The Six Invitational's history includes over 60 teams split into four regions, including Europe, North America, South America, and APAC.
While APAC is arguably the biggest of the four, the region has yet to win the Six Invitational. The only player from APAC to do so was Jake "Virtue" Grannan for G2 Esports at the Six Invitational 2023.
But, what about the APAC teams? In this article we have a look at their performances throughout the years.
Six Invitational 2017
Two teams from APAC played across the PC Six Invitational 2017 and the XBOX Six Invitational 2017, including Team Envy and Mindfreak, respectively.
The Singaporean-majority roster only played one match as they lost against the eventual grand finalists eRa Eternity. Meanwhile, the Aussies lost to Lethal Gaming.
Out of these two rosters, it’s worth mentioning Team Envy’s Wui “Ysaera” Adrian and Glen “Lunarmetal” Suryasaputra, who would travel back to Montreal, Canada, three years later to compete at the Six Invitational 2020 for Giants Gaming.
From Mindfreak, it’s worth mentioning Matthew “Acez” McHenry and Jayden “Dizzle” Saunders. They eventually joined the PC scene and, after the team’s performance in 2018, the Aussies were picked up by Fnatic.
Six Invitational 2018
The Six Invitational 2018 included two APAC rosters in Mindfreak and eiNs. The latter became the first roster from Japan to compete for the sledgehammer; unfortunately for them, they were knocked out of the tournament after defeats against FaZe Clan and ENCE. However, they defeated the Six Invitational 2017 grand finalists, eRa Eternity.
Meanwhile, in what was Mindfreak’s first international event in the Rainbow Six Siege PC esports scene, the Aussies became the first APAC roster to survive the Six Invitational group stage after victories against ROOM FACTORY, whose core would be later known as Team Empire, and Team Liquid. The team’s run was cut short by Black Dragons in the quarterfinals. The Brazilians were picked up by Ninjas in Pyjamas shortly after.
Six Invitational 2019
The Six Invitational 2019 was the first edition to include three APAC teams after Fnatic and NORA-Rengo qualified through Pro League while mantis FPS qualified through the APAC qualifier.
For the first time ever a South Korean lineup qualified for the Six Invitational as the Six Paris Major-bound was drawn in Group C. The mantis, who would eventually be picked up by Cloud9, were knocked out after defeats against G2 Esports and Team Liquid.
While the South Koreans were sent home early, Fnatic and NORA-Rengo delivered what’s arguably APAC’s best performance at a Six Invitational to date. As if fate wanted it, both rosters clashed in the tournament’s quarterfinals and the Japanese roster became the first APAC squad to play at a Six Invitational semifinal.
Unfortunately for the APAC region, after NORA-Rengo won the first map of the series against Team Empire, the Russian-majority squad took down the Japanese after victories on Bank and Coastline.
Six Invitational 2020
One year later, things looked quite different in APAC. Both Fnatic and NORA-Rengo failed to qualify for the Six Invitational through Pro League and had to play the regional qualifiers. While the Japanese got knocked out, the Aussies took APAC’s final spot at the Six Invitational 2019 after winning the closed qualifier.
Instead, Wildcard and Aerowolf took APAC’s top two seeds after qualifying for Tokoname’s Pro League Finals. While the Australians had been one round away from the semifinals, Aerowolf surprised Giants Gaming with a 2-1 win. Eventually, the Spanish organization picked up the Singaporean-majority roster to compete in the Six Invitational 2020.
However, the tables turned in Montreal, Canada. Both Giants Gaming and Wildcard were knocked down after finishing at the bottom of the standings of their respective groups. Meanwhile, Fnatic survived the group stage after a thrilling comeback against FaZe Clan to take Group B’s second seed.
Eventually, it got even better for the orange organization, who defeated G2 Esports in the playoffs. With this win the Australians redeemed themselves after their flawless defeat against the Six Invitational 2019 champions in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the Pro League Season 8 Finals.
Fnatic’s dream of finishing among the best four sides of the Six Invitational was crushed as defeats against TSM and Team BDS saw the Australians being knocked out. After finishing in 5th - 6th place, Fnatic traveled back home with USD$150,000, the second biggest prize pool money collected by a single APAC roster only behind NORA-Rengo at the Six Invitational 2019.
Six Invitational 2021
The Six Invitational 2021 was the first Rainbow Six Siege international competition celebrated after the COVID-19 outbreak was recognized as a pandemic, which had a deep impact in APAC’s evolution in Rainbow Six Siege’s competitive scene.
Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, Wildcard couldn’t travel to Paris, France, to compete in the Six Invitational 2021. This reduced the number of APAC teams from four to three as CYCLOPS athlete gaming, Giants Gaming, and Cloud9 represented the region.
The Japanese roster made its Six Invitational debut with a 2-7 record, including victories against Team Liquid and Team oNe. It’s also worth mentioning the team’s 7-8 defeats against Team Empire and Team BDS, who ended up taking Group A’s top two seeds as the only rosters to win eight games.
Despite the Japanese’s run, the Cyclops were knocked out of the competition due to them having a worse round difference than Cloud9, who defeated the Japanese and FaZe Clan. The South Koreans would eventually get knocked out after falling against the Europe Challenger League side Mkers.
Last but not least, in what was the team’s second Six Invitational performance, Giants Gaming was knocked out of the competition after the Asian roster could only beat Mkers and TSM. The team had the same match record as Spacestation Gaming but missed out on the playoffs due to round difference.
Six Invitational 2022
The Six Invitational 2022 was the first Six Invitational to have four teams from APAC as DAMWON Gaming, SANDBOX Gaming, CYCLOPS athlete gaming, and Elevate represented the region. It was also the first Six Invitational to include two South Korean lineups.
Following DAMWON Gaming’s performance at the Six Sweden Major, where they reached the tournament’s semifinals and were one round away from the grand finals, the South Koreans were seen as APAC’s main hope.
This was quickly proven right in the group stage as both SANDBOX Gaming and the Cyclops got knocked out after 0-4 runs in Group A and Group B, respectively. Meanwhile, DAMWON Gaming topped Group D’s standings with victories against Oxygen Esports, Natus Vincere, MIBR, and the Six Mexico Major champions, Team oNe.
Surprisingly enough, the South Koreans’ magic vanished in the playoffs as back-to-back 5-7 defeats against Soniqs were followed by a 1-2 defeat against Oxygen Esports, who they had blatantly taken down in the group stage.
Meanwhile, in what was Elevate’s international debut and the organization’s return to the Six Invitational since becoming champions in 2017, the Thai squad took down DarkZero Esports and the eventual winners TSM. After falling against Soniqs, Elevate defeated Rogue in a series that saw Paramin “sprOnigir” Suwanwattana getting 26 kills on Oregon – the biggest number of kills in a single map played at the Six Invitational.
Eventually, Elevate’s run at the Six Invitational 2022 was put to an end by FaZe Clan after the Brazilians defeated the Thai on Bank and Kafe Dostoyevsky. Therefore, both Elevate and DAMWON Gaming finished in 9th - 12th place.
Six Invitational 2023
The Six Invitational 2023 included three APAC teams as Elevate, CYCLOPS athlete gaming, and Dire Wolves qualified in what was the hammer’s return to Montreal, Canada.
Without a doubt, the Six Invitational 2023 was a nightmare for all APAC teams as the three rosters finished at the bottom of the standings of their respective groups. While Elevate and Dire Wolves finished witn 0-0-0-4 records, the Cyclops managed to secure four points after a 2-1 victory against Team BDS and a 1-2 defeat against LOS oNe. Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t enough to sneak into the playoffs.
Six Invitational 2024
Following BLAST took over the Rainbow Six Siege esports scene, the APAC region was split into different regional divisions, including Japan, South Korea, Oceania, and Asia. Eventually, six APAC rosters qualified for the Six Invitational 2024.
Out of those six, two were knocked out in the group stage after Dplus and the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen quarterfinalists SCARZ finished at the bottom of their respective groups.
Meanwhile, both FearX and FURY were knocked out in the Lower Bracket Round 1 after defeats against w7m esports and Team Bliss, respectively.
The surprises were Bleed Esports and Team Bliss, who finished among the best twelve sides in the competition. The pink roster was APAC’s best team as the Aussies ended up among the best eight teams.
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