With the Pro League and other competitions delayed for all regions except for Australia-New Zealand (ANZ), Southeast Asia (SEA), and Japan, audiences will no doubt be tuning in after the recently concluded DreamHack Montreal with renewed excitement for the games as they restart this week. Read on to find out what is in store for the region this week from the 18th of September.
Australia-New Zealand (ANZ)
To recap, we had left off the first part of Season 10 with 0RGL3SS -- recently signed by Wildcard Gaming -- in the lead, though with 16 points instead of the previously listed thanks to Power Plays' games being voided. Oddity Esports are tied for the lead in second, while Mindfreak are a point behind them in third.
However, both Oddity and Mindfreak have played two more maps than both Wildcard and fourth-placed Fnatic, who trail the league leaders by three points. The top four are in fact close enough together, but the bottom three fall some ways away and will be looking to improve on their fortunes with a maximum of either four or six maps left.
The ANZ Pro League table so far
This week, Fnatic takes on Mindfreak in what could be a close contest, with two casters predicting a draw one of the two maps, but is largely expected to be a dominant performance from Fnatic carrying on from their Six Masters win. Newly signed Wildcard Gaming will then take on Oddity Esports in what is likely to be the best match of the night, and lowest placed Team SiNister will be ardently hoping to perform better against Team CryptiK than they have so far.
With Power Plays having disbanded, FURY will sit this week out and watch from the sidelines instead. Tune in to watch the action this week on the 18th and 19th of September from 7 PM AEST (GMT+10) onwards on the Rainbow6ANZ Twitch channel.
Japan
Over in Japan, Cyclops Athlete Gaming (CAG) look certain to qualify for the Season 10 APAC Finals, being four points clear of what seems to be their only competition in NORA-Rengo, with the defending Japanese champions will be closely watched after having swapped out explosive fragger Ryuki "Ramu" Matsuokao for newcomer Maavie. FAV Gaming are not far behind, however, with GUTS Gaming having cooled off compared to their early-season hot form.
The Japanese Pro League table so far
The bottom half of the table is far from pretty, however, with a six point gap between GUTS and DetonatioN Gaming, and two-time DreamHack attendees Father’s Back still looking for their first points in Season 10. As such, despite their roster change, NORA-Rengo are heavyweight favourites to win both maps against them on Wednesday, but have their doubters with two casters predicting a draw on at least one map.
FAV Gaming taking on CAG is expected to be a firecracker, however, with a slim majority actually predicting each team to win a map each, but seeing opinions rather split. UnsoldStuffGaming are then expected to at least double their points this season against DetonatioN Gaming, while GUTS are overall favourites in their matchup against Lamy Wonderland.
These results mean that the league is finally having the leaders establish a cushion, with CAG yet to lose at the top, and with NORA-Rengo, FAV, and GUTS all in contention for that second APAC Finals spot.
Catch all the Pro League action on the 18th and 19th of September from 7 PM JST (GMT+9) on the Rainbow6JP Twitch channel (in Japanese), with VODs of previous games also available there.
Korea
Korea will have their Pro League delayed until next week, with games now scheduled on back-to-back days from the 24th to the 27th of September. With Cloud9 likely to defeat both TRIPPY and SCARZ by a 2-0 margin, and TRIPPY six points clear of SCARZ in their pursuit to follow Cloud9 to the APAC Finals, all TRIPPY has to do is avoid a 0-2 defeat to SCARZ to qualify.
The Korean Pro League table so far
As such, Korea will see a restart next Tuesday, with the Cloud9 vs Team uR game pushed to the top of the schedule, followed by SCARZ vs TRIPPY, Cloud9 vs TRIPPY, and Cloud9 vs SCARZ on the subsequent days.
Southeast Asia (SEA)
Over in Southeast Asia, Scrypt E-Sports has been disqualified heading into the second part of the Pro League, meaning all their results have been voided, causing a shift in the Pro League table. The ruling comes after their player Rixx, banned for toxicity prior to a Pro League match, had played that match using the account of the team's substitute player, WildLotus, thereby contravening ESL rules.
The Southeast Asian Pro League table after the changes
While Xavier Esports and Aerowolf are still first and second, respectively, all teams below them see a rise in one place, given that Scrypt had been in third place. Luminescent face a tough fight to avoid relegation, whereas Xavier and Aerowolf are effectively qualified for the Season 9 Finals.
This week, Aerowolf will look to mathematically seal qualification to the APAC Finals by taking all six points on offer against Luminescent, as long as Team MBT is able to deny Lese taking six points against them the next day. Team Void will round out this week’s action against NEX Esports, with Xavier able to sit out for a week more.
Catch all the Pro League action on the 18th and 19th of September from 7 PM SGT (GMT+8) onwards on the Rainbow6SEA Twitch channel (in English), with VODs of previous games also available there.
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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.