Which Controller Is Best for Rocket League? Analyzing RLCS Pro Player Preferences

Rocket League is a simple game on paper. Car, boost, ball. You can make a living out of it if you so desire, or just queue online playlists to test your abilities against rank equals. The biggest problem for players, though? The intransferrable skills.

There is no gun to point, jab to parry, or tanks to engage. There are no commands, no animations, no safety net for movement. Your controller or mouse will always be restricted to its mapping. In a physics-based game, this sounds like hell. For rocketeers, this is their bread and butter. Manipulating every pixel of your car’s body is key to ball control, team chemistry, and the ultimate victory.

Credit: Epic Games

Therefore, the correct controller makes all the difference in the world. The question is, which controller is best to rank up or even go pro in Rocket League? Let’s look at what the RLCS pros have inadvertently chosen.

The RLCS Pro Players' Data Shows…

Thanks to Liquipedia, we can find fascinating discoveries regarding professional preferences for performing at the top level. First, only 3 out of 36 World Champions since 2016 have won it all using an Xbox One controller: Mark "Markydooda" Exton, Remco "remkoe" den Boer, and Ted "0ver Zer0" Keil, the last of whom is the only non-European of the three, and sole MVP winner as an Xbox user.

The other 33 Champions of the World all use PlayStation hardware. While not all of the players list their controller of choice, the ones that do show a strong preference for the Sony DualShock, used by 6 Worlds MVPs, followed by the Sony DualSense, which is used by 4 Worlds MVPs.

Credit: Sony, Microsoft

Furthermore, Liquipedia has a database for most of its professional players storing rocketeers’ inputs and, you guessed it, controller preferences. This database is split into two categories: Notable Players and Others. Notable Players need to have earned at least $500 in prize pool money to be considered. Otherwise, pros fall under the Others category, and this is where it gets interesting.

Out of 317 Notable Players listed, only 64 aren’t PlayStation controller mains. That’s less than 13% with 41 total Xbox users and 23 Keyboard and Mouse mains. Of the 404 players in the Others category, the number of non-PlayStation controller users increases by 10%, with 56 being Xbox controller users and 36 KBM users.

Credit: Sony

This fascinating data not only shows that the norm is well established, but also that going against it can cost you in results and prize pool earnings.

Which Controller is Best for Rocket League? The Verdict

Whether it’s to rank up now or in Rocket League 2, we have a clear winner. Almost 80% of all RLCS pros use PlayStation controllers, so what are you waiting for? Specific models aren’t all available on Liquipedia, but two stand out from the rest with the DualSense Edge and DualShock 4 as two of the winningest controllers in Rocket League history. Notable professional players who have used these include three-time World Champion Alexandre "Kaydop" Courant and four-time World Champion Pierre "Turbopolsa" Silfver.

In the span of a decade, the Rocket League Championship Series has awarded an estimated $35 million as prize pool money. If you’re using an Xbox controller, or worse, Keyboard and Mouse, then losing your piece of the pie is 110% on you.

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