut her teeth in the early 2010s writing boss walkthroughs, frame-data breakdowns, and competitive meta guides for specialized French-language MMORPG and esports portals, including Mondes Persistants, as well as North American strategy collections. On Pro-Gamer, she leads in-depth walkthroughs, build optimization, and tactical esports coverage.
