Brazil & México Six August 2020 Majors -- Everything You Need To Know

Thanks to COVID-19, the Six Major set to be held in the United States can't go on. But, in its place, there will be a set of regional so-called "mini-majors", set to crown regional champions at a smaller scale.

After the APAC North mini-major kicked things off, followed by the Oceania and South Asia mini-majors, now it's LATAM's turn to shine. After the recent changes introduced in the Rainbow 6: Siege esport scenes, LATAM has been divided in three sub-regions -- Brazil, México and South America -- meaning that there are now three different top-tier LATAM leagues. However, only the two first regions will hold a mini-major, with South America excluded.

Here is all you need to know about the next two competitions -- the Brazilian and the Mexican Six August 2020 Majors.

Schedule and Format

A total of four teams will compete in the Brazilian mini-major, with the first match being played on the 7th of August at 1 PM BRT (UTC-3). The event will see a double-elimination bracket, with the Upper Bracket winner getting a map advantage at the Grand Final, which will be a Best-of-Five (Bo5). All the games prior to the Grand Final will follow a Best-of-Three (Bo3) format.

As such, the top seed, Team oNe, will kick off the major with a game against the fourth-seeded team of FaZe Clan, while the second-seeded Team Liquid will face the third seed of Ninjas in Pyjamas. The semi-finals and the Lower Bracket elimination game are set to be played on the 7th of August, while both bracket's finals are set to be played on the following day. Finally, the Grand Final -- with an Upper Bracket map advantage -- will be played on the 9th of August.

However, let's not forget about México. In the middle of this "Brazilian festival", the current two best rosters in México will get their chance to shine as they will play the México Six August 2020 Major, which will only feature one game. As it is considered to be the Mexican Grand Final, the match will follow a Best-of-Five (Bo5) system, but none of the teams will have a map advantage despite Estral Esports having finished in first place. This game will be played on the 8th of August, just after the Brazilian mini-major Upper Bracket finals.

As we have previously mentioned, the first day will kick off at 1 PM BRT (UTC-3). The second day will follow the same time, while the third will kick off at 3 PM BRT.

Prize Pool and Six Invitational Points

The prize purse of US$100,000 for Brazil and US$17,000 for México will be split as follows, with Six Invitational (SI) points also awarded:

Brazil

• 1st:  US$50,000 + 285 SI Points 
• 2nd: US$25,000 + 165 SI Points    
• 3rd: US$15,000 + 105 SI Points
• 4th: US$10,000 + 50 SI Points

México

• 1st: US$10,000 + 225 SI Points
•  2nd: US$7,000 + 140 SI Points

Despite not playing a mini-major, the South American champions of Coscu Army were awarded with US$8,000 and 115 SI Points.

Teams

The best four teams in Brazil and the best two in México will be the teams playing for the prize pools mentioned above. 

Brazil

Team oNe

Faallz, reduct, LuKid, Rappz, FelipoX, Budega (coach), Vivas (analyst)

Showing off great promise during the whole stage, in first place we have Team oNe. None knew what to expect for sure from this team after the legal battle between the roster and the organisation, which occurred mere weeks before the beginning of Stage 1. These problems led the roster to leave the organisation; however, both parties seemed to resolve their differences and the players then re-signed. Nevertheless, the main player of the roster in that time, SkaDinha, took the decision to leave the team and his place was occupied by Rappz, a player without any competitive experience.

Despite the initial problems, the team showed the nation what they can do. After Liquid's last draw against FaZe Clan, Team oNe confirmed their first place after the conclusion of Stage 1, with their roster the only one having all players rated above 1.0.

Team oNe is also the only team in the top-four that has won against its closest rivals. -- partially against FaZe Clan (7-5, 6-6) and then against Team Liquid (7-3, 7-3). T1 also won 7-0 in Theme Park against NiP, although the game ended in a draw as NiP had won on the first map.

Team Liquid

Paluh, nesk, xS3xyCake, psk1, HSnamuringa, Silence (entrenador principal), Sensi (coach), Rafa (manager)

Despite finishing in second place, Team Liquid are most likely the favourites to win the event. With a roster that has been together for over a year now, Liquid has produced some of the best results for a Brazilian team in international events Their Pro League Season 7 win seems a distant memory, but Liquid added another international tournament to their name after winning the OGA PIT celebrated in Croatia, which makes this roster the only Brazilian team to win international tournaments.

They also have recently dominated in Brazil, as they finished the Season 11 in first place and were crowned champions of the last edition of the Brasileirão after winning FaZe Clan (3-2) in the Grand Final. To this dominance, we have to credit two of the best players of the league; Paluh and Nesk with 1.28 and 1.26 ratings, respectively, were the keys to Liquid's performance.

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Kamikaze, Psycho, julio, Muzi, pino, BOB (manager)

The finalists of the last Six Invitational started the tournament as the favourite team, however, a very poor start to the season limited their chances. The ninjas drew their first five matches -- out of nine -- in the Brasileirão, leaving them in a very complicated spot after three weeks played. Nevertheless, the team showed great potential as they won against their last three opponents, Santos, INTZ, and Black Dragons and are also the only team in the league that's still unbeaten.

FaZe Clan

Astro, mav, yoona, ion, live, Ramalho (coach), tgk (manager)

In fourth place we have FaZe Clan. The team has suffered a lot to keep the fourth spot, as they had to fight against the likes of MIBR and W7M until the very last week. Although they are the last of the four teams in the mini-major, FaZe Clan still has not lost a game since their loss against their upcoming opponents, Team oNe (5-7, 6-6).

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Mexico

Estral Esports

XigmaZ, SkMzY, Toski, P1XIE, Fungi, JPR, GOKU (coach)

In first place, we have Estral Esports -- the first Mexican team to confirm its presence at the mini-major. Without any doubts, Estral are the main favourites to win the title as they were unbeaten during the Mexicano, with five wins and only one draw. Out of twelve maps played, Estral has only lost one -- a 4-7 against Pixel Esports on Coastline. Their dominance is also reflected in the round difference of +35, twenty more than their next opponents.

Estral's roster consists of six of the best Mexican players, which is also reflected in their ratings. Five of them are inside the current top-ten list of players of the Mexicano, all of them with ratings over 1.12, lead by Toski (1.27). Fungi, the only player outside the top-ten, has a 1.05 rating, which is still decent.

Timbers Esports

Vector, Navy, Biz, Raven, Morphed, Puji, Thumperr (coach), FBK (coach)

Timbers' performances in the Mexicano were a bit more messy. The team started with some setbacks, as they lost against Estral in their first game and drew against Chivas in their second. Their first win came in the third round, against Atheris, but after a draw against Pixel their situation got really difficult.

There, a change in the team's mentality mixed with some bad results from their direct rivals gave Timbers second place. Their 2-0 win against Infinity Academy, who lost again the following day against the already-qualified side of Estral Esports, and a partial loss from Pixel against Atheris left Timbers in a very promising place. They just had to win against the bottom team of MeT, and win they did.

The main player in Timbers' roster is Morphed, who has the highest KOST (77%) and the second best rating (1.26) in the league.

To end the summary of the Mexican Grand Final, we have spoken with Rafael "Foxtrot" Jacques, one of the Campeonato Mexicano casters.

Let's focus on the Grand Final first. We've got Timbers, who come after a great end to the league, and Estral, who are still unbeaten as they have only dropped a map. Even though Estral are the favourites to win, do you think that Timbers can upset their opponents?

To be fair, Timbers have a really tough job in front of them, Estral have the best players if we talk about individual performances. Xigmaz and Pixie are our Beaulo and Kanto, and if to that you add Toski's, Skmzy's and Fungi's contributions, the roster would scare anyone. Timbers will need to put everything into the game to win, it's going to be very important that Morphed and Navy have a good day. I think that the game will be decided by their preparation and how far they come in the Bo5 format -- and obviously if they ban Clubhouse.

This is the first season after the Campeonato Mexicano transformed into a professional league with international importance from a simple local league. How do you think this has changed the region?

It has changed everything -- now the teams, the organizations, and even the same league have to make not one but five steps more to show what we have to offer. Now, the whole world will pay attention to us, and despite it being a mini-major, I'm sure that we will make a good impression.

The comparisons are always odious, but it's almost an obligation to ask this. Keeping in mind that the objective in México is to put up a fight against every Brazilian team to make that international jump, do you think that the Mexican region is finally close to that goal?

As I said before, want it or not, the Mexican teams will have to suffer. The first few games against Brazilian teams will be difficult but not impossible contests. One of the things from the Mexican teams is that we always want to complete our objectives. It's going to be a process that I would love to present as a caster. All my love and support to the teams that will be representing México in this and in future occasions. 

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Make sure to tune in for the games, starting later at 1 PM BRT (UTC-3), as LATAM sets out in search for its Brazilian and Mexican champions. Also, don't forget to check back here for more coverage and follows us on Twitter for instant updates.