Rocket League Doubles guide: When to challenge, 2v2 rotations and roles

Rocket League is a weird game; where its esport format that draws in hundreds of thousands of viewers monthly isn’t its most played playlist. 

Step aside Standard because Doubles is here to stay. As the most populated playlist in the game, 2v2 certainly has a magical sense to it. Some people call it "a quicker 3v3" or "two simultaneous 1v1’s."

Whatever the definition in your book is, there are questions like “when do I challenge?”, “what’s my role as first/second-man?” and, most importantly, “what are rotations?” Fear not because without further ado, here’s our Rocket League Doubles guide for your 2v2 queueing.

Rocket League 2v2 Roles

Let’s get one thing straight right from the get-go: as there are only two users per team, the roles are simple; first-man and last-man (second is last, so no second-man).

First-man’s job is to push, be disruptive and create an opening for their teammate. Last-man’s job is simple: score and don’t get scored on.

(Picture: Psyonix)

This essentially means first-man will be pushing most of the time (if not rotating, of course) and last-man will be on the lookout for an opening, that be for a shot, clear or save if possession can’t be maintained.

Rocket League 2v2 Rotations

Rotations are essential for 3’s and 2’s, most definitely bigger in the latter as one missed gap and there’s no third person to clean up after the other two.

Therefore with the roles clearly established between teammates and understanding mechanical capability and playstyle for each player, rotations should be clearly indicated in the match comms.

• Read more: 8 Quick Chats that should be added to Rocket League

Whether it’s through voice chat or quick chat, if there is no time to verbally communicate the request for a rotation, flipping away from the play is the best indicator to call for help.

Rocket League 2v2: When to challenge

This leads us to irrefutably believe that challenges should occur as smoothly yet quickly as possible in-between rotations. The smaller the gap between first-man fleeing and last-man challenging, the more pressure you’ll have on the other team.

Hence comms being indispensable when it comes to team play. If you and your teammate can nail down the timing between shadowing and challenging, as long as your mechanics are mildly good in comparison to your rank, your team should be entering a winning streak in no time.