The teams competing must have all five players be citizens of the country they are representing and the lineup can't include more than two current teammates -- so the whole of BDS can't represent France for instance. With these rules in mind, we asked both the community and a representative of eight of the biggest nations involved which five players should represent their country:
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- Finland (featuring r0usty)
- Sweden (featuring Hyperino)
- Australia (featuring Devmarta)
- Japan (featuring Tomozoh)
- South Korea (featuring SummerRain)
- Southeast Asia (featuring InfianEwok)
SiegeGG released a public poll asking who followers would pick as their ideal national lineups with the results collated below. Take in mind that by collating all the individual picks, role considerations would likely have been lost. All players with a single pick have been omitted from the images below, as well as all non-relevant picks (such as a German player listed for Team France or duplicated names in a single response).
Finland
While they weren't invited directly to the 6 World Cup Finals like many would expect, due to the sheer star power and history of the nation in Rainbow Six, it would be a huge upset if Finland isn't able to secure one of the two available European qualifier spots.
Finland remains one of just six nations of which a majority team has won a tier-one title, alongside the USA, France, Brazil, Russia, and the UK, with four Finnish players currently playing in top-flight leagues -- Kanto, UUNO, SHA77E, and SlebbeN.
The Six Invitational and two-time Pro League champion of Juhani "Kantoraketti" Toivonen will almost certainly be joined by his G2 teammate of Aleksi "UUNO" Työppönen on the roster, but from here the lineup gets more difficult to predict.
While SlebbeN is one of the favourites to join the lineup due to his outstanding performance for the Soniqs in the North American League, it is unlikely he will be able to compete in the European qualifiers from the USA. The ex-Pro League and Six Invitational champion of SHA77E who currently plays for Team Secret was a fan favourite pick for the team, however the local expert of Rogue's Finnish coach, Wille "r0usty" Turunen, picked this alternative lineup for Team Finland:
UUNO, Kanto, SHA77E, Stigi, and Fonkers
The two additional players here sees the ex-Team Vitality player of Teemu "Stigi" Sairi, who currently plays for GiFu eSports and the ex-Team Secret, and current MnM Gaming player of Aku "Fonkers" Seppä join the lineup, with both of these players also being fan favourites for the team as well.
I would go with the guys I know can compete on the highest level and also have played against the highest level the most. This includes knowledge on opposing players their tendencies etc. That team would be UUNO, Kanto, SHA77E, Stigi, and Fonkers. I know these are all gunners, but theey also can play roles people have not maybe seen them play in official matches. If I was trying to build a roster with more suiting roles or there was people saying no, I would put Bounssi and Movetaho from GiFu and Arah and Juuk from Kova Esports in the list.
While the rest of the GiFu eSports roster were also popular picks, also of note is Robert "Badger" Martin, a Finnish Challenger League player for Granit Gaming, which puts him as the joint fourth-highest positioned European based Finnish player alongside Fonkers.
Sweden
Another nation which will need to fight through the open qualifier is Sweden, with its small but elite list of players being aided by a number of recent changes in the Swedish lineup of Chaos Esports Club.
The second most successful player of all time, Fabian "Fabian" Hällsten, will be an obvious pick for this team, likely to be joined by two members of the Chaos Esports roster. While VITO and Renuilz are the fan favourites from this team, the team's current Swedish coach of Galdim "Hyperino" Dani instead picked this as his full lineup:
Fabian, Renuilz, Secretly, JTc and REDGROOVE
Joining these three EU League players in this lineup would therefore be the Challenger League player of JTc and the ex-Chaos player of REDGROOVE. Other options include the two other ex-Chaos players of Kripps and sn0oken and another Challenger League player of MXKX.
No matter which players round out this lineup, it is likely to be a real challenger at the Playoffs as Fabian finally teams up with his Swedish counterparts as many fans have been looking forward to since he left G2 Esports.
Australia
The Australian Fnatic roster is the most successful lineup in the APAC region, making Australia an international challenger at the World Cup. With the nation's top performer of Jake "Virtue" Grannan moving to G2 Esports, this means the Fnatic core lineup could reform for this tournament with Etienne "Mag" Rousseau and Jason "Lusty" Chen entering the team.
The region's best-known caster of James "Devmarta" Stewart, however, went for a different approach for his Team Australia:
Mag, Virtue, Diesel, Vincere, Dino, Sylix and Dizzle (their two coaches)
The G2 and Fnatic players of Virtue and Mag would instead be joined by Kyle "Diesel" Renton from the leading Oceanic lineup of Wildcard, "Vincere" from the Noble esports lineup and Mark "Dino" Abboud from the Pittsburgh Knights:
A mix of old guard and new talent, this band of Aussies has a well rounded and diverse skillset in the server and a fun-loving attitude outside the server. ...I want to see a team Australia with a positive and energetic character, a team who embraces the jovial Aussie spirit and embraces being the underdogs. I also want to see a mix of rising and lesser known stars alongside the veterans
EmoRin will also likely be an option, as he has previously played alongside both the Fnatic and Wildcard rosters and was the top-rated player during the recent Regional Major.
Wildcard's mascot.
Japan
The Japanese R6S scene is in somewhat of a slump at the moment, as one and a half very successful years from the Nora-Rengo roster led to no appearances by any Japanese team at both the 2020 Six Invitational and the Season 10 Finals which took place in Tokoname, Japan. They will hope to rectify this during Year 6 with a good performance at the 6 World Cup possibly being what's needed to kick the scene back into gear.
With no one Japanese team excelling at the moment and the best-known team of Nora-Rengo struggling in the relegation zone, it is a relatively open field with a huge range of players in with a chance to be picked.
The one wildcard Japan has, however, is the ex-Nora player and face of the region in Yudai "Wokka" Ichise who, whilst he retired following the 2019 Six Invitational, could be a huge pickup should he chose to come out of retirement for this event. Wokka previously stated he was willing to do so in the future with this an excellent opportunity to do so.
As for other players, we asked the Japanese caster of Tomohisa "Tomozoh" Yamano who he would pick for Team Japan:
ShiN, Crazy, Gatorada, Aroer1na, and iZRO
Interestingly, no Nora-Rengo players will compete in this lineup with him instead picking some major names who are all likely make a splash in Year 6:
ShiN (FAV Gaming) -- Japan's best tactician. With him, he will be able to shape the concept of the team. CrazyPapiyoN (GUTS Gaming) -- There will be many occasions when the team will struggle in high-level national competitions. That's when his leadership will be needed. Gatorada (CYCLOPS) -- A versatile attacker who can be flexible in situations. He is the team's ace. Aroer1na (NORTHEPTION) -- An instant team like this always needs a player to balance it out. As the leader of one of the strongest teams in the country at the moment, he will bring balance to the team with his skills and experience. iZRO (REJECT) -- The world doesn't know he exists yet. He is one of Japan's new generation of rookies, and has the potential to surprise the world. He is an attacker with the potential to surprise the world in the future.
With two of the chosen players not even competing in the APAC North League at the moment, this is certainly an interesting roster which has the chance to surprise the world with new and returning names all seemingly at the top of their game at the moment.
Japan's most successful team, Nora-Rengo, led by YoshiNNGO.
South Korea
Finally, we asked about South Korea which, with Cloud9 winning the APAC North Regional Major, sees the region in somewhat of a resurgence this year.
Firstly, for the two Cloud9 players there's a clear split in options between the two most experienced players of EnvyTaylor and Static (previously known as SweetBlack), who have both attended international tournaments before such as the 2019 Six Invitational, versus the two newcomers of SyAIL and Harp3rXD, who have been two of the breakout stars of the APAC region this year but have little further experience.
Whoever is picked from Cloud9, you'd then need to go to the other two APAC North lineups of Talon and SCARZ as well as the up and coming GC Busan Spear team (which includes a number of ex-Cloud9 members) for the remaining three players. The ex-Cloud9 coach and current Korean language caster of Inyeong "SummerRain" Kim picked these to be on his team:
EnvyTaylor, Static, Templat, Tomorrow, and h3dy
With the core of EnvyTaylor, Static and h3dy, this team remakes the most successful Korean lineup then known as mantisFPS which attended three international tournaments. Joining them would be Yosep "Templat" Kim who competed in two Pro League seasons and finished as the tenth-best player during the Season 10 APAC Finals despite the lineup being weak overall.
Daegyu "Tomorrow" Han, meanwhile has been one of the main reasons why Talon Esports has been competitive this season with him being a breakout player for the lineup.
The remaining APAC North lineup of SCARZ, meanwhile, offers the players of iLeven and Demic, but while they have been instrumental to the SCARZ roster, they have been unable to keep up against other APAC North players.
Southeast Asia
For Southeast Asia, SiegeGG asked former Southeast Asian Pro League caster and SiegeGG staff member Shikhar "InfianEwok" Gupta about his countries to watch from the region and their possible lineups.
DCH, redsun, Lycolis, HealthcareOG, and Kirisaku
Thailand will certainly be the favourites to qualify from Southeast Asia, having a truly thriving domestic scene, and two teams in the APAC North Division. Those two, of course, form the entirety of the lineup here. In from Xavier Esports are DCH and redsun, both extremely lethal players -- the former having been the third-best player in Stage 1 in APAC North and the latter able to play whichever role thrust upon him, especially a Montagne, on top of his in-game leadership. Redsun's ex-teammates then follow from Qconfirm. HealthcareOG is quite frankly unfair and arguably Thailand's best fragger and is capable of slicing through almost any team given the right tools. Lycolis, meanwhile, is a strong flex player and is capable of being a secondary (or even primary) shot-caller and has had much success prior to Stage 1. Finally, Kirisaku comes in as a former Xavier player and a strong domestic player with Young Blood. Rounding out the team this way, as a support player, Team Thailand will a force to be reckoned with, bringing its famous aggressive style that could fit right in in the APAC North Division itself.
HysteRiX, SpeakEasy, SPirited, Maze, and Batchelor
Most notably excluded here will be Lunarmetal, the in-game leader (IGL) for Giants Gaming. While his skill will be missed in game, the assumption is that he will be present as a coach (manager) for the team either way, able to impart all his strategies and experience to the players that way. HysteRiX and SpeakEasy need zero explanation as to why they are in the roster. HysteRiX was by far and away the best APAC player in Stage 1, and the best in the world by K-D split, while SpeakEasy is not much further behind. With Singapore having a limited player pool, the lack of experience will be the hardest hurdle to overcome. Thus, the team needs to gear itself towards aggressive, frag-heavy play, and SpeakEasy and HysteRiX -- who also has had some IGL experience from Season 6 of the Pro League -- are the best to lead the charge. Now a Singapore citizen, SPirited, too, will be a familiar name to fans of the region, having been the Aerowolf substitute and having performed really well in the Pro League when he played. A mean SMG-11 player, he will be a much-needed pillar of support. Finally, Maze and Batchelor come in as the final two players, having had a fair amount of Pro League experience -- albeit no international experience -- and were decent in their play, being able to play aggressively or supportively if needed. The most important aspect, though, will be the ability for them to learn from their more experienced teammates.
The national "managers" will be chosen in a few months time with these people, in turn, selecting the lineups ahead of next years competition. Keep an eye out for further news on the tournament's progression as we learn more here at SiegeGG