The Rarest Items in A Vast Library of Rocket League Cosmetics: LAN Reward Wheels
When someone asks me what the rarest wheels in Rocket League are, they often expect an answer like Goldstone Alpha Wheels or White Apex. Sometimes they’ll expect something a bit more obscure like discontinued items. Maybe Crimson Dynamo or Monstercat DJ Turntable Wheels.
Although, a subset of wheels exist that carry a greater rarity than Black Dieci, or any other RL cosmetic item you can fathom. They are untradable wheels – only redeemable by codes from a single event. A set of Pro wheels that have a definite and finite number of ticket sales.
Decennium Pro
Estimated RLCS Attendance: 1,800
The Origins of Decennium Pros:
In season 3, Northern Gaming clawed their way out of the losers bracket to be crowned Rocket League champions of the world.
Amidst the blistering heat of summer 2017, we witnessed something unprecedented. Psyonix released a new Rocket League cosmetic item to commemorate their live viewership.
Decennium Pro codes were issued to anyone and everyone who attended RLCS live and in-person.
The LAN rewards were born. They were a heightened form of fan reward only available to the most dedicated fans. These ritzy wheels were set aside for die-hard eSports fanatics who watched games, rather than idly spamming Twitch chat for free drops. The guys willing to traveled miles out of their way to cheer for their favorite eSport teams.
LAN rewards were given to the guys who paid for plane tickets and hotel rooms to watch some good old-fashioned car soccer. The guys who weren’t afraid to sweat, and not only because it was nearing July.
These guys took Rocket League pretty seriously.
Decennium Pros had a polish to their design that screamed exclusivity. They had a unique gold rim pattern that was nigh impossible to find in-game. They bore a loose familiarity to the luster seen in ever-elusive alpha items. The sparkling auburn color extended into a unique tread pattern that looked like etchings from some obscure alien species in a sci-fi flick. These new goldenrod gems unmistakable from any angle.
Decennium Pro wheels were the closest an RL player could get to experiencing the lifestyle of Las Vegas penthouse suites, arms laced with a dozen paid escorts. Equipping Decennium Pros is the RL equivalent to wearing a flawless white tuxedo that you’d only expect to see draped over the shoulders of an elite Russian mobster.
Decennium Pros represented Rocket league royalty. Seriously, Psyonix did an awesome job designing them. Season 3 RLCS attendees were brimming with appreciation.
Sovereign Pro:
Estimated RLCS Attendance: 3,000
For wheels boasting royalty in the title, Sovereign Pros really missed their mark.
Sovereign Pros dropped in autumn of 2017, the season immediately after Decennium Pros. Sovereigns may not have been as lustrous as Decenniums, but they featured a very sporty look. Owners were still pretty proud to showcase them.
Sovereign Pros were also the only LAN wheel to drop in Rocket League history to be designated to the blue team.
From here on out, RL players could expect a promotional wheel code for attending any RLCS LAN event. With expectation comes a market, and from the next wheel onward we would face scalping, price gouging, and typical code redemption scam alerts to go along with them.
I won’t say that Sovereign Pro wheels lack individuality. They were unique at first.
Until Psyonix broadcasted the biggest middle finger these poor LAN attendees could have imagined. Sovereign A/T’s.
On June 11th, 2018 the Beach Blast event took place on Rocket League servers. It was easily the most well-received in-game event until the Radical Summer event.
One of the crate items to roll out was a strictly more impressive version of Sovereign Pro wheels, available in every color. They weren’t even exotic rarity. They were Beach Blast imports. The exclusivity of Sovereign Pro wheels was obliterated overnight.
Not long after, Sovereign Pro owners experienced another dose of highway robbery.
To make matters worse, a near-identical replica of Sovereign Pro wheels appeared. They were color-swapped to lime and released as a free rocket pass item called M8 wheels.
That’s the story of how Sovereign Pros fell from the unobtainable realm of the skies straight into everyone’s inventory as a junk Rocket Pass drop.
So… let’s dedicate a moment of silence to our men and women who spent hundreds or THOUSANDS of dollars to attend RLCS and wound up with the most massacred reward of the bunch.
Mothership Pro:
Estimated Attendance: 5,400
The Origins of Motherhip Pros:
In season 5, Dignitas defeated NRG to become our only back-to-back title holders in RLCS history. The event that birthed Mothership Pro wheels was RLCS LANdon. It was a cute play on words for the biggest European showing in RLCS history.
Mothership wheels have a story to tell. I’m not sure what sort of spaghetti code Psyonix wrapped them in, but fans were once again disappointed by the final page of this tale.
When Mothership Pro codes first dropped, a bug in the code made them 100% tradeable. Not a big deal, right?
Well, Psyonix responded with radio silence about the bug. Many players traded their redeemed Mothership Pro for other expensive items. They traded top-tier stuff like White Octanes and White Zombas.
Then, almost a full week later, Psyonix snapped all those trades back and re-issued the wheels to their original owners without returning any items that other players offered for them.
Anyone who traded for a set of Mothership Pros was effectively scammed by the debugging programmers. Support tickets ensued. Luckily, the majority of players who jumped through the flaming circus hoops had their issues resolved.
But that isn’t the headline story:
One day Mothership Pro owners woke up to find that EVERYONE in the game had been gifted their prized wheels. The Rocket League community downloaded another routine update patch revolving around new crate cosmetics. Although, this time, something was amiss. Mothership Pros were listed as common.
The community was a train wreck.
Players were crying out about how crate culture had taken over the game and they deserved a free item. Owners of exclusive Mothership Pro wheels were attempting to complain in the forums, but their threads were getting hijacked by some 4chan-inspired spam comments that read “Enjoy the camaraderie!”
Psyonix decided to leave Mothership wheels as common items for everyone to enjoy. They redesigned the pro code to be a white variant. After all, white is the most popular color in Rocket League, isn’t it?
I applaud the effort from the Psyonix PR team, but honestly, these wheels looked better before the palette swap… leaving a sour taste in the mouths of LAN wheel code redeemers worldwide.
Aero Mage Pro:
Estimated RLCS Attendance: 6,800
The Origins of Aero Mage Pros:
Cloud9 defeated Dignitas to take home the cup.
On December 8th of 2018, codes for Aero Mage Pros began trickling into the inboxes of season 6 LAN attendees that trekked out to Las Vegas, NV.
Since the PR disasters of the past two wheels had led to in-game variants of other pro-tier wheels, Psyonix altered their approach. Pro wheels were no longer a fresh and exclusive design, they would be “Premium” versions of other in-game cosmetics.
Painted Decenniums entered the fan reward circuit. Also, Aero Mage Pro’s were released in the advent of the popularity White Aero Mages had sustained.
Overall, the wheels were very popular. Aero Mage Pros featured a stellar gradient from white to black. They kept a neutral color scheme that was easy to match. They retained their simplicity. The fade into charcoal black was smooth and consistent.
These wheels were so clean that Billy Mays could have featured them on a detergent commercial.
“Keep your brights brighter and your blacks blacker”
A few players were upset that standard painted Aero Mages didn’t feature gradients, to begin with. The unpainted Aero Mages were a unique tri-color blend that made them fun to create designs around.
As a result, you hear the occasional complaint about Aero Mage Pro wheels being lazy design.
Still, Aero Mage Pro wheels were very popular. More popular than Decennium Pros. These wheels could be used on either team, making them a huge asset to LAN attendees.
With such an overwhelming approval rating, it was settled. Fan rewards would be the basis for every Pro wheel to appear every season. Psyonix had succeeded.
Emerald Pro:
Estimated RLCS Attendance: It’s Over 9,000!
The Origins of Emerald Pros:
Let’s fast forward to the first season of 2019. Renault Vitality defeated G2 to take home the RLCS trophy. The event took place in the largest venue ever booked: The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The event was capable of housing almost 20,000 viewers.
Emerald Pro’s have a phenomenal appearance. Even after 5 professional seasons had passed, gold wheels were still a rarity in Rocket League. They were more sought after than ever before.
That isn’t to say we didn’t experience a hiccup in RLCS season 7. The original announcement was for a Ninja Pro wheel that was nearly identical to the white Ninjas already present in many player inventories.
Not to mention Ninjas have always been dwarfed by the ever-popular White Apex that released the same season. Ninjas just don’t look all too special.
I think the idea was to create a nostalgic throwback to the original fan rewards. Ninjas were among the first wave of twitch rewards. Surely, the crowd would go wild, right?
Take a look for yourself.
A small inner-section of the wheel was color swapped from silver to white. Rocket League players around the world stirred an uproar. This was easily the laziest design yet!
So our boys at Psyonix did what they were prone to do – scramble around and slap a few off-brand band-aids along the yellow brick road leading to RLCS.
Although, the result here was quite beautiful.
From these ashes, Emerald Pros were born – like a glistening phoenix in a bright afternoon sky. Vibrant gold highlights shimmered through a jet-black void in a way that was certain to turn heads. Psyonix re-introduced the popular “infinite” effect from 2017’s hit victory crate model, the Infinium. This effect would eventually spam our inventories as “Special Edition” variants of every rocket pass item and crate exotic alike… but for the time, this was pretty unique!
From here on out, all LAN rewards became animated. They were no longer simple nor clean. Billy Mays wouldn’t feature Pro wheels on any detergent commercials.
These wheels were more in line with something Mike Tyson would sponsor. They were flashy and gold.
Metalstar Pro:
Estimated Attendance: 7500-8000
The Origins of Metalstar Pros:
NRG took home the title of world champions in season 8 after defeating Vitality. Many considered GarrettG and JSTN’s triumph long overdue, as their curse of losing to Dignitas had finally been lifted.
Metalstar Pros followed suit of their predecessors. Again, we see the “Infinite” effect appear on the outermost region of their tread. The glowing “infinite” themed highlights rotate, which honestly makes them less appealing. They’re like little gilded Ferris wheels.
Still, Metalstar Pro wheels aren’t lacking in glitz and glamour.
No community drama to report here. Psyonix delivered what they promised. Bugs were fleshed out. Metalstar Pro wheels weren’t as admired as Aero Mage, Emeralds, or Decennium. They also weren’t as loathed as Mothership or Sovereign.
I suppose that’s a win.
Still, this marked the first season where RLCS began to decline in popularity. An outcry began to take root for our beloved Rocket League to re-launch as a free-to-play title.
Mendoza Pro:
Estimated RLCS Attendance: 6,800*
The Origins of Mendoza Pros:
A live event for season 9 never occurred. G2 defeated Spacestation Gaming to take home the RLCS trophy while we sat through an unforgettable quarantine.
As someone who doesn’t particularly like Mendoza Wheels, the Pro’s are gorgeous. The animation isn’t too shabby, either.
These rare golden wheels feature a soft white brim perfect for balancing out muted color palettes and pastel color schemes.
Of course, when you’ve got a rare gold wheel in Rocket League, you’ve gotta flaunt it by decorating those presets to appear like a replica of your stepdad’s 24-karat bowling trophy from his long-winded glory days.
Anyway, Psyonix was forced to cancel the event in Texas where these were intended for distribution, since it was scheduled smack dab in the middle of March of 2020. Tickets were refunded to the original owners and they were given complementary Mendoza Pro codes as an apology.
Of course, by this time, scalping RLCS tickets became a hulking issue. To make matters worse, most airline tickets and hotel reservations were rendered non-refundable. We can’t blame Psyonix for any of that, but the frustration felt by fans was palpable.
Our result? We have a beautiful wheel that sits on a throne of Rocket League history. Mendoza Pros are a subtle reminder of one of the worst years in the history of humanity. At least we got them.
Patriarch Pro:
Estimated Wheel Codes: 250,000
The Origins of Patriarch Pros:
After a two year drought, Team BDS took home the title of RLCS X World Champions in a landslide victory against G2. Seikoo cemented himself as rookie of the century as he helped guide m0nkey_m00n and Extra toward the most brilliant teamwork ever showcased in a competitive Rocket League tournament.
But Patriarch Pros sang a more melancholy melody – An end to an era.
LAN attendees weren’t the recipients for Patriarch pros. Instead, every Twitch viewer who spent two hours streaming the event took home a set of these gilded little buggers. Overall, the change is likely for the better. Still, it feels a little dirty that Psyonix didn’t announce plans to vanquish the scalper-ridden line of LAN wheels while selling tickets like hotcakes.
Patriarch Pros gleam with a darker shade more akin to copper or bronze, but aren’t lacking when it comes to shimmer and luster.
The simple background on standard Patriarch wheels is replaced with a sparkling galaxy effect. Sparkles are used to emulate stars in a hazy cloud of nebulous space junk.
Honestly, it’s on par with the Rocket League aesthetic. If you don’t believe me, take a look at all these vaporwave presets!
What's Next?
Thanks to the rocky road of past Pro wheel development, we can chart the course ahead with relative simplicity. For the most part, we know what to expect in the future.
The question is, which fan reward will they douse in a tub of gold next? Will we see Apex Pros? Decopunk Pros? What reward would you like to see from the next RLCS LAN?
If you’re craving more preset inspiration, feel free to check out my Esport Decal tier list!