Banner Image: Ubisoft/Kiril B.
Following last weekend’s APAC SI 2022 Closed Qualifier where CYCLOPS athlete gaming ran out easy winners, it's time for LATAM to find its final representative at the now-Sweden hosted Six Invitational.
Who are the teams?
Six teams will be playing this weekend for a spot to compete in the Six Invitational 2022:
- MIBR: reduct, Faallz, LuKid, Rappz, FelipoX, SKaDinha (substitute)
- Black Dragons: live, peres, ion, Patoxy, Bassetto, sSeiiya (coach), Vivas (strategic coach)
- Atheris Esports: Novys, Bersa, MKing, SkMzY, RoYz (player and coach)
- Fenix Esports: BOPE, Morphed, P1XIE, Gonna, Paby, Microkw (coach)
- Malvinas Gaming: Ragn4r, Soco, Meight, TomHagen, blk, Franzeta, RuleS (coach)
- Furious Gaming: DirTy, Yekko, nkt, Shoxo, Vj, WeTz
MIBR, who finished in third place at the Six Invitational 2021, are the favorites to take the region's final flight to Stockholm.
This will be their first competition without the presence of the coach Matheus "Budega" Araujo, who recently left the squad as he aims now to coach in NA.
The Brazilians starting point will be the bracket's semi-finals, thanks to their place in the Global Standings, which means they won't compete on Day 1.
Fenix Esports are also in the same position and, just like MIBR, the Mexicans have had internal issues recently.
Following the conclusion of the Campeonato Mexicano regular phase, the team dropped its best Stage 3 player, Arturo "XigmaZ" Vizcarra, and replaced him with academy player Pablo "Paby" Medina.
A similar situation would take place after the Campeonato Mexicano Finals, as the team dropped Eduardo "Luxor" Ortíz. Just like before, an academy player would take his spot, this time José "Gonna" Jesús.
Black Dragons are the favorites to lead the charge on Day 1, as they are expected to survive to the initial group stage. The players will have to do it without their coach Henrique "sSeiiya" Sánchez, though, as he tested positive for COVID-19 this week.
Atheris Esports, on the other hand, have had a much different run-in into this event. After withdrawing from the event following Brazil's new measures )which prevented the unvaccinated player Luís "Guicho" Gómez from flying), the Brazilian-majority team has decided to play with its coach, Francisco "RoYz" Guillén.
Malvinas Gaming and Furious Gaming close out the list, two rosters that have been growing closer to their goal of breaking the Brazilian dominance. This is also the first time where South American rosters are allowed to fly to Brazil to compete against Brazilian and Mexican rosters, as they have been playing in the past Copa Elite Six tournaments online.
Viewers will have a second chance to see the Paraguayan wunderkind who eclipsed the likes of Team oNe and FaZe Clan -- Richard "blk" Rodríguez, who was SiegeGG's best-rated played at the Copa Elite Six Stage 3.
Format
The format used for this tournament is different from the ones used in APAC, NA, and Europe. LATAM will see a round-robin format with BO1 maps, with the best two teams advancing to the final bracket.
The schedule for this weekend's LATAM SI Qualifiers. (Photo: R6esportsBR)
Talent and where to watch
The talent includes some of the most notable casters in the region, who have been the voices of the competitions played in LATAM throughout the season.
Games will kick-off every Saturday and Sunday at 1 PM BRT (UTC+2) and will be broadcast on R6EsportsBR and R6EsportsLATAM. You will also be able to watch the games on YouTube.