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S8 APAC LAN Day 1: Xavier Stuns mantisFPS, NR Wows at Home

Catch up on all the games on Day 1 of the Season 8 APAC Finals through our quick summary.

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Game 1: NORA-Rengo 2-0 New Life

Maps: Bank (6-1), Coastline (6-1), Oregon (Not Played)

NORA-Rengo: Wokka, Merieux, JJ, Papilia, ReyCyil

New Life: SmileBoi, ELCbis, Nova, WATB, CATsang

South Korean first seeds had an even worse second appearance at an APAC LAN, as the formidable NORA-Rengo (NR) decimated them 12-2. Spurred on by the home crowd, NR showed no signs that their post-Paris roster changes had affected them at all. New Life, on the other hand, failed to impress, capitulating without much of a fight in the only 2-0 of the day.

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Game 2: Aerowolf 2-1 Athletico Esports

Maps: Villa (3-6), Bank (7-6), Consulate (6-4)

Aerowolf: Lunarmetal, Ysaera, Reveck, HysteRiX, Array

Athletico: Todd, syliX, Ethan, EmoRin, Derpeh

In a rematch from the APAC Six Major Qualifiers LAN in July, Athletico Esports gave Aerowolf as good a scare as any. The majority-Singaporean side started off heavily on the backfoot, looking very lost on Athletico’s pick of Villa. On Bank, though, they looked far stronger and managed to hold on in the very last round of overtime to push the series to a third map. It was here that it seemed that Athletico instead would push it to a second overtime, but despite down 2v5, Lunarmetal and HysteRiX held on to secure the win and send the Australians home.

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Game 3: Xavier Esports 2-1 mantisFPS

Map: Coastline (6-2), Border (6-7), Clubhouse (6-4)

Xavier: ProducerBoomer, HealthcareOG, redsun, Lycolis, Hajime

mantisFPS: OniChan, EnvyTaylor, Neilyo, SweetBlack, h3dy

Thai side Xavier Esports continued their fairytale run and took down South Korean titans mantisFPS (ex-Element Mystic) in an extremely contentious series. Coming up from the Challenger League in Season 7, the team had managed to defy expectations and secure the 1st seed from Southeast Asia. They stunned viewers again today when they took down the far more experienced mantisFPS who had most recently been to the Six Major Paris. There, the Koreans had defeated Immortals 2-1, but a severe misstep in bringing Xavier to a map they have never lost -- Coastline -- saw them suffer greatly, with ProducerBoomer even securing two interrogations on Caveira.

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Game 4: Fnatic 2-1 Sengoku Gaming Extasy

Maps: Clubhouse (4-6), Border (6-2), Consulate (6-2)

Fnatic: Magnet, Lusty, Acez, RizRaz, NeophyteR

Sengoku: Aroer1na, SuzuC, gatorada, WAYOUMAN, YoshiNNGO

In the final match of the day, home side Sengoku Gaming gave the heavy favourites of Fnatic a scare as they gave a far tougher resistance than was expected. With the match a repeat of the Season 7 Quarter Finals, Sengoku Gaming was set on vengeance for the 0-10 defeat they had suffered then. Things started off strongly for them as they won the first map looking strong, but that was all they could do. The Australians’ grogginess seemed to vanish as they flexed their muscles to show just why they are the most feared team in APAC and took both subsequent maps 6-2.

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Tune in at twitch.tv/Rainbow6 again tomorrow at 9:45AM GMT+9 for the conclusion to the APAC LAN event. See the Semi Finals and Grand Final matches played out to decide who will represent APAC at the Season 8 Pro League Finals in Rio de Janeiro.