Six Invitational 2022: Everything we know so far

The upcoming Six Invitational, the final event in the 2021 Season, will take place in three weeks' time from the 8-20th of February.

Here, the reigning Six Invitational champions Ninjas in Pyjamas and the reigning Major champions FaZe Clan will be hoping to retain their titles while the rest of the world tries to end Brazil’s unprecedented winning streak.

As we near the tournament and more information surrounding it is revealed, here's a comprehensive roundup of everything announced so far about the 2022 Six Invitational.

Jump to:

• The Teams
• Format and Groups
• Schedule
• The Location
• Twitch Drops

The Teams

All 20 teams have now been confirmed for the 2022 Six Invitational. The top 16 secured their placements through the Global SI Points:

1. Team oNe eSports -- Lagonis, KDS, Neskin, Alem4o, Levy, TchubZ (coach), and RafadeLL (analyst)
2. Team BDS -- Shaiiko, Renshiro, RaFaLe, Elemzje, BriD, BiOs (coach), and eaglemees (analyst)
3. Team Liquid -- nesk, resetz, Paluh, psk1, AsK, Silence (coach), and mcunha (analyst)
4. Ninjas in Pyjamas -- Kamikaze, Psycho, julio, Muzi, pino, and Mity (coach)
5. Soniqs -- supr, Gryxr, Yeti, Rexen, kanzen, and jobro (coach)
6. FaZe Clan -- Astro, cameram4n, Bullet1, Cyber, soulz1, Ramalho (coach), and Dxrk (analyst)
7. Oxygen Esports -- FoxA, LaXInG, VertcL, Yoggah, Kyno, HOP3Z, and Redeemer (two coaches)
8. Elevate -- Sapper, DCH, Nay..Pew, sprOnigiri, Nerix, Dr.Bestsiaer (coach), and nanoKidz (analyst)
9. Natus Vincere -- Saves, Doki, Blurr, Nathan, Secretly, jahk, and DraZ (two coaches)
10. Spacestation Gaming -- Rampy, Bosco, Fultz, Hotancold, Skys, Lycan, Sov (two coaches), and Luke (analyst)
11. Team Empire -- ShepparD, JoyStiCK, Scyther, Dan, Always, and Zheka (coach)
12. DarkZero Esports -- Hyper, Ecl9pse, njr, Panbazou, Canadian, BC, and Mint (two coaches)
13. DWG KIA -- CATsang, yass, Woogiman, coted, RIN, HoundBird, and EroSA (two coaches)
14. FURIA Esports -- h1ghs, LENDA, Miracle, Fntzy, R4re, Twister (coach), and Kizi (analyst)
15. SANDBOX Gaming -- Static, EnvyTaylor, Nova, Harp3r, and SyAIL
16. Rogue -- AceeZ, Ripz, LeonGids, cryn, Prano, meepeY, Rcuth, and Bernie (three coaches)

Meanwhile, the following teams qualified via the regional tournaments:

• CYCLOPS athlete gaming -- Ayagator, BlackRay, SuzuC, gatorada, Anitun, and Fuji3 (coach), Hybrid (analyst)
• MNM Gaming -- Yuzus, Tyrant, neLo, Solotov, Neonical, Eden, ArcherOmix, and Omerta (support staff)
• TSM FTX -- Achieved, Beaulo, Merc, Geo, Chala, Pojoman, and Daeda (two coaches)
• MIBR -- Faallz, FelipoX, LuKid, Rappz, reduct, and SKaDinha (substitute)

Six LATAM, five NA, five EU, and four APAC teams will be competing at this event, with Brazil once again being the overwhelming favorites to take the title. 

None of these teams have made a change since last September, as there was no transfer period after the Sweden Major. On paper, this makes those that did well in Sweden such as FaZe, NiP, Rogue, and DWG the strongest teams here.

At the same time, an extra three months of practice have allowed Liquid, BDS, and Soniqs to win their own regional leagues, showing they may each be able to beat Sweden’s top four at the Six Invitational.

Out of all the above teams, there will be two teams making their global debuts; Elevate and MNM. This will be Thailand’s very first time competing outside of APAC after years of just missing out while MNM aims to show the world the power which Europe's Challenger League have had to contend against for the last year.

Finally, Elevate and MNM will join Soniqs, NAVI, DWG, and Rogue as the lineups which qualified for this year’s SI but weren’t at last year’s.

Format & Groups

SI22 will see an altered format compared to last year as the teams are split into four groups of five.

This initial group stage will be in a best-of-three map, single round-robin format and will knock out one team per group. A 2-0 win is worth three points, 2-1 worth two, a 1-2 loss worth one, and a 0-2 loss gains zero points.

After this the remaining 16 progress to the double-elimination playoffs. The four group winners progress straight to round two of the winners' bracket, the fourth-seeded teams start in the lower bracket and seeds two and three meet in round one of the upper bracket.

The second-seeded teams in each group get to pick their third-seeded opponents with the team with the most points starting off first. 

The entire tournament will be best-of-three map games with the exception of the best-of-five map grand-final. 

Schedule

The schedule is as follows:

• Group Stage: February 8-12th
• Playoffs: February 14-16 and 18-19
• Grand Final: February 20th

The schedule for the group stage games can be seen below:

The Location

While initially planned to take place in Montreal, Canada, the Six Invitational will be held in Stockholm, Sweden instead due to renewed regulations and event restrictions in Montreal. In 2021, the event had been moved to Paris, France, and held after a three-month delay.

For the fourth event running, no crowd will be allowed in the event due to COVID-19 concerns.

Twitch Drops

A total of 75 individual items as well as Battle Pass points will be available to unlock over the Six Invitational by watching various Twitch streams. 

This includes five SI 2022 event-specific items which can be earned as follows:

• SI2022 Iana Charm - watch any R6 streamer for four hours from February 5-6th
• SI2022 G36C Skin - watch any partnered R6 streamer for four hours on February 7th, 13th, and 17th
• SI2022 Iana Headgear - watch the grand-final on February 20th for two hours
• SI2022 Iana Uniform - watch the grand-final on February 20th for four hours
• Exclusive Charm - A code will be displayed on-stream during the Year 7 panel on February 20th

To learn more about the Twitch Drops check out our dedicated article on the news.

When more information is confirmed such as the groups, casters, and Twitch Drops, this page will be updated.

Talent