Today, the Europe League starts! A new fascinating format will kick off today as teams will begin their journey to the BLAST Copenhagen Major. Who's going to qualify?
Keep on reading to know more about the Europe League, the participating teams, and the league's new format!
Format and Schedule
At first glance, the format for the Europe League is a bit complicated. But here's how it all works.
First, the 10 teams in the competition are divided into two groups of five. In the group stage, all of the games are BO1s.
By the conclusion of the group stage, the first team of each group advances to the semi-finals of the Europe League Deciders. The second and third-best teams advance to the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, the fourth and the fifth-ranked teams of each group drop to the EU Open Qualifiers Playoffs.
All of the matches in the European League Deciders are BO3 games. The winners of the quarter-finals play in the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals qualify for the Phase 2 of the BLAST Copenhagen Major and face off in the European League Deciders Finals for seeding.
The losers of the quarter-finals play a game to decide their seeding in the Major EU LCQ.
The losers of the semi-finals play a game where the winner will qualify for the Phase 1 of the BLAST Copenhagen Major. The loser will drop to the Major EU LCQ, where the winner will qualify for the Phase 1 of the Copenhagen Major.
The Europe League group stage will be played from Mar. 13 to Mar. 27. The European League Deciders will follow, and will be held from Mar. 28 to Apr. 4. Finally, the remaining teams alive will compete in the Major Europe LCQ, which will run from Apr. 11 to Apr. 13.
Teams
The ten teams in the Europe League have been divided into two groups of five rosters each. Let's have a look at them:
Group A
#flag@20:eu G2 Esports
Following the departure of Ben "CTZN" McMillan, the team signed the former Heroic player Benjamin "Benjamaster" Dereli. Just 45 days later, the European powerhouse team became champions of the world, with the Dane being named the MVP of the tournament.
Now, G2 Esports head into the new EUL as a true "super team".
#flag@20:fr Team BDS
Team BDS elevated their squad's skill level with the signing of Théo "LikEfac" Mariano. Since then, the Frenchmen won the Japan Invitational 2022, the Six Jönköping Major, and the European League 2022.
Despite the team's most recent results, Team BDS couldn't play on the main stage of the Six Invitational 2023. All of the team's series saw three maps being played, with the Frenchmen being uncharacteristically sloppy on some occasions. Against Astralis, Team BDS conceded nine clutches, which ultimately saw them fall short of the Six Invitational 2023 top six.
Heading into the Europe League, fans expect the Jönköping Major champions to be in the race to top the Group A standings.
#flag@20:eu Heroic
Heroic's 2022 was a tumultuous season plagued with roster changes. Unable to build a solid roster that stuck for more than two stages, the team struggled throughout the year.
Since the start of the 2022 season, the team has had 11 different players -- enough to play an entire Rainbow Six Siege match. Moreover, the team recently parted ways with the analyst David "davil" Toth.
Now, Heroic heads to the Europe League with three new names from the Heroic roster that competed at the Six Invitational 2023. Alexandre "BlaZ" Thomas and the former NAVI duo of Jordan "Kayak" Morley and Jammie "Skiddy" Diamond are the three new members of the roster.
#flag@20:ru Virtus.pro
After competing under the name of Outsiders for the whole 2022 season, the team has now been allowed to compete under its original colors.
Four of Virtus.pro's members were part of the Team Empire roster that reached the Six Invitational 2022 grand-final. All eyes will be on the Russian team and the return of Danil "JoyStiCK" Gabov, whose last top-flight game was in Team Empire's loss against TSM in Feb. 2022.
#flag@20:eu TT9 Esports
Last but not least in Group A is TT9 Esports, who have revamped their roster for the Europe League 2023.
After announcing the first version of the roster in Jan. 2023, Juhani "Kantoraketti" Toivonen and Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew joined the roster from KOI and Team Secret, respectively, following the conclusion of the Six Invitational 2023.
The team will have two substitutes in Pavel "Amision" Chebatkov and Freq, who has recently been benched despite the first announcement stating he was part of the active roster.
Group B
#flag@20:eu KOI
The Berlin Major champions reached the Six Invitational 2023 top six, finishing as the second-best European team in the competition -- only behind G2 Esports.
Despite the team's most recent result, we have seen significant changes in their roster. Jake "Leadr" Fortunato and Adam "nudl" Hryceniak have joined, replacing William "Spoit" Löfstedt and Juhani "Kantoraketti" Toivonen.
If that wasn't enough, the backroom team has also gone through changes. The team decided to part ways with Matthew "meepeY" Sharples and promote Tristan "Saethus" Savage to head coach.
#flag@20:gb MNM Gaming
The marshmallows surprised everyone at the Six Invitational 2023 after going undefeated in the group stage, as they didn't drop a single map. However, they couldn't keep up with the momentum in the final bracket, where they lost to Oxygen Esports and Team BDS.
Despite that, their quality was plain to see. The squad has been growing for the past year and has gone from wanting to qualify for international competitions to now having a realistic goal of winning them. Could this be the marshmallows' year?
#flag@20:fr Wolves Esports
Wolves Esports were one of the surprises at the Six Invitational 2023, as the French-majority roster reached the tournament's top six. Unluckily for them, the team lost to the eventual champions of G2 Esports.
The French-speaking roster finished at the top of the regular standings of the European League 2023 and reached the semi-finals in the EUL 2022 Finals. Throughout the year, the team showed great consistency in online games, so fans expect them to be strong in the early stages of the Europe League.
Despite the team's performances at the Six Invitational 2023, Wolves Esports decided to make a roster change. Valentin "risze" Liradelfo, who was the IGL of the team, has been replaced by one of the stars of the European Challenger League 2022, Jimmy "DEADSHT" Vojtasik.
#flag@20:eu WYLDE
Usain Bolt's esports organization WYLDE joined the Rainbow Six Siege top-flight following the departure of Natus Vincere.
The team's arrival in the Europe League marks the return of Lucas "Hungry" Reich, Maurice "AceeZ" Erkelenz, and Peter "pacbull" Bull to Europe's top-flight, as they had represented G2 Esports, Rogue, and Team Secret, in their last appearances in the competition.
Jesse "Jeggz" Ojanen, who was the best-rated player in the European Challenger League 2022, will have his top-flight debut today after briefly representing Natus Vincere at the EU SI 2023 Closed Qualifiers. Meanwhile, his former teammate Edoardo "T3b" Treglia completes the roster.
#flag@20:eu Team Secret
Despite being at the bottom of the table for the whole 2022 season, Team Secret surprised everyone in the EU SI 2023 Closed Qualifier and got the last spot available in the Six Invitational 2023. The European team couldn't survive past the group stage in Montreal, but made it clear to everyone that they had progressed.
They currently head to the Europe League with no signings despite the departure of Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew, as the team has yet to announce his replacement.
Two weeks ago, Reece "ASTRO" Lambert revealed a relapse of his lymphoma, which has led Team Secret to look for a sixth player. The British player will continue competing in the starting lineup in the meantime, however.