Last year, France’s very first official national league kicked off with the 6 French League, which invited three Pro League teams in Team Vitality, Rogue (then Giants Gaming), and PENTA, one Challenger League team in GameWard, and four up-and-coming challengers to compete to be crowned the best team in France and secure the top share of the €30,000 prize pool.
After five months of competition, Giants Gaming defeated Team Vitality to the French title a week before their appearance at the Pro League Finals in Japan. Now, ahead of the 2020 league’s kick-off, the 6 French Challengers league will be played, with the top two teams facing against Team MCES and BeKind for their spots at the main competition.
The old Giants Gaming roster with their trophy and cosplayers.
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The Teams
Following the four qualifiers, the Season 10 Challenger League team of SYZYGY that had qualified from the very first qualifier was then disqualified as its players had failed to provide their MOSS files for the games. They were initially to be replaced with either Helios Gaming -- which includes the ex-Pro League player of AnThraX and ex-Challenger League players of SinShinrO and Strong -- or Team impulsiF with a virtually unknown lineup.
The day of the last chance qualifier, however, it was cancelled. Eventually, a fifth qualifier was played between AlerioN Club and SYZYGY, with the initially disqualified team making it through to properly qualify, while AlerioN made it anyway after NHJUI disbanded.
This, therefore, meant the following teams qualified for the tournament:
Qualifier #1:
- SFPD Shinigami: Hirox, Demoniak, Baptwo, cley and Blwd
Qualifier #2:
- Vegacy Esports: Arth, KSiiX, Wallkero, Vx and Neyox
Qualifier #3:
- Tesia Squad: CHILE, Magestik, Primal, SSlaaaZZ and OniZuKa
- ToZeDrop: Whiteshark, Prime, Dareeal, Aurel and Ayzenn
Qualifier #4:
- Team LFO: Sura, Sushi, Luuluu, Olxen and Strong
- Exalty: Cheezy, JaKs, Teoxys, NeoX and Darkwin
Qualifier #5:
- SYZYGY: Avadentt, Duckii, Nztro, Osarck, Vegzs
Invited:
- AlerioN Club: Xkos, Trako, HEAVEN, Bryans, Juleee
The initial 6 French Challengers 2020 qualifiers. (Photo: ESIX)
Probably the best-known team in participation will be ToZeDrop, the former Yunktis roster that knocked out PENTA in the 2020 Six Invitational qualifiers before falling to G2 Esports and Team Vitality. This roster was initially formed following a tournament run by Yunktis, the organisation which won Season 2 of the Pro League, where 32 players had played in rotating teams. The overall best performers based on statistics and communication skills were then put into the Yunktis Blue and White rosters, with this Blue lineup including three players from Season 8 of the Challenger League in Aurel, DaReeal, and the YouTuber of TheWhiteshark67.
Following their success at the Six Invitational qualifier, the Yunktis organisation dropped the team and stated:
Included in the other six participating teams are the ex-Pro League players of Primal and KSiiX and two players from BeKind who played in the 6 French League -- Olxen and Teoxys.
The Schedule
With the eight teams now determined, this month will now see the event’s playoffs take place at the following times, with two games already completed (times in CET):
- Thursday 9 Jan, 6 PM - SFPD Shinigami 2 - 0 SYZYGY
- Thursday 9 Jan, 9 PM - Tozedrop 2 - 1 Tesi Squad
- Friday 10 Jan, 6 PM - Vegacy Esports vs Exalty
- Friday 10 Jan, 9 PM - Team LFO vs AlerioN
- Thursday 16 Jan, 6 PM - Semi-Final #1
- Thursday 16 Jan, 9 PM - Semi-Final #2
- Thursday 23 Jan, 6 PM - 3rd Place Playoff
- Thursday 23 Jan, 9 PM - Grand-Final
The brackets from the 6 French Challenger playoffs.
Following this, the tournament’s winner will face BeKind, while the runners-ups will face Team MCES, with the winner of each qualifying for the 2020 6 French League season.
As well as this, the teams are playing for a massive €10,000 prize pool, a remarkable figure considering it is just a secondary league:
- 1st Place - €5,000
- 2nd Place - €2,500
- 3rd Place - €1,500
- 4th Place - €1,000
This, therefore, means that winning the French Challenger league earns a team more money than finishing third in the main league, meaning relegation for BeKind or MCES may not be as bad as it sounds.
The Broadcast
The games will be played on the main rainbow6fr Twitch account by the casters of Paul “Frenchi” Droal and Nicolas “Swish” Bouhier. As such, SiegeGG spoke to Swish to know more about the tournament:
Firstly, can you introduce yourself to the readers?
Which teams shall we look out for in this tournament?
Do you think any of these teams can challenge the bigger teams in the 6 French League?
What do you think of the new yearly schedule of French tournaments (6FL, 6FC, 6Open Cup and 6ST)?
If you could make any changes to the current 6FL/6FC format, what would you do?
Both of last 6 French League’s finalists, Vitality and Giants, are no longer French-majority teams. Is the scene going backwards?
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For more details on the tournament and the 2020 6 French League event keep an eye out here at SiegeGG.