Rocket League players often have a complicated relationship with the demolition mechanic. They’re frustrating to defend against, difficult to pull off, and can leave you in an unfavorable position even if you successfully demo your opponent.
However, one player has fully embraced Rocket League’s most contentious game mechanic. His name is Rocket Sledge, and he’s a monster.
Rocket Sledge boasts 27,000 career demos and has literally written the book (read: created the YouTube tutorial) on how to use them effectively in Rocket League play. He also creates montages of his dirtiest demos that show off his creativity and proficiency at deleting opponents from the map.
I contacted Mr. Sledge himself to see what drives him to do such horrible, horrible things to his opponents.
Max Thielmeyer: What made you decide you wanted to perfect the demo?
Rocket Sledge: It was a gradual thing. I used demos from the moment I figured out that driving fast into someone made them blow up, but I definitely made a lot of bad demo choices. Over time I began to recognize the right time to go for them and started to get a lot of demo related goals. The clips I made were a bit of hit on Reddit, so I edited them into crappy montages with my trusty Windows Movie Maker.
The stigma for demos was still mostly negative back then. They were considered dirty, cheap, and low-level no-skill tactics. So, I embraced the stigma and the “Dirty Plays” series was born.
Eventually people started asking me how to do what I do. They wanted a tutorial. It seemed overwhelming and I resisted for a while. But the requests kept coming, so finally I bought a real editing program and over the course of 4 or 5 months put together a 3-part tutorial: “How to Play Dirty”.
I guess that could be considered the point where I really decided that I wanted to perfect the demo. But not for myself, it was for others. It’s true I was no Grand Champion, but I also knew that I was one of the few using demolitions consistently and effectively (or at least making clips of it). I had seen my share of bad demo plays (and made a lot of them myself), so I set out to show players the RIGHT way to use them, with the emphasis that good rotation was the key to a good demo play.
MT: What’s your response to criticism from other players that demoing is cheap or cheating?
RS: In game? I usually don’t respond. Outside of the game I have had many discussions on the topic.
I actually devoted an entire video to help people accept or at least deal with demolitions in Rocket League in collaboration with the great Sunless Khan.
But to put it bluntly: it’s a game mechanic.
It’s intended by the developers. It has programmed rules and conditions. Thus, it can be neither a hack nor a cheat. Psyonix has even specifically pointed out that demos are not reportable offenses. Like any mechanic there is a right time to use it or at least specific situations it is more viable than others. As a player, we can’t make up rules for the game and expect other people to abide by them. You think demos are not the “legit way to win”? That’s fine, but be aware that no one else is bound by the restrictions you are imposing on yourself.
MT: Do you have a favorite demo from your whole career? Why and what makes it so memorable?
RS: I’d like to pick two. The first stands out to me for a few reasons. I had just completed my first season getting Champ rewards, proving wrong the common belief that demolitions are strictly low-level tactics.
Early in the next season I put on my new Champ Wheels and pulled of this play in a ranked 3’s match. To me this play is the complete package: I pop the ball up and quickly get to the ground to drive ahead while my partner Kevlar goes up, I demo the goalie out of the air while Kevlar completes the inverted aerial. Hard to top in my mind.
The second one stands out just for uniqueness and the fact that I was able to deliver when challenged. There was some discussion on a Discord server about the possibility of a turtle demo. Someone was trying to get one but hadn’t been able to. I was challenged to try it for myself and was able to quickly come back with a clip in only my second game trying. I think the fact that I was able to line up a moving target made it a pretty impressive play despite it not really providing any value to my team.
For those looking to emulate Rocket Sledge’s explosive tactics, he’s created an excellent tutorial on the subject that will totally transform your demo game. For those looking to avoid being yet another of Rocket Sledge’s victims – good luck – and check out his demolition avoidance guide instead.
To Rocket Sledge: thanks again for the interview, and please take it easy on me if we ever meet in-game!
