Next week, the Six Invitational 2023 will kick off, as 20 teams will fight for the chance of lifting the Sledge hammer. Let’s have a look at the teams in Group A.
G2 Esports
Following G2’s failure to qualify last year, the team is now back at the Six Invitational.
G2 Esports’ super team from Mar. 2022 has two new faces, as Byron “Blurr” Murray and Benjamin “Benjamaster” Dereli will represent the European giants for the first time at an international event.
Following the surprising departure of Ben “CTZN” McMillan to Soniqs, Benjamaster is expected to take up the entry fragging role in the team. On paper, he is perfectly capable of doing that, as the Danish player was tied at the top of the entry-killing category in Stage 3. He had a balance of +11 entries, alongside Pabel “Amision” Chevatkov and his new teammate Karl “Alem4o” Zarth.
However, Blurr’s last two stages in the European League may be concerning for G2 fans. In his final stage for Natus Vincere, while largely playing Iana and Jäger, the player got a SiegeGG Rating of 0.84. So far, with G2 Esports, Blurr has been moved to a hard-breach role, finishing the split with a Rating of 0.79, the worst in the competition.
Elevate
Elevate, the ranked kings, may be APAC’s best shot at winning the Six Invitational 2023.
The best international performances from an Asian team this season have come from the Thai roster, who were two rounds away from reaching the Berlin Major semi-finals.
Heading into Stage 3, Elevate decided to sign Gabriel “LaXInG” Mirélez as their new coach. Following a strong start to the Stage 3, with two victories out of a possible three, Atibordee “Sapper” Noichan momentarily stepped down from the roster, bringing to light a possible problem inside the Elevate roster. However, days later, the player returned to the starting line-up.
Sapper’s return to the competition was against Wildcard Gaming, with the Australians defeating the Six Berlin Major quarter-finalists 7-2. A second loss would come a week later, as Dire Wolves beat them 8-7.
Elevate’s final win of the stage against Gaimin Gladiators came after a brilliant performance from Paramin “Onigiri” Suwanwattana. That put the Thai roster up into fourth place in APAC South – awarding them with enough SI Points to sneak in the Global Standings Top 16.
Heading into the Six Invitational, Onigiri is Elevate’s main hope at doing well. He was the team’s best player in Stage 3 and the second-best in APAC South, only behind Dire Wolves’ player Weichen “Reeps96” Wu -- who has since left his team.
KOI
While the squad won the Six Berlin Major, Rogue’s overall season hasn’t been the best. After missing out on the Charlotte Major and the Jönköping Major, the team’s success in Berlin was the differential at the end of the season to qualify for the Six Invitational 2023.
William “Spoit” Löfstedt signing ahead of Stage 2 and the rise of Tom “Deapek” Pieksma as a super-support has given a massive boost to the team. The two are some of the most exciting talents in the European region and will be vital in this Invitational run.
In Stage 2, the Swede was the best player in Europe with a SiegeGG Rating of 1.30 and eventually became the Berlin Major MVP. Deapek, on the other hand, was in the spotlight after various clutches and was the best player in the grand-final.
Despite their results before and after Berlin, the team has won a Six Major and the goal heading to the Six Invitational is to reach the top, again.
Spacestation Gaming
Spacestation Gaming’s season has been tumultuous, as the astronauts missed out on the first and the second Six Majors of the year. However, after signing Alexander “Yeti” Lawson, things changed.
The former Soniqs player averaged a SiegeGG Rating of 1.24 in the third stage of the NAL; his best-ever in the competition. He was crucial to SSG qualifying for the Jönköping Major, where they finished in third place of their group stage despite defeating the eventual champions Team BDS.
In January, the team defeated Mirage, Reality TV, and TSM to qualify for the Six Invitational 2023. While Yeti has not been replicating his Stage 3 performances recently, he has certainly successfully adapted to the team.
Spacestation’s best player at both the Jönköping Major and the NA SI 2023 Closed Qualifiers was Dylan “Bosco” Bosco, with SiegeGG Ratings of 1.06 and 1.13, respectively, while largely playing Thermite and Ace on attack and Smoke on defense. The “Qualifier King” has got them to the Invitational -- now, he’ll be hoping his team stops the entry kill bleeding and wins the entire thing like in 2020.
w7m esports
If we talk about consistency, w7m esports have been the best at it this season. They were insurmountable in the regular season of the Brasileirao with 65 points, 17 more than second-placed Team Liquid. They also set the record for the best and second-best stages ever in Brazil with 24 and 21 points in Stages 1 and 2, respectively.
Moreover, internationally, the bulls reached the semi-finals at the Berlin Major and the Jönköping Major. The only exception was at the Charlotte Major, where they had to compete from Mexico while dealing with a latency disadvantage.
In BO1 matches, w7m have an outstanding record of 30-5-4-5 -- a win-rate of almost 80 percent. However, they have struggled in the BO3 format despite solving a big part of their problems with the signing of world champion Julio “JULIO” Giacomelli.
Considering the Six Invitational 2023 is a BO3 competition, w7m will have to solve their issues in order to become title challengers against the title-winning powerhouses of the scene.
Group A Storylines
Here are some of the hottest storylines in Group A:
- Elevate vs KOI: Elevate sent Rogue home at the Six Invitational 2022 as the Thai squad was led by Onigiri, who got 27 kills just on the final map of the series, Oregon.
- Elevate vs w7m esports: Elevate’s Six Berlin Major short run was stopped by w7m esports, after an overtime third map on Border. Now, the teams will meet again in Montreal, Canada.
- Spacestation Gaming vs G2 Esports: G2 and SSG have only played once, as both teams clashed at the Six Invitational 2019 quarter-finals. Moreover, these organizations are the only Six Invitational winners in the competition.
- Spacestation Gaming vs w7m esports: Both teams met at the Jönköping Major, with the bulls defeating the astronauts twice by 7-3, 7-2 scores.
- G2 Esports vs KOI: Eventual Berlin Major champions Rogue defeated G2 in the tournament’s quarter-final game after two overtimes. The last G2 win against them was in the first play day of the EUL in 2022, back on Mar. 28.