Rainbow Six eSports
With the biggest Rainbow Six Siege event quickly approaching, we wanted to give you a look at how the teams in each group made their way here. We will be breaking down the teams from each group, starting today with Group A!
PENTA Sports (EU)
PENTA Sports is a team that, in Siege, needs absolutely no introduction. Winners of the very first season of the Pro League, they stuck to what made them great and came back unbelievably strong in Year 2, winning back-to-back Championships in Season 1 and 2 of Year 2. Despite losing in the semi-finals of Season 3 — they are still arguably the best team in the scene. While only Pengu remains from their Y1S1 roster, the additions of Fabian, Goga, jOONAS, and KS formed the fearsome team throughout Year 2. However, since the conclusion of Year 2, we have seen Shatte move over from ENCE to replace KS. A swap that has reaffirmed PENTA’s drive to continue their dominance.
The team secured their Six Invitational invite courtesy of the first championship win in Year 2, where they brushed aside the Black Dragons roster (now Team Liquid) in a dominating 10-1 victory. Even without their Season 1 title, their repeat championship win in Season 2, or their placement as EU’s first seed in Season 3 would have ensured that the team would be making its way to Canada.
With Group A being as close to a “Group of Death” as we have, PENTA Sports are going to be the tip of Death’s scythe with their firepower and teamwork honed over an entire year of highly successful competition.
Evil Geniuses (NA)
The only North American team present in Group A, Evil Geniuses are no strangers to success. With the original Six Invitational PC champions playing under the Evil Geniuses banner, they are experienced and ready for the Six Invitational stage. Of that squad, 4/5th has come back together over the course of Year 2 in the form of Canadian, Yung, nvK, and Necrox. The newest member BC slots in so well that Canadian has described this as his “dream lineup”.
In Year 1 Season 3, they beat Playing Ducks in a tightly contested Grand Final, before beating eRa Eternity (now Rogue) in Canada the next year. Since then, the team has found considerably less success, being unable to make it to the LAN event in Y2S1 and S2. In Season 3, they had a renaissance of sorts, and comfortably dominated the NA region as they had previously done. However, they faced eventual champions ENCE eSports right out of the blocks at LAN and were sent home in the very first round.
After getting a slot to the Invitational by virtue of being regional champions in Y2S3, the side will be looking to launch a strong defense during their first game against 1UPeSport, and transform that momentum into their first title in a year.
1Up Esports (EU) :
Hailing from Germany, 1UPeSport has recently made its entry into the Pro League, during Year 2 Season 3. The lineup, now comprising Vale, ripz, pARAA, Hungry, and KS, performed really well in the open ladder, finishing 1st in the EU region. They then continued in the playoffs, defeating EnD Gaming in the “Quarter-Final”, before defeating fan-favorites IDK (ex-sno0ken Knows) in the next stage. Unfortunately, it seemed that their Invitational dream was at an end when they lost to Supremacy in the Best-of-Five (Bo5) “Final”.
However, they were chosen by Ubisoft to be one of the four teams invited to the Invitational, and now find themselves on their way to Montreal.
Team Vitality (EU) :
The French side, Team Vitality, made its way to the Invitational, by claiming victory in the recent Community Vote. While Vitality has been involved in Rainbow Six esports since Year 1, as an Xbox One team, their PC roster was picked up in Year 2.
Towards the end of Year 2, they began their campaign to qualify to the Invitational as strongly as they could have hoped, finishing sixth in the open ladder. However, their dreams took a blow once more when they were knocked out in the first round of the online playoffs by #XBOXMasterRace.
Their story was not over though, as their fans and countless French personalities aided them in their goal to make their way to the Invitational via the Community Vote. They will now be looking to compete with the three other teams in Group A.
For the latest updates, please visit the Rainbow Six Esports Twitter page.
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