Zen vs Dark… Who has Better Mechanics?

►I'm LIVE every week on Twitch Mon-Fri!
/ tenacitytv
►Main tiktok account:
vm.tiktok.com/...
Back-up account: TenacityTv2vm.tiktok.com/...
►Join us in the TENA-CITY Discord:​​​​​​​​​​​
/ discord
►NEW Tenacity merch!!
tenacitytv.cre...
►All other socials: flyr.pro/at/te...
#rocketleague #workshop #react
EDITOR: www.behance.ne... #rocketleague
Thumbnail by - / thewhydaah
#tenacitytv

[@dirtybaker]

Watching Dark speed boost the side walls is wild. Didnt see it much here but thats his signature style. Dark plays like a Plat with SSL mechanics when it comes to 2v2s.

[@lgbeatz2664]

Nah he doesn't play with ssl mechanics, he plays with Dark mechanics 😂😂

[@IceIrdna]

Yeh he isnt really intrested in trying anything team related 😅

[@lgbeatz2664]

@@IceIrdna we just have to finish letting him cook

[@CiriRL]

lots of saudi Arabian players grind just 1s

[@lgbeatz2664]

@@CiriRL When he's ready to go pro he'll start running 6mans and comp 3s more

[@busy_rl]

The big difference between Zen’s mechanics and Dark’s mechanics is the pure consistency in Zen’s style of play vs Dark’s. Zen seems like he always gets the best touches possible and uses them in the most effective and efficient way. Dark is more flashy and risky, but the has errors which he makes up for with speed. Which if his opponent is aware of how fast he his, Dark usually has a bad time. Thank you for coming to my tedtalk :)

[@SteveBonerson]

Agreed, IMO its not even close. Dark is super fun to watch but many of his "mechanics" are completely unnecessary like hes just trying to go as fast as he can 100% of the time...and many times he doesn't seem fully in control. No knock on him either, hes super fun. Also remember every Zen clip in this video is against a top 15 1's player. Dark is playing good players but not the level of the players Zen clips on.

[@xdsam24]

Exactly...the rlcs showed exactly what youre saying in this comment imo

[@The-Penguin-Gamer2]

very true

[@justin4347]

there’s no rocket league player who isn’t aware of how fast dark is💀

[@justin4347]

so u r basically saying zen is smart n dark is mechanical, because being effective and efficient with mechanics is like 25% mechanical ability and 75% game iq

[@nicholaiseay1650]

Dark is more of a freestyler while zen is smarter with plays. I would really be interested in watching a best of 7 zen vs dark Zen at his best skill level while dark has improved massively in game sense or smarter than what he is now.

[@NassRLSS]

it really won't be, dark is losing to d tier 1v1 players, he beat daniel once a year ago hen daniel was at his low.

[@nicholaiseay1650]

@@NassRLSS I'm talking about when dark gets better at the game. Smarter at what he does in 1v1s. If they were to 1v1 right now he would obviously lose. The main thing he lacks is just being smarter with his playstyle because in the 1v1s he loses its because he goes for stuff at the wrong time like a freestyle or ball chasing.

[@MSN539]

@@NassRLSSI haven’t watched rocket league since like 6 months and he lost to flakes lmao 💀💀💀

[@deepwaterrehab7685]

Zen in 4 No game closer than 4 goals

[@deepwaterrehab7685]

@@NassRLSSthat Daniel game was a complete fluke. If they played again right now it wouldn’t be close in Dan’s favor

[@furkiking8323]

This was how Dark used to play. Dark's playstyle has immensely changed over this 1 year you need to watch any of his recent showmatches. Bro is probably the fastest player youll see and still does these insane freestyles at like mach speed.

[@23brock]

But it's against very low level ssls if he went against zen he'd get destroyed

[@furkiking8323]

@@23brock yeah he'd prolly get destroyed against zen but he isnt doing this stuff on low lvl ssls. the opponent in this vid is ivn who is a top 1v1 player and dark has even beat the likes of Daniel using this playstyle.

[@sphjnx--4326]

dark is top 100? thats not really low level @@23brock

[@23brock]

@@sphjnx--4326 compared to pros barely top 100 is terrible he'd get destroyed by any pro 1splayer

[@sphjnx--4326]

@@23brock his show matches prove you wrong

[@lukasch_3067]

I knew DARK was insane, but THIS IS SO INSANE. I cant belive, that that was one game

[@ian-th7rd]

I think Dark is a pusher of the game like trying to test the limits more than trying to win matches…if you watch his games he is pretty careless on open nets and defense…the last session I saw he is chaining wave dashes like a crazy animal

[@23brock]

Yes you got it exactly he isn't trying to win if he was he'd have to stop using a lot of his mechs

[@Duchehh]

Dark is the better freestyler

[@Aura.7896]

Fax

[@nwar_]

Player*

[@jaydenijtsma1134]

@@nwar_freestyler*

[@munster7349]

@@nwar_he’s not the better player. Zen is the best in the world LOL. Dark is fun to watch but Zen is facing people in rlcs and making it look easy.

[@MSN539]

Zen has better mechanics and is a better freestyler lol

[@user-uh3ub9wp7l]

This is incredibly incredible I thought i've seen it all but dark and Zen oooohh man that is one duo. If these 2 merged i would only image my existence literally Dark. Huge thanks for this video Tenacity I wish I could have been at your stream when this happened but had school. of course guy like me would die to talk to a cool guy like you. My favorite chill rl streamer.

[@user-uh3ub9wp7l]

This is my first time replying to a video like this i finally found out my google password.

[@lethall6609]

⁠@@user-uh3ub9wp7lcongrats on remembering

[@brycecarver991]

Watching Dark 1v1s is actually one of my favorite pieces of content to watch. He’s so fun to watch and he always challenges himself, sometimes doesn’t even take an open goal. This is sometimes his weakness in getting top 100 but his gameplay is fun to watch. The fact he is just 15… he could a pro and one of the top 1v1 in the world in a couple years no doubt. I think if Dark took top 100 seriously and didn’t go for a risky shot every time he could make top 10 no doubt.

[@cullzmen]

Dark also was beating pros in show matches too for a while which was ridiculous

[@23brock]

But If he tried now he's getting destroyed

[@ashkanmohammadi4966]

@@23brockyou never know

[@23brock]

@ashkanmohammadi4966 I do know lmao he loses to d tier players

[@Snapey81]

He wasn't though. I think the only top tier player he has ever won against was Daniel. His showmatch history is a complete disaster.

[@aracmond9586]

I honestly enjoy the in depth explanation of each of these shots.

[@iSys31]

I feel like Dark is just playing to have fun and plays in auto pilot, pure muscle memory. He still takes crazy bad decisions sometimes when you watch some gameplays. Obvious that he is young, he'll grow up and see the game differently in a few years, very great potential for competitive scene, if he's up to

[@Angremaan]

Zen: Brain and freestyle Dark: Freestyle yolo

[@Mardaler]

Dark: YOLOOOOOO!

[@user-nu8oy7gp2r]

But zen can switch up play styles a lot faster and easier than dark, but I would love to see these two against each other

[@DM-gi3pf]

The guy at 0:18 is a different Dark lol, not the Saudi Dark(?)

[@chirone_]

now i wanna see gameplay of the other dark

[@jonking7153]

I think you're the first person to mention angle and momentum for a pogo. 👏👏 Wayton about a year ago said the bounce is random. It's not.

[@BobbyGRL]

4:22 got lucky enough to match with Squishy and Fireburner at like 3 AM around 3-4 years ago and Squishy hit a shot just like this. Just wanted to take a moment to appreciate how ahead of the game that man was back then.

[@samgrange4263]

I remember watching a stream/video whereby scrub got pogo'd on about 5 times. It truly was a beautiful sight

[@Sky-Adri]

Dark is 15 ?! I thought he is just a 20 year old CCP, but damn in like 2 years he could compete with Zen if he's getting more consistent and play 2s and 3s

[@robwestb02]

Different dark there 2 of them, dark and dark ?

[@idktbh930]

There is only 1 dark​ u prolly thinking bout drku@@robwestb02

[@mr-mackelmore]

I’m so hyped for the future of competitive rl cause if all these younglings are gonna be pro it’s gonna be a highlight reel all the time

[@jasper791]

5:38 he got that much power with the flip reset because he wavedashed in de ball, you can slightly see it but def hear it with the video audio

[@bernardr7182]

Bro ready for a big meaty sausage in that thumbnail 😂

[@scepterlit]

I can’t wait to see Zen and Dark 1v1, that is gonna be crazy 🤣 btw, Dark streams on Twitch.

[@deepwaterrehab7685]

Zen would dog walk Dark in a show match lmao

[@andrepires3475]

I would bet Dark can't even score 1 goal in some games they play, Dark is barely top 100 in 1s, he consistently loses showmatches

[@scepterlit]

@@andrepires3475 Saying he can’t score at least 1 goal is a little dramatic, but Zen would probably win. It would still be fun to watch though.

[@andrepires3475]

@@scepterlit Dark has been DOMINATED by other worse players than Zen that are 1s mains, thats why i think Zen wouldnt let him breathe in a 1v1

[@scepterlit]

@@andrepires3475 Still, Dark could score some goals, he isn’t completely helpless. You gotta give him some credit.

[@jedi_jo_9015]

darks new play style is ridiculous in all the right ways xD ive seen one of his show matches with the playstyle and dude is at supersonic for 95% of the game

[@sploidd]

The scary part is that the clips from dark were from 1 year ago. Where he's mechanics could be now...

[@Chnkp]

That is old Dark. You should watch him zoom across the field now. The guy is a wave/zap/wall/ceiling dash machine. This is wild. This is the future of rocket league. Hes not the smartest on the field and he does not care. All about mechanics.

[@dalcowboiz]

I think it is a question of what mechs means. Because Zen can turn any set up into a gross play. He is comfortable no matter where the ball is, he just makes magic out of nothing. Dark is great at playing his version of RL. Super mechy, if he is in the air with the ball he is going to peak on you, but he relies more on decent set ups and he is more likely to overcommit to bad offense. That is my initial take before watching vid

[@jackjohnsson2190]

as someone who would call himself a freestyler, the pogo under the ball is called a plan-B. the one that pops the ball by doing the pogo directly under the ball

[@ExoticxYoshi]

Honestly, I don't know why many people hype up one person. Zen is just a regular person with Rocket League weaknesses like everyone else.

[@cytro]

so agree lol, it's annoying seeing everyone glazing zen

[@peacemaker4829]

"Oh and then he goes for the double." 😂

[@neith4556]

I used to beat pros now and then when SSL wasn't a thing, probably around 2019. But I quit and moved on. These guys make me wish I kept playing. And I don't have time to get back into it. Sad times, man.

[@AnxiousNoodle1]

Difference is Zen is doing this in RLCS grand finals on the biggest stage.

[@davidkosiba624]

Literally none of these clips were from RLCS lmao , he very rarely hit anything like this in RLCS for obvious reasons

[@CrackedZac]

I think zen and dark need to have a freestyle competition or play horse. I’m pretty sure zen can actually do most of what dark does pretty consistently as well but probably not QUITE as consistent. Zen is very freestyle - esque tho

[@Metaknight251]

Wall to air dribble, double flip reset, pogo, musty is absolutely insane to hit once, never mind having the capability to hit consistently

[@Oliver74_]

I have played against dark in a 3v3 game when he had ixkillerx and a guy i didnt know on his team and we actually won quite comfortably. i have also come across him in 2s both with him and against him hes really consistent, fast and so mechanically skilled its crazy

[@Chizinky]

4 resets in ssl comp is WILD

[@starkospike]

What i will say is that i have seen both play and i personally believe that zen is the more game sense player. Zen is very consistent and has great mechanics and insane control but his game sense combined with his mechanics and control is what makes him so good. Dark on the other hand is extremely mechanic and not just mechanic but so so consistent with those mechanics. He could probably hit shots like that with his eyes closed however when i have seen him play ones he will be a bit more agro. Dont get me wrong hes one of the best and his games sense is still way better than a lot of the player base but you cant pick a better player when their playstyles are so different.

[@BB-gl2xk]

I finally watched this... btw everyone the title is "Who has Better Mechanics?" not whose better overall. IMO Dark has better mechanics because he can do things at a faster pace than any other players and do it... semi-consistently, which requires a high mechanical ceiling and on top of that does a wide diversity of shots and well known freestyle playstyles. While Zen is Mechanical and consistent... I just don't see how the two could be compared because Zen doesn't freestyle... he doesn't have a "flashy bag" like Dark and keeps it simplistic (freestyle pov simple), though, Zen has other things to focus on like instead of being highly mechanical... working with his team and improving various things... Zen is the better overall player 3s, 2s, not 1s though but that is 2/3 categories.

[@hydro2635]

Watching KZbinrs glaze skilled RL Players will always be funny

[@Sky-Adri]

I was waiting for this Video so badly

[@brycekoch7244]

You need to watch dark’s newer clips, he’s a wave dash/zap dash maniac

[@bogart3278]

Dark on Rule 1 Would Be INSANE!

[@whitehapp8646]

Dark's vid was a year old. Hes been prerfecting dashes and speed recently

[@Es_Solo_Dame]

Zen simply has different plans and knows what he’s going for while dark just goes up and tries to do his thing

[@piecectrlbiaoncontroller6162]

I’ve always wondered about this question ever since i have heard of zen.

[@ErnieZee]

Zen uses 100 boost to do from the ground to ceiling pinch double tap, I use 100 boost to get to another 100 boost pad.

[@Littlespider_909]

when u were explaning the pogo u sounded like my teacher teaching math lol

[@ghxstyn]

when Tena says "dark" in the beginning of the video, the guy the editor puts on the screen is not the Saudi dark. just letting u know xd

[@babykiller2164]

Dark = mechanics Zen =smart plays

[@Gimmy27]

Not really. Players with smart plays are more like people as flakes or jack. It’s just that compared to the flashier plays of dark, zen’s are not quite as bold, but still *highly mechanical* . He does mechanical things in difficult places and that’s what makes him great.

[@munster7349]

@@Gimmy27Zen is a smart player LOL. He would be in RLCS if he wasn’t. U don’t know anything.

[@Gimmy27]

@@munster7349 well duhh you could say that for every player that’s in RLCS, but that’s not what he’s known for.

[@munster7349]

@@Gimmy27 He’s known for doing smart plays LOL. And insane plays. Zen is probably the most smart and insane player in rocket league right now. U saying he’s not smart is just a lie. Flakes can’t do what zen been doing or he would have been doing it. Zen is in a league of his own. Aka being the greatest.

[@deepwaterrehab7685]

Zen’s mechanics are also insane

[@DustyAurora]

In overall mechanics, and how they are being used, Zen is better. This is because while Zen's shots could be considered flashy, they are also the best course of play and well as usually low risk. Dark is better at the flashy mechanics where they are much more riskier, but he does make up for it with speed. Zen's mechanics are just on top in terms of best usage. This does not mean that Dark is not an insanely good player. Both of them are good, Zen just comes out on top.

[@psuedotoxin]

i dont know much about rl scene im new here but i think zen used to be a freestyler too? dark has crazy potential imo i fw his zap dash and wall dashes

[@NassRLSS]

zen was never a freestyler, there was a oceani zen.

[@metrobeboomin]

Naw it was different zen but zen was inspired by the freestyler one the original one quit and now is a apex player

[@psuedotoxin]

@@metrobeboomin ohh. makes sense. thanks for the info

[@psuedotoxin]

@@NassRLSS i see. thnx for the info

[@metrobeboomin]

@@psuedotoxin no problem btw I thought the same untill I did research

[@grantbarbone3789]

tancity my man, you didnt finish your research, dark is a dashing mad man. He dash on the wall to and get the perfect resets.

[@enyraries]

Both crazy. Dark would have a tough time in 3's I feel like. Compared to Zen, obviously I am no where near either.

[@kev18]

At 1:50 to 1:55 in the video tenacity sounded exactly like musty

[@qsol0]

Both of them looks like they're stuck in animation. They go up with the ball and it just flows

[@user-df2fs3is7b]

Zen is defo n°1 in my heart but Imo Dark as even better mecs.. the big problem is consistancy. Dark is always losing his showmatches because he wants to do too much, too fancy. Zen goes for more "classic" moves but never miss.

[@ClutchChristensen]

The thing about zen is he is efficient everything he does is for a reason, he isn't going for flash but he is thats how good he is, dark on the other hand goes for the crazy shots while he is consistent with them they are not always needed, i think zen could easaly be as consistent or more if he was going for shots like dark.

[@ollynx6109]

My all time favorite Player is Novel. The one and only ceiling shuffle Goat.

[@jampalp]

dark on a team with two smart & solid players is probably a top player in the world. not to mention dark is known for experimenting alot, especially in ranked, so we can only imagine how good he is when hes playing smart and going for shots that he's consistent with.

[@Tidal_Play4183]

To answer your question in the title. Its zen

[@Boka224]

I expected: WHAT IS UP KZbin...

[@CAPNBACK]

I wish you were looking at the more recent Dark videos tho, he is even better now.

[@TehSwmmy]

Darks best shots are gon a be better, zen is so dangerous beacuse of his game iq mixed with his mechs. Dark just goes for ridiculous shit.

[@adri9esp366]

I would really love to see a Zen vs Dark game, oofffff, just for the show, lets see what happens

[@Nismo738]

I want to see Zen and Dark play twos together and theyre only allowed to do passing plays lol

[@CrazyGuy9812]

Did u know that tenacity says rocket league in every video!!!!!😮

[@gjermundnorumbugge7373]

11:29 You would never see Zen even attempt something like this, because the shot is completely stupid to begin with. It is extremely impressive in terms of execution, but if you try to do anything like that in a high level 2v2 or 3v3 lobby you will just get challenged. This only works in 1v1. And even in 1v1 90% of what he did was completely un necessary to do to score the goal. Off course everything Dark was doing was impressive, but it's all just for show. If dark wanted to really start crushing the 1v1 competition he should focus more on efficiency and less on these slow freestyle setups

[@kristofferkejser7594]

Imagine pro Rocket League in a few years🤯⚽

[@Zkrn.643]

they should do a zen vs dark 1v1 but they both play on au servers

[@Andrew-oo1jt]

this guy did a cover of “feeling whitney” by post malone in a pickle costume?

[@just_moon--]

Zen is amazing and all but ill have to be honest with you. If you look at darks style of play or the style of play he will attain, you'll see the big sort of shift that's about to be on the horizon. The pure speed he has on the sidewalls ect is unmatched and as soon as he gets the hold of that style of play (more consistent) he could win rlcs

[@23brock]

But look at all the mistakes dark makes zen would slap him

[@curse4490]

@@23brockbecause he’s trying new things, seeing what mechanics work more often then others. He can afford to make mistakes since it’s just ranked.

[@aidenfleming9815]

i'd like to see dark and zen play 2v2's with each other

[@CLasHRed_Gaming]

Imagine u go into a 2v2 ranked game and dark and zen are on the other team

[@GranteG]

the glazing is insane ongg

[@dillenboogaard5735]

I just realised the dark I played with years ago is this guy

[@Arthurmorgstan]

And i played with dark private freestyle he is insane pogo with flip at the same time insane player

[@BoBlithe]

You have to look up a newer dark video, his recoveries are getting nutty too

[@Jujukickster45YT]

imagine dark and zen on a rlcs team

[@aysamalmashni572]

Yoooh but I think not cause the language

[@Sky-Adri]

Dark isnt rlcs ready i think, he play only 1s and is inconsistent because of his speed (But in 2 years that could be dangerous af)

[@metrobeboomin]

Bro dark is always going to use his mechs and give it to h9 oppents

[@NassRLSS]

@@Sky-Adri hes def not good enough to be even top 10 EU or NA, but if he gets consistent with dashes, he may be dangerous like you said.

[@ripit.3457]

Who’d be their first man?

[@makqz]

watch a current dark video. he's into dashing now. its insane

[@aronianspigonian8589]

Tenacity should run up showmatches

[@aronianspigonian8589]

In a similar way fear/johnny does it

[@ApparentlyAhmad]

Btw, this dark game is 1 year old, maybe do a 2nd part but with a more recent game?

[@AkioJunichiro]

Wait 2-3 years and Zen vs Dark will be the main event. But if Dark goal is 1v1, I would love to see a current Mawkzy vs a current Dark

[@23brock]

Current mawkzy would slap dark is losing to d tier players

[@HiHello-ey9pl]

@@23brock okay yeah you’re just a dark hater. you’re straight up searching for these comments to go and shit on dark. as if you wouldn’t be a clip farm for him.

[@Snapey81]

@@HiHello-ey9pl But how is he wrong? Mawkzy is a top 5 player in the world, Dark is currently ranked at 168 in the world. His current record is 3 wins from his last 15 showmatches and the only significant win he's had against a top player was over a year ago.

[@TennesseeBeta]

You need to see the newer Dark, his recoveries are insane now

[@damianranshuijsen7962]

Zen vs dark would be insane

[@davidkosiba624]

Dark relies purely on his mechanics and speed and imo he is superior to Zen in both , but Zen goes for 'smart mechanics' which is why he is a better player in a sense of his results , but if Dark sometimes decides to play smart it is kinda over for everybody else , he plays 2v2 rather a lot lately btw , he was 1900mmr somewhere last season i believe

[@ashkanmohammadi4966]

2072mmr*

[@rasky2684]

I love watching dark he's clearly an incredible player but! His play style has a high error chance which does result in free goals. He is doing a lot more 3s and 2s so give him time.

[@Critix330]

Can anyone imagine joyo and dark as a duo?

[@JPYH2]

i dont think theres a best player honestly. There are players that are best at one aspect of the game. Mawkzy- Flicks Dark- Aerial mechanics Nwipo- Speed Zen- Efficiency It’s hard to be the best in everything cos you have to sacrifice one for the other

[@Cajob-rg8et]

look at the clips from dark vs Daniel

[@Blasphemous_719]

I mean BROTHER are you kidding me

[@BlueShadow_rl]

I need to see this now irl

[@zigzaggaming1866]

ofc you need to do more ;)

[@Kuspyii]

WE NEED A DARK VS ZEN ASAP!

[@TheCANNAB1SKID]

I do believe you need to watch darks newer vids, if you are comparing him to zen with old videos, the newer ones will really melt your brain. just call it, we need a zen vs dark 1v1 and settle this

[@user-si5il6wg6g]

yooo the picture in the first of the vid is not dark ,dark is from saudi arabia he s 15 years old and not the same player of rldark i hope you understand my point ...

[@Arthurmorgstan]

I talked with him personally he told me he will join rlcs asap he turns 15 i guess so he can join he will be on a team with his friends

[@kaketatts7268]

It dark is a freestyler and zen is not zen is a pro player

[@iamBexzz]

If you watch a video from nowadays dark just keep dashing everywhere

[@phasmaton]

I can barely handle my plat 2 rank(btw i probably have over 2000 hours in rl but idk precisely how much i played) and getting worse and worse every fucking month(or im just keeping the same gameplay but everyone around becomes better and better,but not me, i mean like 2 years ago i was diamond 2 peaking and was constantly on d1 but now what diamond was back then is just mid-plat level of game), i tried learning rotation and positioning but it wasn't succeed, also the grand champ guy was teaching me for some months and i still didn't achieve anything for that time except i learned wavedash and half flip, but my rank keeps lowering. My mechanics are so crapped comparing to other platinum players, like i barely can do the simplest aerials and miss half of them while the guys just constantly air dribbling and air rolling, i don't have any ground mechanics(i can't fake, i can't dribble, i miss open nets) tho i was grinding freeplay about 4 months for hours everyday, i watched some guides on the simplest mechanics and tried to learn them, and still that all gave me nothing, oh and also i have awful reaction speed so even when i probably rotate right i just miss the ball touches because i dont have enough time to react. I keep losing and become worse at this game the more i play it. But i love rocket league and i cannot just delete it(i mean, when im tilted i delete but after a few days i download it again) but i hate myself so much for being so puny at it, i want to become better but i can't due to i dont fucking know what. Right now im plat 2 div 1 and i probably will lose it to plat 1 and gold soon. So while watching this video i just want to cry over the gameplay that i will NEVER be able to repeat or at least see in my actual game and i want to crash all of my computers not to see this game again

[@brain_rl]

Dark played against ivn, a top tier pro!