This weekend, the Japan Invitational will kick off as the final event of the Japanese 2022 national circuit comes to its close.
The tournament will see CYCLOPS athlete gaming and SCARZ meet up once again after a year's worth of back and forth between them. Meanwhile, DWG KIA and Team BDS have been invited as international challengers to mix up the action.
Here's everything you need to know before one of the biggest tournaments in APAC take place:
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Teams
- #flag@20:fr Team BDS -- Renshiro, Shaiiko, Elemzje, BriD, and LikEfac
- #flag@20:kr DWG KIA -- PJH, yass, coted, RIN, and Woogiman
- #flag@20:jp SCARZ -- TaiyoGA33, Pyon, Wqsyo1, Rec, and LuA
- #flag@20:jp CYCLOPS athlete gaming -- Ayagator, Anitun, Suzuc, BlackRay, and gatorada
- #flag@20:jp Fnatic -- Mag, Lily, Chibisu, Ramu, and Tyopi
- #flag@20:jp Crest Gaming Lst -- Acerola, Eclair, Arcully, Wh1skey, and OkOmEsH
- #flag@20:jp FAV gaming -- Afro, ShiN, Li9ht, Yura, and Sironeko
- #flag@20:jp Donuts USG -- Kawa, Perro, DD, Rento, and Aokayu
Team BDS and DWG KIA are the two international teams invited to this Invitational. While DWG have extensive experience against certain Japanese opponents -- FAV, Fnatic, and CAG -- this will be the first time they get to play the likes of SCARZ and Donuts, who have impressed domestically.
Donuts USG and SCARZ have been on fire this year. Donuts were crowned the Japanese 2021 champions after winning the Japan Championship last year and recently also won Stage 3 of the 2022 Japan League.
SCARZ, meanwhile, won the Stage 1 and Stage 2 Japan League playoffs, topped the overall Japan League standings, and won the ROG Masters LAN tournament against the likes of Gaimin Gladiators. These two teams are seen as the future of Japanese Siege.
We also have the current leaders of Japanese Siege, notably FAV, Fnatic, and CYCLOPS. These three teams all compete in the APAC North League, but their fourth counterpart, REJECT, failed to qualify.
Lastly, we have the biggest underdogs, Crest Gaming. While they definitely sit as the odd ones out, they have still not finished any lower than fourth in the Japan League this year.
Format
The format is a somewhat odd one.
Fnatic, FAV, Crest, and Donuts will play what's effectively a play-in tournament, with the victor slotting into the lower bracket of the main tournament to play against the loser of SCARZ vs CAG.
The winners of SCARZ vs CAG and the lower bracket matchup will then play the international invitees. This means that by the time BDS and DWG get involved, there are only four teams left in the tournament.
BDS, DWG, and two Japanese teams will then play a double-elimination tournament to determine the victor.
Schedule
The games will be spread over two weekends with the games as follows:
- Oct. 29 -- Fnatic vs FAV, Crest vs Donuts, and SCARZ vs CAG
- Oct. 30 -- The rest of the lower bracket to find the final four
- Nov. 5 -- Upper Bracket Semi-Finals and Final
- Nov. 6 -- Lower Bracket and Grand-Final
The first game will be at 2 AM UTC this Saturday, while BDS' first matchup won't come until Nov. 5. The grand final will be at 8 AM UTC.
CAG vs SCARZ
CYCLOPS vs SCARZ has been an ongoing rivalry all year and will culminate here.
In Japan, Nora-Rengo were once the untouchable leaders until they fell off very quickly at the beginning of 2019. CAG quickly took their spot and have not been dislodged in the Pro League and APAC League.
While a few teams have beaten CAG in important matches domestically, no team has been so consistent in challenging CYCLOPS for supremacy as SCARZ.
SCARZ only qualified for the Japan League via a relegation tournament and have since beaten CAG in the Season 1 Playoffs grand final 2-1, beaten CAG in the Season 2 Playoffs semi-finals, 2-0, and beat CAG by a massive 82 points to 68 points to win the Japan League 2022 title.
SCARZ, in fact, have a perfect record against CYCLOPS. They have won five out of five series and seven out of eight maps.
While CYCLOPS are looking forward to the upcoming Six Jönköping Major, SCARZ are a looming threat to their dominance and can prove that they are a real deal by taking down BDS and DWG.
BDS and DWG
While the trip to Japan and $100,000 prize pool is likely the primary motivation for competing at the Japan Invitational, France and Korea's most successful teams over the last few years have a fair amount of pride riding on these games.
DWG KIA missed out on the Jonkoping Major and were somewhat embarrassed at the Gamers8 and Berlin Major events. Now, with a Six Invitational qualifier fight likely ahead of them, they can reassure fans by performing well in Japan and demonstrating their skills against SCARZ, who will be DWG's main competitors for the SI spot from the North Division.
For BDS, this will be the very first notable LAN event for LikEfac and the first time the team will play against any non-European competition since the change. Doing so against teams known worldwide for their aggressiveness would be a great challenge to see how the LikEfac and Shaiiko duo can hold up against this vastly different play style.
The final event of the Japanese 2022 calendar has a very high likelihood of being won by a non-Japanese team, doing so will send a strong message for the team's future.