This season, Sydney will host the two Japanese teams of NORA-Rengo (NR) and Cyclops Athlete Gaming (CAG) as they bid to continue the uninterrupted streak of Japanese presence at an international LAN event. With NORA-Rengo being the traditional flag bearers from Japan, CAG will be vying to put their name out there on an international stage, this time in Milan.
The Season 9 APAC Finals bracket
At this point, NORA-Rengo hardly needs an introduction. A stunning Season 7 international debut where they nearly pulled the rug from under Rogue was unfortunately followed up by a slightly disappointing performance at the Six Major Paris. Since then, though, NORA-Rengo has been flying, getting to the Season 8 Pro League LAN semi-finals, and the Six Invitational 2019 Semi-Finals too.
Their Season 9 of the Pro League was also going swimmingly, but fans were dealt a shock when star man Yudai “Wokka” Ichise abruptly announced a sabbatical from competitive Rainbow Six and Takumi “JJ” Iwasaki returned to the team. Immediately after, in the first match of the season after the break, NR lost 0-2, putting their qualification to the APAC Finals under threat thanks to how close the Japanese Pro League was. Fortunately for them, they rallied and pushed on to qualify, securing the first seed in the process as well.
NORA-Rengo won the Season 8 APAC Finals on home soil
Of course, the team that had beaten them 0-2 was none other than Cyclops Athlete Gaming (CAG). CAG may be an unknown name internationally, and even in the rest of APAC, but they are not to be underestimated at all. Finishing just one point behind NORA-Rengo, they lost one fewer game than their esteemed rivals, but also won one less and drew two more. Had they been able to convert one of those draws into a win, they would have been seeded first instead.
Each member on CAG has been setting the charts afire this season, with the team's best performance coming in their win against NORA-Rengo. None of their members were rated below 1.12, and they had suffocated NR so well that outside of Ryuki “Ramu” Matsuoka, no one had scored above 0.80 on NR's side. While this will be their first time at an APAC LAN, underestimating them could be a fatal mistake for any team in their path.
The Cyclops Athlete Gaming roster
SiegeGG spoke to NORA-Rengo head coach and owner Yasuhiro “kizoku” Nishi and Cyclops Athlete Gaming's Shohma “Shokei” Shiotsuka to talk about their year so far, and their goals for this LAN and beyond:
This season we had five teams on the final play day that could all have easily made it to the APAC LAN. What do you think this speaks about the competitiveness in Japan?
Kizoku:
Shokei:
What does a typical day of practice look like for your teams?
NORA-Rengo got to the semi-finals of the Six Invitational 2019 (via ESPN)
Kizoku:
Shokei:
Who do your teams really wish to avoid at the APAC LAN, and why?
Kizoku:
Shokei:
How do you think APAC can grow further?
Kizoku:
Shokei:
The Season 8 APAC Finals held in Japan saw an extraordinary turnout
Could we see your teams joining Phase 2 of the Pilot Program soon?
Kizoku:
Shokei:
CAG is a very strong team, but this is the first time we will see them at APAC LAN. What can we expect? Kizoku:
Shokei:
To Shokei: Is it going to be intimidating going up against all these far more experienced players and teams at the APAC LAN?
Shokei:
To Kizoku: Let’s address the elephant in the room -- Wokka. How did the rest of the team react to him stepping down, and how has it affected your play?
NORA-Rengo’s former captain, Wokka, before his sabbatical
Kizoku:
To Kizoku: NORA-Rengo, after the Six Invitational 2019, is arguably the most successful APAC team. Have you guys been offered to be signed by other, big organisations?
Kizoku:
Do you have anything to say to your fans, locally and internationally?
Kizoku:
Shokei:
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The Season 9 APAC Finals schedule (graphic generated prior to mantisFPS’ pick up by Cloud9)
Catch all the action from the event from 10AM GMT+10 onwards on the Rainbow6 Twitch and YouTube channels to see which two of the eight teams will be making it to the Pro League Finals in Milan this season.
NORA-Rengo: Ramu, ReyCyil, Papilia, JJ, Merieux, kizoku (Coach)
Cyclops Athlete Gaming: Mocho, BlackRay, Shokei, tetra, Anitun, XQQ (Coach)