What are the best matches in Rainbow Six Siege history?

_{Banner image: Ubisoft / Joao F. @itsmeERROR}

Following the release of Rainbow Six Siege in Dec. 2015, the first competitions kicked off shortly after. Pro Leagues became the game's top flight in Europe and North America, as Brazil and Asia would follow.

Since then, we have had almost eight years filled with Siege tournaments all around the globe. It's difficult not feeling nostalgia while thinking of some of the best memories the professional players have given us. However, not every match has been exciting.

In this article, we have attempted to gather the best ten matches of Rainbow Six Siege ever based on the importance of the game, the plays, the storylines, and the legacy.

• ENCE eSports vs. Black Dragons (PL Y2S3 Finals)
• PENTA Sports vs. Evil Geniuses (Six Invitational 2018)
• Fnatic vs. Evil Geniuses (PL Season 8)
• G2 Esports vs. Team Empire (Six Invitational 2019)
• Team Liquid vs. FaZe Clan (Brasileirão 2019)
• Spacestation Gaming vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas (Six Invitational 2020)
• Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Team Liquid (Six Invitational 2021)
• Team oNe vs. Team Empire (Six Mexico Major) 
• FaZe Clan vs. DWG KIA (Six Jönköping Major)
• Rogue vs. FaZe Clan (Six Berlin Major)

Let's go through the matches, explaining the reasons that make each one a valuable part of Rainbow Six Siege's history!

ENCE eSports vs Black Dragons

São Paulo, Brazil, Nov. 2017. After the Finns' victories against Evil Geniuses and Team Fontt (eventually picked up by FaZe Clan), the team met with Black Dragons in the grand finals, who came from beating PENTA Sports.

Playing on home soil, Black Dragons were the favorites to win the tournament six months after losing their first international grand finals. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

Led by a very young Juhani "Kantoraketi" Töivonen, ENCE eSports took the first map by 5-2. With a SiegeGG rating of 1.64 on Oregon, the Finn was the best player on the European lineup as he was on his way to obtaining his first international MVP.

Fortunately for the Brazilians, Chalet was different. Black Dragons got to match point very quickly as they put ENCE eSports between a rock and a hard place, 4-0. Everyone expected map three to come sooner than later.

This could be a flawless map for Black Dragons who, with Psycho leading the way, are absolutely crushing ENCE, and a lot, a lot, of good words need to go towards Black Dragons because they have successfully drawn out that patient, overthinking cautious ENCE that we saw get eliminated from LANs early in the past - Parker "Interro" Mackay

He was right, Gustavo "Psycho" Rigal was on a blast as he was the real difference between both teams on Chalet. However, Kantoraketti's second half of the map was insane. After only getting two kills in the initial four rounds, the Finn would add 14 to his tally from round five to round ten.

But how did that happen? While Kantoraketti was the MVP of the tournament, Jouni "Bounssi" Salo was the hero of the day. In round five, he completed a 1v3 that got the team a second wind.

In rounds six and seven, Kantoraketti got back-to-back 4k's as he also team killed Ville "SHA77E" Palola. Three rounds later, the Finns won their first international competition as Black Dragons lost their second international grand final in only six months.

Nevertheless, bright things awaited most of the players on the server that day. While Black Dragons' roster was acquired by Ninjas in Pyjamas in Jun. 2018, SHA77E and Kantoraketti would become world champions in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

PENTA Sports vs Evil Geniuses

In 2018, Europe and North America were at the top. While Brazil could cause an upset every now and then, everyone knew that at the end of the day, it would be between the two powerhouses of Siege.

A new rivalship was born at the Six Invitational 2018 on Feb. 18 when "the best Rainbow Six Siege match" took place. While it's difficult to say this is the best match in the game, it's fair to say this is the most iconic.

PENTA Sports and Evil Geniuses first met in the group stage as the Europeans won the match by 2-1. After topping the standings of Group A, the Europeans defeated ENCE eSports and Black Dragons to reach the grand finals.

Meanwhile, Group A's second seed Evil Geniuses defeated FaZe Clan and Rogue to meet PENTA Sports again. It's worth noting that Rogue were one round away from winning EG, which would have prevented us from living what was to come.

In the grand final, Evil Geniuses started on the right foot as the Americans won the first two maps of the BO5 series. Surprisingly, the Europeans won Kafe and Bank to bring Evil Geniuses to map five.

Finally, PENTA Sports completed the comeback after two 1v2 clutches in the final two rounds of the series by Fabian "Fabian" Hällsten and Niclas "Pengu" Mouritzen.

Fnatic vs Evil Geniuses

Coming to the PL Season 8 Finals played in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Fnatic suffered a big loss as Etienne "Magnet" Rousseau couldn't travel with the rest of the team due to a health problem. Instead, Fnatic's coach Jayden "Dizzle" Saunders stepped into the squad.

If that wasn't enough, the Aussies were facing no other than the Six Invitational 2018 grand finalists, Evil Geniuses. In other words, the Americans were the clear favorites to win the series.

Nothing further from the truth. Despite playing with their coach, Fnatic pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Rainbow Six Siege's history.

With SiegeGG ratings of 1.36 and 1.34, Ethan "RizRaz" Wombwell and Jason "Lusty" Chen led Fnatic to a 6-3 victory on Border. The Australians' aggressive playstyle was even more intense in Oregon, where coach Dizzle performed two clutches.

Matthew "Acez" McHenry's 3k play with Ela in the final round of the match went down the Siege history books. After jumping out of Armory's window, he killed two of EG's members. Then, while being spotted outside, he downed Nathan "nvK" Valenti. Seconds later, RizRaz's runout with Bandit ended the job.

Unfortunately for the Australians, G2 Esports defeated them in the semi-finals by 6-0, 6-0, as the APAC roster couldn't win any round. Despite the result, the PL Season 8 Finals are remembered as APAC's first time at an international semi-final, with double representation included as NORA-Rengo also made the Top 4!

G2 Esports vs Team Empire

G2 Esports won the PL Season 8 Finals on Nov. 18, 2018. Only ten days earlier, Team Empire had won the European Challenger League Season 8. Four months after both events had taken place, the two rosters met at the Six Invitational 2019 grand finals.

Despite the Russians' lack of experience, they couldn't be stopped in Montreal, Canada. After defeating Immortals and Rogue by 2-0 scores, Team Empire won against Team Liquid and NORA-Rengo.

At the same time, G2 Esports topped the standings of Group C and reached the grand finals after defeating Spacestation Gaming and Team Reciprocity.

While this match was far from being a close series, this game went down to the history of Siege books for having what's so far the longest map ever at a Rainbow Six Siege international competition. Playing on Coastline, G2 Esports took the first map of the series after 22 rounds!

Meanwhile, map two and map three were very one-sided. First, G2 Esports defeated Team Empire by 7-4 on Border. A 7-1 victory on Bank followed as the Europeans sealed the win. So far, this is the only Six Invitational grand final to end in a 3-0 score.

Kantoraketti collected his fourth international MVP after averaging a SiegeGG rating of 1.25 and it was Pengu, Fabian, Daniel "Goga" Mazorra, and Joonas "jnSzki" Savolainen's second world championship.

Team Liquid vs FaZe Clan

This is the only non-international match on the list, so imagine how good this one was! It was the Brasileirão grand final for 2019's season, as Team Liquid and FaZe Clan met in what now is known as the Clássico do Siege.

In this BO5 series, each map saw at least 11 rounds. Moreover, two of the maps were decided on overtime.

After the first three maps, FaZe Clan were leading by 2-1. Nevertheless, the blue cavalry ended up winning after defeating their opponents by 7-4, 8-6.

With a SiegeGG rating of 1.24, 58 kills, and two clutches, João "HSnamuringa" Deam was the best player of the series. It was Team Liquid's first BR6 trophy as they would eventually win two of the next three editions — 2021 and 2022.

Spacestation Gaming vs Ninjas in Pyjamas

In 2020, North America took home the Six Invitational with style. Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski lifted the hammer for the second time in his career after doing it at the Six Invitational 2017 under Continuum. It was Dylan "Bosco" Bosco's second hammer as well, as he won it with Elevate at the Six Invitational 2017 for XBOX One rosters. 

Spacestation Gaming's victory came after not losing a single match in the competition. After topping the standings of Group B, the astronauts' victories against MIBR, DarkZero Esports, and TSM saw them moving to the grand finals.

Meanwhile, Ninjas in Pyjamas' path was... different. Following some good performances in Group C, the team lost to TSM in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals and dropped to the Lower Bracket. From there, it was do-or-die for the Brazilians.

Surprisingly, the ninjas defeated G2 Esports, DarkZero Esports, Team BDS, and TSM in what's still one of the best lower-bracket runs this game has ever seen.

At the Six Invitational 2021, the Upper Bracket winner had a one-map advantage in the grand finals. This meant that the Americans only needed to win two maps to lift the hammer.

While they ended up doing so, the Brazilians put SSG between a rock and a hard place. After winning on Villa and Border by 7-3 and 7-2, respectively, the Ninjas were 1-2 ahead.

On Clubhouse, NiP were only two rounds away from lifting the hammer. Unfortunately for them, the Brazilians couldn't close the map and lost Bank as well. It was not meant to be.

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Team Liquid

Ninjas in Pyjamas made history at the Six Invitational 2020 as they became the first Brazilian team to feature at an SI grand final. One year later, they extended their legacy as they won the tournament.

The Six Invitational 2021 is remembered as Brazil's playground. The best three sides in the competition all came from Brazil (Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Liquid, and MIBR) while FaZe Clan finished in 5th - 6th place.

Just like in 2020, the Upper Bracket winner had a one-map advantage. This time it was for Ninjas in Pyjamas, who defeated Team BDS, FaZe Clan, and MIBR before reaching the final game of the tournament.

Meanwhile, following Team Liquid's defeat against MIBR in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, the team defeated Parabellum, Team Empire, FaZe Clan, TSM, and MIBR to sneak into the grand finals.

Despite NiP's one-map advantage, Team Liquid did the same as the Ninjas did against Spacestation Gaming. However, the green roster defeated the Blue Cavalry in the fifth game of the series.

Team oNe vs Team Empire

For years, Brazil's Rainbow Six Siege was full of established players with a lot of experience. The region was led by the likes of Team Liquid, FaZe Clan, and Ninjas in Pyjamas, who had featured in multiple international grand finals.

However, all these three organizations come from America or Europe, whose currencies are five times stronger than Brazil's currency. This means that Brazilian-based organizations can do little to nothing to stop their players from joining organizations that pay using euros or dollars.

In 2021, the rise of young talent in Brazil was key to the future of the region, which is possibly the healthiest nowadays. The appearance of two squads like FURIA Esports and Team oNe made the Brazilian league extremely competitive.

The Six Mexico Major saw both Team oNe and FURIA Esports qualifying for the event, leaving FaZe Clan and MIBR in Brazil. While FURIA Esports reached the quarter-finals, Team oNe went on to win the Six Major.

Team oNe's win in Mexico is unique, as the Brazilians had to play a tiebreak match against CYCLOPS athlete gaming to move to the Playoffs. After beating the Japanese squad, the roster defeated DarkZero Esports and Team Liquid to reach the grand finals.

Meanwhile, Team Empire qualified for the final game of the Six Mexico Major after a thrilling game against Team BDS in the semi-finals, where the Russians won after a maximum overtime win on map three.

Eventually, the Brazilians won against Team Empire by 3-2 in the grand finals. Just like that, Team oNe forced the big Brazilian teams to look down on the young generations.

Now, most of the Team oNe winners in Mexico are spread across some of the best teams in the world: Lorenzo "Lagonis" Volpi (Team Liquid), Karl "Alem4o" Zarth (G2 Esports), Eduardo "KDS" Chiste (FaZe Clan), and Arthur "TchubZ" Figueira (Ninjas in Pyjamas).

Later on, other teams like Black Dragons and w7m esports also featured at international competitions, with the Bulls reaching multiple international semi-finals, the Six Invitational 2023 grand final, and winning the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen.

FaZe Clan vs DWG KIA

Following Team oNe's victory in Mexico, FaZe Clan completed a perfect Brazilian 2021 with their win at the Six Sweden Major. To qualify for the tournament's grand final, FaZe Clan faced off against DWG KIA in the semi-finals. 

For those viewers who missed out on the competition, the South Korean rosters produced some incredible upsets in Sweden. While DWG KIA topped the standings of Group D after defeating Team Empire, Spacestation Gaming, and FURIA Esports, SANDBOX Gaming finished in second of Group B after defeating DarkZero Esports once and Team Vitality twice.

Unfortunately for the region, both rosters met in the quarter-finals. The winner faced FaZe Clan, whose first place in the standings of Group A was followed by a 2-0 win against Team BDS.

Against all of the odds, DWG KIA started the series on the right foot as the South Koreans won the first map by 7-3. FaZe Clan's answer was strong, as the Brazilians won the second match by the same score.

Although the first two maps had been very one-sided, nothing could have prepared the fans for map three.

Jo "coted" Sung-Joon's 1v1 clutch in round eleven and DWG KIA's win in round twelve sent the final map to overtime, where Lucas "soulz1" Schinke stole the show. The Brazilian won FaZe Clan two of the three rounds the team needed almost single-handedly, winning round 13 with a 1v1 clutch and a 3k, and round 15 with another 1v1 clutch and a 4k.

One day later, FaZe Clan won its first international competition in another thrilling match, as the red organization defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas by 3-2.

Rogue vs FaZe Clan

Rogue's Stage 2 in 2022 will always be remembered as one of the best upgrades ever. For the team's Rainbow Six Siege roster, this was a year of changes, as they made three signings in four months: Kantoraketti and Tom "Deapek" Pieksma in March and William "Spoit" Löfstedt in June.

With these three new pieces, Rogue looked completely different. After finishing in second place in the European League 2022 Stage 2, the team looked dominant during most of the Six Berlin Major.

Following victories against G2 Esports (which included two overtimes) and XSET, the Europeans reached the grand final. Meanwhile, after being second in Group B, FaZe Clan reached the grand final following victories over FURIA Esports and w7m esports.

Next was what's possibly one of the best three matches on this list. With no infinite overtimes anymore, three of the five maps of the series reached round 15.

The match, which was filled with clutches, seemed to go on the way of FaZe Clan. The Brazilians were 2-1 ahead as the teams headed to the fourth map of the series. Then, Rogue won Bank (7-5) and Clubhouse (8-7) to win the match to take home their first Six Major.

Honorable mentions

While some fans may think we are wrong, we have collected five more games that could have joined the list but simply didn't.

• Team Empire vs Evil Geniuses (PL Season 8)
• Aerowolf vs Giants Gaming (PL Season 10)
• G2 Esports vs Team BDS (EUL 2020 Finals)
• FURIA Esports vs Estral Esports (LATAM SI 2021 Closed Qualifier)

Team Empire vs Evil Geniuses

Let's be honest, the community remembers this match because of the white stairs play. When Evil Geniuses seemed to be on the verge of winning the PL Season 9 Finals, Team Empire came back from death to win their first top-flight international title.

Aerowolf vs Giants Gaming

Known as the APAC gatekeepers, Aerowolf finally qualified for an international competition after winning the PL Season 10 APAC. Alongside Wildcard Gaming, the Singaporean roster would represent the region in Japan as all Fnatic, Cloud9, and NORA-Rengo failed to make it.

Against all of the odds, Aerowolf defeated Giants Gaming in the quarter-finals of the PL Season 10 after 6-8, 8-7, and 7-5 results. Although they lost to DarkZero Esports in the semi-finals, the job was already done.

Ironically, Aerowolf was picked up by Giants Gaming, who decided to switch regions and move from Europe to APAC.

G2 Esports vs Team BDS

G2 Esports defeated Team BDS in the European League 2020 Finals after a very close series. The European powerhouse defeated the Frenchmen by 8-7 on Theme Park following Jake "Virtue" Grannan's 1v4 clutch. His play was eventually named Play of the Year at the 2021 Esports Awards.

The Berlin-based organization's first win of the series was followed by two defeats, as Team BDS got in control of the match. However, G2 Esports' one-sided victories on Clubhouse and Consulate saw the Samurais taking the trophy home.

FURIA Esports vs Estral Esports

Finally, we will end this article with FURIA Esports' victory over Estral Esports at the LATAM SI 2021 Closed Qualifiers Final.

While this may sound wrong, this match could have had a huge impact on the future of Brazilian Siege. It also killed Mexico's dreams of seeing a team from their country make it to the Six Invitational, something that has yet to happen — but could next year.

FURIA Esports' 2020 season had been a nightmare, as the team fought until the very last match to avoid relegation from Brazil's top flight. After doing so, the team made it to the SI 2021 Closed Qualifiers.

Coming from Mexico, Estral Esports defeated INTZ in a BO3 series to move to the qualifier's grand final. As they started the match against FURIA Esports with an 8-6 win, the team was one map away from qualifying for the Six Invitational 2021.

In the second match of the series, FURIA Esports forced overtime as they won rounds 11 and 12. Although Estral Esports got back the lead, Thiago "LENDA" Torres' 1v1 clutch in round 14 was followed by another successful round by the black panthers.

Unfortunately for the Mexicans, FURIA Esports won map three (Theme Park) by 7-4 and confirmed their spot at the Six Invitational 2022.

This match was another important stone in Brazil's future, as FURIA Esports established themselves as one of the most consistent Siege rosters in the globe.