With the Pro League well back in action for Season 11 in APAC, and games spread all across the four subregions, there was much excitement for the final week of play before the biggest Siege event -- the Six Invitational -- came knocking. Certainly, it seemed like it was time for a new age to dawn in APAC, specifically in ANZ and Japan, where NORA-Rengo and Wildcard Gaming were almost certainly out of the running for the APAC Finals.
Australia and New Zealand (ANZ)
Kicking off the APAC action for the week was the ANZ region as per usual, and it featured a look at the lesser-known teams in the international eyes. However, that is probably not going to be the case for much longer. Onxyian 2.0 kicked things off with a 7-4, 7-1 victory over a FURY that had taken four points against Wildcard Gaming the previous week, while TBD (formerly Mindfreak) beat Kanga Esports 7-4, 7-4.
The next day, though, Onyxian missed a prime opportunity to top the league ahead of Fnatic, winning the first map against HomeLess by a 7-4 scoreline, but losing the second 3-7. TBD featured again as well, but managed to close the gap to Onyxian to three points, beating Team SiNister 7-3 and 7-3.
When the Pro League returns on the 18th and 19th of March, Team SiNister will take on HomeLess to continue proceedings, but all eyes will be on Wildcard’s two matches against TBD and Onyxian, with FURY rounding out the week against Kanga Esports.
The ANZ standings after the first split this season.
Catch all the Pro League action from 7 PM AEDT (UTC+11) on the Rainbow6 Twitch channel, with VODs of previous games also available there.
Southeast Asia (SEA)
Over in SEA, the Season 10 Challenger League champions of Polar Ace (then Valor eSports) took on the strong but hard to read Team 1122. The Hong Kong-based team of 1122, however, managed to come away with the upper hand, drawing 6-6 and then winning 7-4. Lese Esports was then run closer than expected by 200 Degrees, but still came out on top with 7-4, 7-5 victory margins.
On the second day, though, was when the titanic battles were waged. Giants Gaming, keen to go to the Six Invitational in high spirits, put on a clinic against the APAC LAN Qualifier finalists of Xavier Esports, beating the Thai team 7-4 and 7-2 to close out a flawless split in the Pro League. Qconfirm, though, was determined not to be left behind and ended up tying Giants on points, rounds won, and rounds lost after beating Scrypt E-Sports 7-4 and 7-4 in two highly entertaining games to also finish a flawless split. Now, the two teams will likely have to wait for their game on the 24th of March to properly decide the seedings as both are virtually locked in for the APAC Finals.
When the Pro League returns on the 18th and 19th of March, though, Xavier Esports will look to get back into the running through the Thai derby against Qconfirm, while Giants will face Lese Esports. The newly signed Polar Ace will try to extend a lead over 200 Degrees in the relegation zone, while the Scrypt players will try to avoid Polar Ace leapfrogging them and push for the six points against Team 1122.
The Southeast Asian standings after the first split this season. (Photo: Liquipedia)
Catch all the Pro League action from 7 PM SGT (UTC+8) on the Rainbow6SEA Twitch channel, with VODs of previous games also available there.
Japan
In Japan, things kicked off with the highly anticipated match between the two league leaders of Cyclops Athlete Gaming (CAG) and FAV Gaming, but it was CAG to take four points after drawing the first map 6-6 and winning the second 7-3. NORA-Rengo (NR) then continued to have troubles, drawing the second map against DetonatioN Gaming (DNG) after winning the first 7-3.
The second day, Yoshimoto Gaming Lamy (YGL) and Unsold Stuff Gaming (USG) traded maps, with the first going the way of YGL, 7-4, and the second the other way with a score of 7-5. GUTS Gaming, then with a chance to leapfrog FAV in the standings, did just that after beating Takumi Festival LBX 7-4 and 7-3.
When the Pro League returns on the 18th and 19th of March, YGL will take on Takumi Festival first, while NR will try salvage what’s left of the season with recently signed Brazilian coach, Arthur “Ar7hur” Schubert, formerly of Ninjas in Pyjamas. Eyes will be glued to the screens the next day, though, as CAG will take on DNG before GUTS and FAV will lock horns in what could well decide the second team headed to the APAC Finals.
The Japanese standings after the first split this season.
Catch all the Pro League action from 7 PM JST (UTC+9) on the Rainbow6JP Twitch channel (in Japanese), with VODs of previous games also available there.
Korea
Finally, Korea saw SCARZ run into some unexpected trouble as Axiomatic managed a draw on the first map, though still lost the second 2-7, keeping SCARZ at the top of the table. Cloud9, however, improved upon the TRIPPY victory from last week, winning 7-2 and 7-2 this time against the same team instead of 7-4 and 7-4, and got within three points of SCARZ.
The results mean that both SCARZ and Cloud9 have qualified to the APAC Finals, and the Cloud9 and SCARZ game on the 19th of March -- following the TRIPPY and Axiomatic match the day before -- will likely decide the seeding for the two Korean teams.
The Korean standings after the first split this season.
Catch all the Pro League action from 7 PM KST (UTC+9) on the Rainbow6KR Twitch channel (in Korean), 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.