SI 2022 shows NA Rainbow Six Siege teams don't suck

_{Image via Ubisoft/@joao_ferreria}

North America has taken its share of lumps during 2021.

Through performances both excusable and inexcusable, the region underperformed at two 2021 Majors in a row. Spacestation Gaming was the only team to make it out of the Major group stages at both Majors — and they underperformed, exiting in the quarterfinal round. 

At SI 2022, everything changed. 

North American teams came out dominant. Every single North American team made it out of the group stage, something no other major region can say. Of the top eight teams in the tournament, four were North American. 

To cap it all off, TSM FTX won the whole tournament and lifted the hammer. Their victory gives NA three hammers, more than any other region, and 50 percent of the all-time SI victors. It's math: NA has more one-time world champions than any other region, and it is not close. 

Why do Rainbow Six Siege fans say North America sucks

The narrative that NA isn't good at Rainbow Six Siege needs to die, fast. Even in Brazil's most dominant tenure, NA was still the second-best overall region. During the PENTA/G2 run of dominance, Evil Geniuses and Rogue ensured that America always had strong international teams. 

Heck, even the NA tier 2 scene isn't as bad as it seems. Stellar players like Rob "Panbazou" Feliciano, Evan "Yoggah" Nelson, Nick "njr" Rapier, and more have all impressed in both regional and international competition. They're all extremely young, and in many ways are the future of the NA Siege scene. 

North America had a bad stretch of Majors -- but that's it. Brazil is one of the best, deepest regions, APAC is on the come-up, and Europe has some good perennial powers. 

However, the North American region is still one of the best. Is it the best? No, no one can sincerely argue that while LATAM exists. However, it's far from the poor, trash region it's typically pilliored as.