The BLAST R6 Major Montreal semifinals took form after the results seen on Friday, where Virtus.pro, FaZe Clan, Team BDS, and w7m esports took the win in their respective clashes.
For the first time since the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta, no North American teams will be among the four best rosters in the competition. Instead, the spots have been filled with two European and two Brazilian rosters.
Fortunately, thanks to how the Finals bracket was shaped after the conclusion of Montreal's Phase 2 on November 13, we will have two Europe against Brazil clashes later today. Here's a preview of each match:
FaZe Clan vs. Team BDS
Two powerhouses of the Rainbow Six Siege competitive scene will clash in the BLAST R6 Major Montreal first semifinal as FaZe Clan and Team BDS will meet in the first match of the day.
Surprisingly enough, although both organizations have been in the scene for over half a decade, Team BDS and FaZe Clan have only clashed thrice: at the Six Invitational 2021, the Six Sweden Major, and the Esports World Cup 2024.
Ahead of tomorrow’s game, Team BDS currently lead the record against FaZe Clan with two wins and one defeat. However, the Brazilians’ victory against the Europeans came at the Six Sweden Major quarterfinals – eventually, they ended up winning the tournament.
Considering that it has been three years since their match in Gävle, Sweden, it would be wise to not pay much attention to that game. After all, only four players remain from that clash. Instead, we should have a look at their game at the Esports World Cup 2024.
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, what began as a thrilling series ended up in an impeccable performance by Team BDS: following a 5-7 defeat on Nighthaven Labs, the French-majority squad defeated the Six Invitational 2024 grand finalists with 7-0 and 7-2 wins on Bank and Skyscraper, respectively.
Some interesting stats about their Esports World Cup 2024 match:
- Despite only winning 7 of the 28 rounds of the match, FaZe Clan produced 16 entry frags – four more than Team BDS.
- Only four plants were made across the 28 rounds played.
Back then, FaZe Clan banned Chalet, Border, Bank, and Clubhouse, while Team BDS banned Oregon, Consulate, Nighthaven Labs, and Kafe Dostoyevsky.
So far in Montreal, Border and Chalet have been instabans from FaZe Clan. Meanwhile, Nighthaven Labs has been Team BDS’ most banned map in the Major.
Individually, FaZe Clan's roster includes the two current best players in the competition, Eduardo "KDS" Chiste and Victor "VITAKING" Santos. The Brazilians lead the player standings with SiegeGG ratings of 1.40 and 1.25, respectively.
Meanwhile, no Team BDS players are found among the ten best SiegeGG ratings in the competition, with Théo "LikEfac" Mariano's 1.11 making him the eleventh-best player in the competition and the best player in the French-majority roster. The second-best player in Team BDS has been Stéphane "Shaiiko" Lebleu, with a SiegeGG rating of 1.08.
Last but not least, it's worth mentioning FaZe Clan's clutching potential ahead of today's match. Only KDS and Thiago "Handy" Ferreira have produced a highest combined number of clutches in Montreal (10) than all of Team BDS' players put together (5).
w7m esports vs. Virtus.pro
The Brazilians qualified for the BLAST R6 Major Montreal semifinals after defeating Spacestation Gaming. Meanwhile, Virtus.pro was the first roster to reach Montreal's top four after defeating Team Falcons in Friday's first game.
Today's match will be w7m esports' fifth semifinal performance at a Major since August 2022. Except for the Six Charlotte Major, where the team had to compete from Mexico due to visa issues, the Bulls have always reached the semifinals when qualifying for a Major – despite having sold the team's world champion roster at the start of the year.
Looking specifically at w7m esports' current roster, this is not the first time their players and staff have reached the Top 4 of a BLAST R6 Major as they finished in second place of the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta. Meanwhile, Gabriel "volpz" Fernandes, who was not part of the orange squad, has already played in three Major semifinals – two with w7m esports and one with Team Liquid.
Regarding the Russians, this will be their first Major semifinal appearance since the Six Mexico Major. Back then, the current Virtus.pro roster finished in second place while playing for Team Empire.
Unfortunately, it's hard to tell what to expect from this match as both teams have never clashed this season. Therefore, all of the times they faced each other took place while w7m esports was competing with a completely different roster than the one the team has today.
Among Montreal's Top 10 we find two w7m esports players in Denis "Dodez" Navas and volpz, who are currently in 5th and 9th place respectively with SiegeGG ratings of 1.18 and 1.13. The only Russian that can currently be found in the tournament's Top 10 is Danil "JoyStiCK" Gabov, who sits in sixth place with a SiegeGG rating of 1.15 after having played four maps more than the Bulls.