Banner image: Ubisoft / Kiril B.
The second game day of the Europe League took place yesterday as eight of the ten teams in the competition featured in yesterday's matches.
Here's everything you need to know about the second game day of the Europe League 2023 Stage 2. You can check out our Key Takeaways article for Day 1 here.
First group stage loss for WYLDE
After being unbeaten in their Stage 1 group and their flawless victory against KOI on Monday, WYLDE's 6-8 loss against ITB is the team's first group stage defeat of the season.
All eyes were set on the entries Juhani "Kantoraketti" Toivonen and Maurice "AceeZ" Erkelenz, who didn't disappoint. The Finn, with four entry kills, and the German, with three, proved why they are two of the best players in the league.
Despite the team's slow start, AceeZ's nine kills throughout round two and five were crucial to put WYLDE on a temporary 4-1 lead. Unfortunately for WYLDE, contrary to ITB's match against Team Secret, Kantoraketti wasn't the only to stand out as Noah "NoaUrz" Urwitz was the best player of the match with a SiegeGG rating of 1.33 and a KD of 15-9 (+6).
With this win, the former TT9 Esports roster has already surpassed their Stage 1 points tally as they could only get one point from a overtime defeat against Virtus.pro. Meanwhile, WYLDE stays on top of the group stage after Team Secret's loss to Virtus.pro.
Virtus.pro are back in style
Heading to their debut in the Europe League Stage 2, not just recent performances but history was on the side of the Russians. With a record of five wins and one draw, Virtus.pro never lost to Team Secret in a Rainbow Six Siege match.
Despite the team's obvious Brazilian influence, Marlon "Twister" Mello's roster didn't have the secret to defeat the Russian powerhouse. Just like in their victory against Heroic on Monday, Luiz "Miracle" Abrantes and Dawid "Gruby" Marciniak were the best-rated players in Team Secret.
Meanwhile, Artur "ShepparD" Ipatov was the highest-rated player in the match with a SiegeGG rating of 1.37 and a perfect KOST.
Doki stops Heroic's comeback attempt
After his poor performance against Team BDS in the team's first match of the week, Jack "Doki" Robertson redeemed himself as he went berserk against Heroic.
The Scottish player ended the match with a KD of 23-9 (+14) and an entry balance of 5-1 (+4), which put him at the top of the standings with a SiegeGG rating of 1.81 despite going to round fifteen.
At the same time, Jake "Virtue" Grannan had another great performance as he's now the best-rated player in the league to have played two maps.
Playing on the new version of Consulate, G2 Esports kicked off the game in great shape and won four of the first five rounds. However, in round six, the European powerhouse's three-man superiority was canceled by one of Heroic's new signings, Reece "ASTRO" Lambert, who got a 4k and a 1v2 clutch. One round later, Doki's 1v2 clutch restored G2's three-round lead.
Eventually, three Heroic clutches by ASTRO, Jordan "Kayak" Morley, and Jake "Leadr" Fortunato put G2 Esports between a rock and a hard place as Heroic were 7-6 ahead. Unfortunately for them, the Six Invitational 2023 champions secured the win after a Doki 4k in the final round of the match.
Wolves Esports redemption after R6 CC defeat
Wolves Esports defeated MNM Gaming in the final match of the day as the French-majority roster secured an important 7-4 victory on Chalet.
After a brilliant MNM Gaming start, the marshmallows got a two-round lead while playing on the attack. However, the team's lack of ability at closing the rounds saw Wolves Esports winning their remaining defenses with three of their rounds being clutches.
Axel "Shiinka" Freisberg, with two clutches, and Bastien "BiBooAF" Dulac, with one, are crucial to understanding the final result. Eventually, Wolves Esports secured the three points.
With a SiegeGG rating of 1.74 and with three plants, Shiinka was the best-rated player of the match. It's also worth noting Jimmy "DEADSHT" Vojtasik's efforts, as the player finished with a SiegeGG rating of 1.32 and an entry balance of 4-1 (+3).