At the 2026 RLCS Boston Major, Gentle Mates Get the Win

After a complete roster turnover in 2025, many counted Gentle Mates, the French esports team, out for the 2026 season. But with their victories at the EU Open 3 and Boston Major, they’re now a frontrunner as they seek qualification for the Paris Major happening May 20–24 in their home country.

The team of three were mates before they were Gentle Mates. Poland native Oskar “Oski” Gozdowski and Moroccan-Belgian Nassim “nass” Bali were previously part of Ninjas in Pyjamas who placed 7th at the 2025 Rocket League World Championship. They joined Gentle Mates in search of a third teammate and new beginning.

Enter Archie “archie” Pickthall from England, who got 6th place with Oski at the 2024 World Championship when they were part of Oxygen Esports. Oski said: “archie and I are friends outside of the game, so we were already talking about it. . . . I should never have left Oxygen with archie [in it]. I knew how good of a teammate he was.”

By focusing on fundamentals with coach Nicolai “Snaski” Vistesen Andersen, they secured the Grand Final win over Team Vitality. nass reflects on their hard-fought 4–3 victories over reigning world champs NRG in the Quarterfinals and Team Falcons in the Semifinals: “When we won against NRG, we felt pretty good [but] we had to fix some of our mistakes. Playing against Falcons was really hard . . . But we stepped up in Game 7 . . . and that’s what we do.”

The trio had extra reason to celebrate after nass broke the record (9) for most goals scored in a LAN Grand Final. His last-minute goals in the final two rounds brought him to 12.

The Mates have made it clear they’re contending, not rebuilding, on the road to Paris.