Image via PSG Esports
The last week has seen the return of several tier-two and three tournaments across the world in addition to BR6 and APAC League returning. Here’s a rundown on some of the biggest stories across these tournaments:
- #flag@20:jp Japan League -- PSG’s debut, Donuts demolishes, FAV, relegations rematch
- #flag@20:ar Brazilian Women’s Circuit -- B.asqueras qualify for Brazil Cup spot
- #flag@20:us NA Challenger League -- Outlast the Opposition & TookTheKids qualify for Stage 1
- Northern Premier League revealed -- UKIN and Nordic teams to meet for sub-regional tournament
- #flag@20:kr Korean Open -- Star Rise beats SANDBOX 7-0 and Talon 7-4
- #flag@20:au Oceanic Nationals --Knights and Chiefs suffer defeats as two new casters debut
- #flag@20:ca Canadian Contenders League -- NOOT NOOTERS defeats Arial Arise to start the season strong
- Games to Watch
Japan League - PSG debuts as FAV and CAG loses to Donuts and SCARZ
The biggest league in the world by prize pool started this morning as 10 of the best Japanese rosters kicked off the 2022 Japan League.
While CAG, FAV, Fnatic, and REJECT were all competing, all attention was instead on the ex-YOSHIMOTO Gaming roster due to their pickup by PSG Esports.
In their game which was simultaneously co-streamed by Japanese star, Yudai "Wokka" Ichise, the esports division of the Paris Saint-Germain football club struggled, ending with a less than stellar 3-7 result against Fnatic.
Following this the 2021 Japan Championship victors, Donuts USG, beat the APAC North roster FAV in an even more convincing 7-2 scoreline, proving once again that they can compete with some of the best teams in APAC.
The upsets then continued as CYCLOPS lost to SCARZ, 7-5. This was SCARZ’s first game back in R6 since the organization’s Korean roster was relegated from APAC North at the end of the 2020 Season. This also was CAG’s first loss in the Japan League after they ended the 2021 Season with a 14-0 record.
Finally, REJECT beat Sengoku Gaming, 8-6, in what was a rematch of the APAC North relegation game which REJECT also won to qualify for the 2022 Season. Sengoku previously finished the Japan League as runners-up behind CAG making this a strong start for REJECT as they end day one in fifth place.
Brazilian Women’s Circuit -- B.asqueras qualify for the Brazil Cup
After the open and closed qualifiers of Stage 1 of the Circuito Feminino 2022 Season took place last weekend, Monday to Wednesday saw the group stage be played out while Thursday and Friday saw the playoffs.
Starting from the beginning, the star rosters that made it through the qualifiers were the women’s rosters of 4Dreams, Fenix Esports, and INTZ’s which were put into group A while Black Dragons, B.asqueras, and Parabellum’s women’s teams were seeded into group B.
Despite including several well-known players, the INTZ and Parabellum rosters were the weakest, not winning a single point between them across six games.
From here, B.asqueras then defeated Fenix 2-1 to make the grand final. B.asqueras is the only team with non-Brazilian players as it has an Argentinian core which includes the ex-Spanish language commentator, Lucía "LuliArlequina" Campello.
The second semi-final then saw Black Dragons be knocked out in a 2-1 scoreline by 4Dreams, setting up a 4D vs B.asqueras grand-final.
This game was won by B.asqueras following three fairly one-sided maps. This is both a massive result for the South American scene and means an Argentinian roster will compete in the subsequent Brazil Cup, the first time any non-Brazilian players have competed in the Brazilian subregion.
Outlast the Opposition & TookTheKids qualify for NACL
Ahead of the start of the North American Challenger League tonight, last weekend saw the tournament’s relegation games take place.
Here the bottom two teams from Stage 3 2021 -- Ōkami & Fernys Tacos -- faced the top two rosters from the weekend prior’s open qualifiers -- Outlast the Opposition & TookTheKids.
The core of the Outlast roster previously competed during Stage 3, and had scored more points than either of the relegation rosters. This meant that their best-of-three map match against Ōkami was less of a competition than many would have hoped, ending 7-4, 7-5 in a 2-0 to Outlast.
Fernys Tacos, meanwhile, put up quite a fight to retain their spot taking map two to an 8-6 scoreline before losing on Villa, 7-1. TookTheKids, their replacements in the NACL, includes “TPA” and “TragikL” who played on Smoke Break during Stage 1 last year while “Trist” plays on Pengu’s roster in the Canada Contenders League.
Northern Premier League revealed -- UKIN and Nordic teams meet for sub-regional tournament
On Friday the Northern Premier League was revealed to the world with this being the main entryway for British, Irish, and Nordic teams to qualify for the Challenger League.
The individual UK Ireland Nationals and Nordic Championship tournaments will remain with the top six UKIN and top four NC teams advancing to the Northern Premier League. From here the NPL league will offer two Challenger League spots to its top two teams.
This, therefore, positions this league as a step above its fellow national tournaments such as the GSA League or 6 French League as the only tournament with two Challenger League spots on the line. It is also the only official Ubisoft league outside of the EU League and Challenger League to include teams from multiple national tournaments.
Korean Open - Star Rise beats SANDBOX 7-0, and Talon 7-4
The Korean Open this time last week with play days every Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Across the four playdays, we saw three APAC North meetings as SANDBOX beat DWG 7-2 and T1 7-3, while DWG beat Talon 7-0. Talon also lost against Star Rise, 4-7, and went all the way to 8-7 to beat Spear Gaming which stars the ex-T1 player, Sangeun "Vamos" Kang.
Star Rise then followed up their win over Talon with a very impressive 7-0 win over SANDBOX meaning the only team to have beaten them so far is T1. sR is a fresh team this season having qualified for the league via the Korean Trial qualifier tournament a year on from DWG’s win in the same competition.
This, therefore, leaves four teams -- DWG, Star Rise, T1, and SANDBOX -- tied on nine points with three wins and one defeat each. Talon meanwhile has just five points to their name down in sixth place.
Oceanic Nationals -- Knights and Chiefs suffer defeats as two new casters debut
The OCN, meanwhile, had its first playday yesterday which had two major upsets.
The OCN 2021 grand-final rematch between Bliss and Chiefs ended with a win to the non-APAC South roster as Bliss won 7-4. This continues their extremely strong national performances from last year after the team missed out on a spot in APAC South due to a close 1-2 loss to Renatus.
Following this, the Knights roster also lost to the lowest-seeded team in the league, Ludavica, 7-5. While both Knights and Chiefs had two APAC South games to focus on this week, these results still signal that this season will likely be a close one.
Friday also saw the debut of two new casters, Amanda "Rappel" Powers who previously was an APAC League observer and was a runner-up in the last XP Women’s League season, and Chelsea “hotto” Moss who has competed in four XP Women’s League seasons.
Canadian Contenders League -- NOOT NOOTERS defeats Arial Arise to start the season strong
The Canadian Contenders League -- the best-known non-Ubisoft ran national tournament -- started its 2022 Season on Monday with a lot of eyes on NOOT NOOTERS.
This team run by Niclas "Pengu" Mouritzen, the most successful player in R6 history, also included ex-Mirage player Alexandre "QrTz" Moranta and multiple ex and current Challenger League players.
This team will without a doubt be the favorites throughout the month-long split, however, the league also includes Arial Arise’s CCL roster which includes multiple well-known players including Tyler "Kento" Ross.
On Wednesday, these two teams faced each other with NOOT NOOTERS unsurprisingly coming out top with a 7-1, 8-6 scoreline with QrTz leading the game in kills.
Meanwhile, in group A, the academy roster of Team MystiC currently leads while group C currently sees SHIFT NORTH take the lead.
Games to Watch
Over the coming weeks, more and more national-tier tournaments will kick-off as the 2022 Season gets going.
Most notably, tonight sees the kick-off of the NA Challenger League while tomorrow will see the start of the Taiwan and Thailand nationals, and the Spain Nationals begin on Wednesday.
These are some of the must-watch tier-two matches over the next week (all times in CET):
- #flag@20:us Saturday 11pm: Nokturns vs Elyssar -- NA Challenger League
- #flag@20:us Sunday 1am: Karn & Co vs Elyssar -- NA Challenger League
- #flag@20:kr Sunday 8am: T1 vs DWG -- Korean Open
- #flag@20:jp Sunday 10am: CAG vs REJECT -- Japan League
- #flag@20:us Monday 0am: 1shotLFO vs Karn & Co -- NA Challenger League
- #flag@20:kr Monday 1pm: SBXG vs TALON -- Korean Open
- #flag@20:es Wednesday 8:30pm: Rebels vs Ravens -- Spain Nationals
- #flag@20:jp Saturday 11am: REJECT vs FAV -- Japan League