Team Reciprocity has had its ups and downs in competitive Rainbow Six. Promoted to the Pro Leauge in Season 7 as beastcoast, with Davide "FoxA" Bucci and Alexander "Retro" Lloyd simultaneously sending the Gabriel "LaXInG" Mirelez and Alex "Skys" Magor toting Counter Logic Gaming down to the Challenger League, the four have now become teammates and have been enjoying a lot of success as of late.
The promotion saw the team acquire LaXInG in place of Jeffrey "EvLWaffle" Haworth, and then get signed by titanic North American organisation Cloud9, but the going was tough for the team. Poor plays and numerous questionable in-game decisions saw them struggle to stay in the Pro League in Season 8, but one bright light was their win at DreamHack Montreal 2018 after their mid-season swap of Brandon "Shlongii" Escamilla for Mark "MarkTheShark" Arismendez.
The old roster under Cloud9 celebrating their DreamHack Montreal win
Coming into Season 9, and qualified for the Six Invitational 2019 thanks to their DreamHack victory, the decision to drop Lauren "Goddess" Williams for Skys raised a fair few eyebrows around the scene and saw Cloud9 transfer the roster to Team Reciprocity. Since then, though, the going has been great for the North Americans. The team sits in third place in the NA Pro League, and made it as far as the Semi-Finals of the Six Invitational 2019.
We caught up with LaXInG at the Six Invitational 2019 to talk to him about his team's 2019 journey, the switch to the new organisation, and the second half of Season 9.
How has the tournament been so far?
You guys made it a lot further than many thought you would after the roster and organisation changes. What do you think was the biggest factor in your success so far?
The Team Reciprocity Rainbow Six roster
Obviously going out to G2 Esports is not something to be ashamed of at all, but is there one factor that you could point to for that loss? Was it just their experience, or something else?
The statistics from the Six Invitational 2019 Semi-Final between G2 Esports and Team Reciprocity
Roles on Reciprocity have been a big talking point. A lot people were very skeptical at the beginning of the season -- Goddess was one of the hard support players and did not do that kind of fragging Skys is renowned for, and Mark was briefly IGL (In-Game Leader). Could you elaborate a bit how it is now?
Skys had won the Six Invitational in 2017 on the Xbox One when playing for ElevateGG
You guys used to be with Cloud9 before, and there was a lot of talk about how the organisation didn’t end up being that invested in Siege and has there been more communication and with Reciprocity, and how have they supported you more?
Cloud9 won DreamHack Montreal in 2018
Kaid and Nomad, they’ve been in the game for three months, but are now getting introduced into the pro scene. How will they impact the meta?
Kaid and Nomad had been quarantined from the Pro League for three months
These comments were made prior to Nomad or Kaid's introduction into the competitive operator pool.
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Team Reciprocity’s next game will be tonight, against Excelerate Gaming, in the NA Pro League with the following roster:
Mark "MarkTheShark" Arismendez
Davide "FoxA" Bucci
Alexander "Retro" Lloyd
Gabriel "LaXInG" Mirelez
Alex "Skys" Magor
Anthony "HOP3Z" Lee (Coach)
Thomas "Robn" Linden (Analyst)
Check out our interview with FoxA below to learn more about the team and keep an eye out here at SiegeGG for more interviews and coverage of Team Reciprocity!