With the Six Invitational 2023 beginning today, here's everything you need to know about the teams in Group D.
DarkZero Esports
Following a third-place finish in the NAL in Stage 1, DarkZero Esports lifted the Six Charlotte Major trophy after only losing one match.
But, since then, they went dark. Two fifth-place finishes in Stages 2 and 3 saw the Charlotte champions missing out on the Berlin Major and the Jönköping Major.
On top of that, DarkZero had issues for most of the final stage, with Paul "Hyper" Kontopanagiotis stepping down from the roster after two games, as Alexander "Skys" Magor was brought in as an emergency substitute.
As such, just a month and a half before the start of the Six Invitational 2023, they signed the Reality TV entry fragger Gaven "Gaveni" Black, despite Ben "CTZN" McMillan being offered from G2 Esports, according to Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski. Skys was also made a permanent signing and DarkZero are now eager to flex their BO3 muscles.
M80
Read more: Aye aye, M80: New organisation switch no distraction for former XSET squad ahead of Invitational
After spending the past few weeks in Brazil preparing for the Six Invitational 2023, the former XSET members are now ready to compete in Montreal, Canada.
M80's season has been an odyssey. Under XSET, the Brazilian-majority team reached the quarter-finals of the Charlotte Major, where they fell to eventual grand-finalists Astralis.
While that was a great starting point, Matheus "Budega" Araujo's year-long sanction was a big blow to take. Since the coach's ban, Igor "Vivas" Vivas has been standing behind the players in their professional matches -- and will do so at the Six Invitational 2023, as well.
In Stage 2, XSET went even better, as they reached the Berlin Major semi-finals -- losing 1-2 to eventual champions Rogue. But, despite their great progress in the first two stages, Stage 3 saw them finish in a disappointing eighth place with just 11 points.
But with rest and relaxation, M80 are now geared up and are looking to build on from that Berlin Major form and make a title charge.
FaZe Clan
After missing out on the Charlotte Major due to the Copa Elite Six format, FaZe Clan responded in fine form and reached the grand-final of the Berlin Major in Stage 2. It was the team's best result of the 2022 season, as the Brazilians were sent home from the Jönköping Major after losing their quarter-final match against Team Liquid.
As such, it has been a difficult year for FaZe overall, with the team constantly trying to find its best roster. For most of the season, its players changed roles, with Gabriel "cameram4n" Hespanhol handing over the IGL role to Leonardo "Astro" Luis after their Stage 1 disappointment.
However, at the end of the season, that ended up costing cameram4n his place in the team. FaZe Clan decided to part ways with the experienced player, whose spot has been taken up by Série B talent Victor "VITAKING" Augusto.
VITAKING was Magic Squad's IGL and hard breacher when the team won the Série B. He got a SiegeGG Rating of 1.17 in the regular season, which was followed by a Rating of 1.00 in the competition's Finals. Can he be the ticket to a second FaZe Clan title?
Heroic
Heroic qualified for the Six Invitational 2023 after finishing in 13th place in the Global Standings thanks to their appearances at the Charlotte Major and the Jönköping Major. Despite not making it beyond the group stage in both competitions, the Europeans managed enough SI Points to make it to the world championship.
Unluckily for them, though, they have gone through multiple changes -- and not entirely by choice.
Heading into the final stage of the year, Heroic decided to make changes as they parted ways with Georgi "GorgoNa" Stoyanov while benching Jack "Sloth" Brown. Their replacements came from Europe's tier two scene in the form of Maxime "Meloo" Cahagnet and Marc "Jume" Steinmann.
The changes had an immediate impact, as they notched up a Jönköping Major appearance, even if they did not progress to the playoffs. It was still a platform that could be combined with the upcoming months of off-season to benefit the roster and prime Heroic for a strong 2023 calendar year.
However, Benjamin "Benjamaster" Dereli's departure to G2 Esports threw Heroic's plans into disarray.
In need of firepower, Heroic decided to move Sloth back to the active roster, while also signing the former Campeonato Mexicano player Adam "nudl" Hryceniak.
To understand these changes, it's important to comprehend Benja's role in Heroic. In the EUL in 2022, the Dane had an entry kill balance of 58-26 (+32), which right now will probably be a Jume responsibility. The German player got a 20-16 (+4) balance in the EUL 2022 Stage 3.
Heroic will also need Sloth's Stage 1 form to achieve their best form this month, but the jury is still out if they can put together a playoff charge in a group that is far from easy.
Team Secret
After a year where Team Secret couldn't fight for the top spots in any of the stages played this season, they surprised everyone by taking down Outsiders twice in the EU SI 2023 Closed Qualifiers. This was made even more impressive by the fact that the Russian lineup had four of the five players who had reached the Six Invitational 2022 grand-final.
Since Stage 2, Team Secret have been working on building a roster capable of getting out of the bottom half of the EUL table. Lucas "Savage" Alves was their first signing, with Reece "ASTRO" Lambert and Dawid "Gruby" Marciniak joining alongside the former FURIA Esports coach Marlon "Twister" Mello.
Undoubtedly, Twister's experience was a great part of Team Secret's SI 2023 Closed Qualifier run, as the Brazilian coach had done the exact same for FURIA Esports back in 2021. All the experience he gained in both international and regional competitions with teams like Black Dragons, Ninjas in Pyjamas, FaZe Clan, and FURIA, has been priceless for Secret's young and inexperienced roster.
It will be interesting to see how Secret adapts to the international Siege, especially considering that Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew is the only player with experience at a Siege major competition after he represented Natus Vincere at the Six Invitational 2020.