With the Pro League and other competitions underway in APAC, it certainly is an exciting time to be part of the competitive Rainbow Six scene in the region. Read on to find out what happened in the past week and what is in store for the region this week from the 9th of July.
Australia-New Zealand (ANZ)
Over in ANZ, it was programming as usual for 0RGL3SS, who kicked things off with a comfortable 2-0 win over FURY, but the second game brought the fireworks as Power Plays pushed Zealous to 12 rounds on both maps, but lost 5-7 on each occasion.
On the second day, Fnatic were expected to cleave through Oddity, but the latter proved to be far from easy pickings. While Fnatic did win 7-0 on the second map, Oddity managed to force a draw on the first map, Kafe. Following that, Mindfreak were given a tough fight by Team SiNister, but managed to prevail with a 2-0 regardless.
This week, two of the bottom three teams in SiNister and Power Plays take each other on while mid-table sides Oddity and Zealous take each other on in what is to be a fantastic day of play. The next day, Mindfreak goes up against 0RGL3SS in what is expected to be a blowout largely in favour of the latter, and then Fnatic is also expected to take FURY to the cleaners.
Over in the Six Masters, 0RGL3SS had little trouble taking down Oddity Esports 2-0, and SiNister bounced back from their previous week loss to win 2-0 against Zealous. On the next day, it was once again a slow start from Fnatic, who dropped the first map against Mindfreak before coming back on the other two with a vengeance. Sleeper then played out a two-map overtime thriller against FURY, and Mindfreak capped things off with a back-and-forth 2-1 win over Rhythm.
This week, Oddity and SiNister take each other on in what should be an excellent contest, though 0RGL3SS’ game against ACME is unlikely to be much of a challenge for the currently table-topping side. Zealous are also scheduled to take on Power Plays, while the next day starts off with an Extricity game against FURY. Following that, Rhythm goes up against Sleeper, before Extricity is in action once again against Mindfreak.
Catch all the Pro League action from 7 PM AEST (GMT+10) on Wednesdays and Thursdays on the main Rainbow6 Twitch channel, and other games on the Rainbow6ANZ Twitch channel.
Japan
In Japan, table-toppers GUTS Gaming and Cyclops Athlete Gaming (CAG) took each other on in a highly anticipated matchup. Almost immediately, the two were evenly matched, drawing the first map 6-6, but in the second, it was CAG that drew ahead, winning 7-3. In the next game, things were less close, but the game was still as thrilling, though DetonatioN Gaming won both games over Lamy Wonderland 7-4.
Over on the second day, though, NORA-Rengo marked a spectacular return to form with a strong demolition of FAV Gaming, who had thus far been undefeated. Father’s Back game against Unsold Stuff Gaming (USG) was then postponed due to the former flying to DreamHack Valencia.
This week, USG are seemingly the underdogs against Lamy Wonderland, and FAV are expected to clean up DNG without too much of a fight. On the second day, Father’s Back are set to take on CAG, and then NORA-Rengo are expected to launch a strong challenge for first place against GUTS Gaming.Catch all the Pro League action from 7 PM JST (GMT+9) on Wednesdays and Thursdays on the Rainbow6JP Twitch channel (in Japanese), with other games also streamed to the same channel.
Korea
In Korea, Cloud9 easily cleared the challenge from Team uR who then lost 2-0 to TRIPPY the next day by an even heavier margin, keeping the former in the hunt for the second APAC Finals spot. Finally, SCARZ turned on the hurt for Team uR yesterday, slicing through them with ease as well as the others had.
Today, in the final game for the Korean Pro League until after the break for the Six Major Raleigh, SCARZ goes up against TRIPPY in a game that could well see the winner lock in their position as the second Korean representative at the APAC Finals.
In the Korea Cup’s second July Weekly, SCARZ ran out winners over HyperSpace and TRIPPY forfeited their third-place game against Victory Robber. This week, the Korea Cup weekly continues, scheduled for the 12th of July.
Catch all the Pro League action from 6 PM KST (GMT+9) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays on the Rainbow6KR Twitch channel (in Korean), with other games also streamed to the same channel.
Southeast Asia
Rounding things off, Southeast Asia saw the Singapore-derby play out, with Aerowolf sweeping a resurgent Team Void off their feet as they continued marching on with the strongest run of form since their early days. NEX Esports and Lese Esports, on the other hand, traded a map each to close out things on the first day.
On the second day, the region got a huge boost, with the English-language Pro League broadcast finally going official under Ubisoft, moving it up from the community-cast status. In the first match that day, Xavier Esports bludgeoned Venberg Esport 2-0, following which Scrypt E-Sports edged out a closely fought contest over MBT Impetus Gaming, beating them over both maps.
This week, MBT Impetus Gaming goes up against NEX in what should be a close game, after which Lese takes on Venberg. On the next day, though, is when sparks are expected to fly when Aerowolf faces Scrypt -- their first meeting since Scrypt lost last season’s slot to the APAC Finals to the former by one point. Finally, Xavier will face Team Void and are expected to carry on their undefeated streak with ease.
Catch all the action on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 7 PM SGT (GMT+8) onwards on the Rainbow6SEA Twitch channel.
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For more coverage on APAC’s competitions including and beyond the Pro League, check back here at SiegeGG regularly as we bring you what’s in store for the week ahead.