Update 4 (July 3rd):
Six Invitational 2020 caster Tim "AceOfPyrite" Leaver and UK ESL Premiership host and Counter-Strike caster Jack "Jacky" Peters have been confirmed as the English-language casters for the BR6 league, starting today at 1 PM BRT (UTC-3). The games will be broadcast on the official Rainbow6 Twitch and YouTube channels, while any overrunning games from the APAC North Division will be shifted to the Rainbow6Bravo channel.
Update 3 (June 25th):
The BR6 league which will act as the local replacement to the Pro League, will kick off next Thursday (July 2nd) and run games every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday for the following five weeks. The opening games on Thursday will include Team oNe vs W7M Gaming, FURIA vs INTZ and Santos vs Black Dragons. You can read more about each of these teams and the tournament's format here.
The schedule and matchups for the tournament.
The Portuguese language talent for the event has also been revealed as below with no English language coverage currently confirmed:
Narrators:
- André "meligeni" Santos
- Ricardo "qeP" Fugi
Commentators:
- Otávio "Retalha" Ceschi
- Victória "Viic" Rodrigues
Analyst:
- IqueGMK - Brazilian streamer
Presenters:
- Leo Bianchi - Brazilian TV journalist
- Domitila Becker - Brazilian Sports journalist
- Mirelle Moschella - Brazilian TV journalist
Tonello and IntacT also have joined as the Portuguese language talent pool as a narrator and commentator for the Mexican and South American sub-regions.
Update 2 (June 24th):
The second US Division playday has also now been delayed by 24 hours to now take place on Thursday at the same times.
Update (June 24th):
The second European League playday taking place tonight has been postponed by two days:
Original article (June 21st):
With the new format of the R6 esport leagues kicking off tomorrow, he's a comprehensive rundown of everything you need to know including the teams playing, the leagues format, the schedule, talent, prizes and all changes from last season:
Jump to:
- Europe
- North America
- Latin America
- Asia-Pacific
- Prize Pool and Major Points
- Challenger League-Replacements
- Rule Changes
- SiegeGG Caster Predictions
The new regional split. (Image: Ubisoft)
Europe
The European play days take place every Monday and Wednesday, from 18:00 CEST. Each day sees five best-of-one map matches take place as every team plays a game each day as part of a round-robin league. The teams competing are as follows:
G2 Esports -- Pengu, Kantoraketti, UUNO, CTZN, Virtue, Shas[O]Udas and Sua (their two coaches) Natus Vincere -- neLo, Kendrew, Saves, Doki, Panix, jahk and DraZ (their coach and assistant coach) Team Vitality -- Fabian, BiBoo, risze, Goga, Hungry, Lyloun and Helbee (their two coaches) Rogue -- karzheka, LeonGids, AceeZ, korey and ripz Team Secret -- KS, Drvn, Prano, Hife, Exp0, Lazzo, Omerta and Titan (their two coaches and analyst) Team Empire -- ShepparD, JoyStiCK, Always, Scyther, Dan and RayzerGM (their coach) Virtus.pro -- wTg, Rask, Shockwave, p4sh4, Amision, Toda and Andreezy (their coach and analyst) BDS Esport -- BriD, Shaiiko, Renshiro, RaFaLe and Elemzje Tempra Esports -- P4, Shiinka, Chaoxys, Dirza and Voy Chaos Esports Club -- REDGROOVE, Renuilz, VITO, SHA77E, cryn, Hyperino and Fresh (their coach and analyst)
Since last season, the following notable changes have occurred, which you can read about in detail here:
- G2 Esports -- Fresh leaves, Fabian dropped from bench
- Natus Vincere -- DraZ joins as an assistant coach
- Team Vitality -- Affy dropped, Stigi dropped, BriD leaves, Fabian, risze, and Helbee join
- Rogue -- Crapelle steps down, Risze and Hicks leaves, LeonGids and karzheka joins
- Team Empire -- Always joins, karzheka benched
- ForZe -- Roster acquired by Virtus.pro
- Team BDS -- rxwd dropped, BriD signed
- IziDream -- Joined Tempra Esports
- Chaos Esports Club -- Secretly dropped, Syred released, Cryn and Fresh join
Monday's EUL games. (Image: Ubisoft)
Following five weeks of games, the top four will qualify for the European Six Major Regional Finals from the 20th to 23rd of August to crown the Major's European champion.
The games will be cast in English by the names below as well as in Dutch, French, Italian, Polish, and Spanish, as well as in Portuguese, German, and Russian.
The English language casters for the European League. (Image: Ubisoft)
North America
The North American League is split into two sub-regions, the US Division and the Canadian Division.
United States Division
The eight teams below have been split into two double-elimination groups which will play best-of-three maps each Monday and Wednesday, from 18:00 EDT. Following these games, the top two in each group will be seeded into another winners-group, while teams in third and fourth will be seeded into a losers-group, both of which will run another double-elimination format tournament in the same schedule.
The NAL groups. (Image: Ubisoft)
Group A: Spacestation Gaming -- Thinkingnade, Rampy, Bosco, Fultz, Canadian, and Lycan, Sov, and EkuL (their two coaches and analyst) Oxygen Esports -- FoxA, LaXInG, VertcL, Slashug, B1ologic, and HOP3Z and Redeemer (their two coaches) eUnited -- Callout, Forrest, Gryxr, Yeti, Alphama, and Bagel and meepeY (their coach and analyst) Disrupt Gaming -- Nyx, Read, Retro, Shuttle, and njr
Group B: Team SoloMid -- Achieved, Beaulo, Merc, Geoometrics, Chala, and Pojoman and Daeda (their coach and analyst) DarkZero Esports -- Mint, HotanCold, Hyper, Skys, Ecl9pse, and BC and eCentral (their coach and analyst) Tempo Storm -- Creators, Dream, Krazy, Sloppy, MarkTheShark, and KenZ and DnA (their coach and analyst) Susquehanna Soniqs -- Supr, Gomfi, SlebbeN, Easilyy, Iconic, and Jobro (their coach)
Since last season, the following notable changes have occurred, which you can read about in detail here:
- Team Reciprocity -- Roster joins Oxygen Esports
- eUnited -- Bugs dropped, meepeY joins
- Disrupt Gaming -- Organisation joins the NA League, Nyx, Shuttle, Retro, Read, and Drip join, Drip dropped, njr joins
- Team SoloMid -- Pojoman moves to coaching, Chala joins
- Tempo Storm -- Butterzz leaves
- Susquehanna Soniqs -- NeptuneZ leaves, team confirmed to join the NA League, Iconic joins, jobro moves to head coach
- Evil Geniuses -- Organisation drops lineup, team loses Pro League spot, team disbands
- Luminosity Gaming -- Organisation drops lineup, team loses Pro League spot, team disbands
The new NAL schedule
From here, fourth place from the winners-group meets first and second from the losers-group and the victor of the Canadian Division in the Regional Qualifiers. The winner of this qualifier joins the top three from the winners-group in the North American Six Major Regional Finals from the 14th to 16th of August.
The games will be cast in English by the following talent:
The English language North American League talent. (Image: Ubisoft)
The opening games will be:
- Team SoloMid vs Tempo Storm on Monday at 18:00 EDT
- Spacestation Gaming vs eUnited on Monday at 21:30 EDT
- Oxygen Esports vs Disrupt Gaming on Wednesday at 18:00 EDT
- Susquehanna Soniqs vs DarkZero Esports on Wednesday at 21:30 EDT
Canadian Division
The Canadian Division teams below play in a best-of-three map tournament each Friday, from 18:00 EDT. You can learn more about each team via this article.
Nordik Esports -- Bosak, S4, Stormz, LakQii, Skvz, oGrievous and Fame (their coach and analyst) The North -- Zigalo, OmegaProject, Spektrum, Coughee and RowdyOwly Mirage -- Flynn, NotLoading, zilchy, Silent, Quartzy and Forceful (their coach) Squires -- SzymaTwo, Misio, Guns, DotDash and Spiritz
The games are cast by the same talent as the US Division. At the end of the league, the team with the most points progresses on to play in the Regional Finals against three US Division teams and, should they win that, further on to the North American Six Major Regional Finals as well.
Latin America
The LATAM region has been split into three regions, Brazil, Mexico, and South America:
Brasileirão 2020
The ten Brazilian teams below will play every Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday in a Double Round-Robin, Best-of-Two map league. After five weeks, the top four teams progress straight on to the Brazilian Six Major Sub-Regional Finals tournament from the 7th to 9th of August to effectively crown the Stage 1 Brazilian champions.
Team Liquid -- nesk, xS3xyCake, Paluh, psk1, HSnamuringa, and Silence and Sensi (their two coaches) FaZe Clan -- Astro, mav, yoona, ion, live, and Ramalho and Sn4rFx (their two coaches) Ninjas in Pyjamas -- Kamikaze, Psycho, julio, Muzi, and pino INTZ -- Dudds, Vnx, DRUNKKZZ, Vittzzz, Alem4o, and JP and igoor (their coach and analyst) MIBR -- Cyb3r, Bullet1, MKing, cameram4n, soulz1, and Guille (their coach) Black Dragons e-Sports -- pzd, hugzord, Hornetao, Lagonis, Patoxy, and sSeiiya (their coach) Team oNe eSports -- reduct, Faallz, LuKid, Rappz, FelipoX, and Budega and Vivas (their coach and analyst) FURIA Esports -- Bersa, Miracle, BmH, fredQx, h1ghs, and Twister and TchubZ (their two coaches) W7M Gaming -- panico, freezao, Guii, pdr1n, HerdsZ, and Abreu (their coach) Santos e-Sports -- Mity, SKaDinha, DoDo, cypriSs, Hellraiser, and Rovida (their coach)
Since last season the following notable changes below have occurred which you can read about here:
- FaZe Clan -- Ramalho joins as Head Coach
- MIBR -- Novys leaves, soulz1 joins
- Black Dragons -- wag leaves, Patoxy joins
- Team oNe eSports -- Roster leaves the organisation, rejoins organisation, Rappz replaces SKaDinha
- FURIA Esports -- Twister joins as head coach
- N/A ORG -- Roster joins W7M Gaming
- ORGLESS BR -- yangiii leaves, Santos e-Sports signs roster and adds SKaDinha
The Portuguese language coverage. The days translate to Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (Image: Ubisoft)
While not officially announced, the games will likely be cast in Portuguese by the usual names of Retalha, Meligeni, qeP, and Viic, with no English language talent confirmed of yet.
Campeonato Mexicano 2020
A best-of-two map round-robin format tournament will take place every Saturday and Sunday with the seven teams below in the Mexican sub-region. Following the end of the season, the top two teams will face off in the Mexican Six Major Sub-Regional Finals tournament also on August 7-9th to effectively crown the Stage 1 Mexican champions. You can learn more about the teams here.
Atheris Esports -- Gabo, Guicho, AlanDerf, Kef, Lua, and Royz (their coach) Timbers Esports -- Vector, Biz, Navy, Puji2, Raven, Morphed, and Thumperr and FBK (their two coaches) MeT -- Rubyz, TenseK, Ravz, Hydre, Irving, Vanity, and Hunterkash (their coach) Pixel Esports Club -- Ravellion, BOPE, Olimpo, Slaay, Mirele,s and EzPz (their coach) Estral Esports -- XigmaZ, SkMzY, Toski, P1XIE, Fungi, JPR, and GOKU (their coach) Chivas eSports -- Cerberus, BOBi, Harry, Luxor, Xploidz, and Physicz (their coach) Infinity Academy -- ScR, Fuyobii, Victory, Atlas, Dark, and Mani3 (their coach)
The schedule of tournaments in the LATAM sub-region. (Image: Ubisoft)
All games will definitely be covered in Spanish and Portuguese however the casters and any other languages covered have yet to be confirmed.
Campeonato Sudamericano 2020
Finally, we have the South American Championship (also referred to as LATAM South) which mimics the Mexican format with a Best-of-Two round-robin format tournament taking place every Friday and Saturday. Unlike the Mexican format, however, there are no Six Major regional finals with the league's victor taking the sole points and prize money for the stage. You can learn more about the teams here.
9z Team -- denike, TomHagen, Skillz, zeta, Jager and RICK (their coach) Coscu Army -- wikS, Pechito, NesT, shoxo, f0rb1 and Novag3x (their coach) Furious Gaming -- Yekko, Dauert, DirTy, PretzL, SUPREMAA LBS Esports -- DarthYayo, DaKrozz, FlyKer, PepunY, el_barto, Sp3ct and SnowY (their coach) Malvinas Gaming -- Ragn4r, Prede, Patan, Soco, Chainaa, D4riolos Nocturns Gaming -- Masher7, HazeldorF, AtlaS, Kraften, Cueva and xChugo (their coach) Azules Esports -- Elmuza, Elozo, Tucu, Nefu, Tilarian, L4ZinG Infamous Gaming -- Nic00, Lautixs96, kurt, xChiLeaaN, Luimica, Smack1 and OneTap (their coach)
The games will be cast by the same talent covering the Mexican league, however it will not kick off till July 3rd.
Asia-Pacific
The APAC region has been split into two as well, simply named APAC North and APAC South.
The regional split. (Image: Ubisoft)
APAC North
The following 12 teams will play in two five-game best-of-one map swiss-style tournament, which adds up into one standings table. After the 10 games, the top six teams progress on to the APAC North Six Major regional tournament on August 3-9th to crown the top team in the region.
Fnatic -- Magnet, Lusty, MentalistC, Tex, Stigs, Acez, Dizzle (head coach) and Crapelle (strategic coach) NORA-Rengo -- Merieux, Papilia, YoshiNNGO, SouLBoi, Simotuki, Ar7hur (coach) and Jinku (analyst) CYCLOPS athlete gaming -- Anitun, SuzuC, gatorada, BlackRay, Ayagator, Zexia (substitute) and XQQ (coach) GUTS Gaming -- CrazyPapiyoN, Lily, JJ, Li9ht, Yura, and Cloud (coach) FAV gaming -- Taipon, Afro, ShiN, ChloroForM, shu, ZAKO (substitute), OdeNMiso (coach) and Tatsukin (analyst) Giants Gaming -- Lunarmetal, HysteRiX, Ysaera, jrdn, SpeakEasy, Histoire (substitute) and GiG (coach) Qconfirm -- HealthcareOG, Producerboom, Lycolis, Hajime, Funleks, and Tanler (coach) Xavier Esports -- redsun, Nay..Pew, Scatman, DCH, sprOnigiri, WARBARK, Roldinii (their two substitutes) and Bestsiaer (their coach) Electrify Esports -- Flash, Souffle, Ace, Ray, Pika, Sino, and Ed Cloud9 -- EnvyTaylor, SweetBlack, Nova, Harp3r, SyAIL, RechoTZ (coach), and OniChan (assistant coach) Talon Esports -- EGG, BD, Tomorrow, LabyRinth, PmW, and Sunbi (coach) SCARZ -- Demic, iLeven, yass, Kanos, Revi, and Hybrid (coach)
Since last season the following notable changes below have occurred which you can read about here:
- Fnatic - Stigs and Crapelle join
- NORA-Rengo - ReyCyil leaves, Simotuki and Jinku join
- FAV Gaming - Shu and ZAKO leave, No2 and Nata signed
- Team Notorious - Joins Electrify Esports after rebranding to 7th Heaven
The league's opening games. After the first play day matchups are determined by the team's win-loss record. (Image: Ubisoft)
The games will be cast by the same talent pool covering the European games as well as in Portuguese, Japanese and Korean, making this season the first time we'll see the English coverage of the Korean and Japanese teams outside of Season 6 and APAC LAN or cross-regional events.
The English language APAC North talent. (Image: Ubisoft)
APAC South
APAC South has also been split into two sub-regions; Oceania, consisting of Australia, New Zealand and over 20 island nations and territories, and South Asia, consisting of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
Oceanic Nationals:
While few details have been confirmed for the tournament, it will likely include the following teams who took part in the ongoing Six Masters Oceanic tournament:
Wildcard Gaming -- EmoRin, Ethan, Diesel, Gio, Pat, and Fluxx and syliX (their two coaches) Team SiNister -- Nikoh, Vincere, Fishoguy, Milostka, Derpeh, and Sirrom (their coach) Ōkami -- JackDaddy, Cutie, Mangoz, ItBeStyle, JKR, and Centus (their coach) Pittsburgh Knights -- Dino, Hayward, StryderEpic, Juicy, Jsh, Arlo, and Pikniq (their coach) LFO -- AngMoh, Hills, Mimini333, Nasty, Soggz, and Enigma (their coach) Team Ferox -- Warden, Deptra, Shade, Sushi, and Todd Elevate -- Vast, Redd, GodLeg1on, Dgtl, Worthy, and Sinnix and WarTurtle (their coach and analyst) Kanga Esports -- Lebb, Spruce, Campo, Boats, Novaix, and Yoshie (their coach)
At the end of the league, the top three teams will compete in the Oceanic Six Major Sub-Regional Finals tournament, also from the 3rd to 9th of August, to be crowned the sub-regional champions.
The casters will likely be the same names covering the Six Masters tournament -- Guzz, Raven, and Zenox -- however, this hasn't been confirmed.
The two South APAC leagues. (Image: Ubisoft)
South Asia Nationals:
While little has been confirmed as of yet, four single-elimination open qualifiers will take place over the next few weeks, with the top two in each making it South Asia Playoffs. The top four in these playoffs will qualify for their own Six Major Sub-Regional tournaments also on August 3-9th.
Prize Pool and Major Points
Each region will have an approximately $60,000 regular season prize pool split between the teams in the regular seasons. The exact amounts for Latin America and Asia Pacific have yet to be confirmed, while the European League is a total of €50,000 ($56,000) this stage. The North American League, meanwhile, will have $50,000 (€45,000) for the US Division and $20,000 (€18,000) for the CA Division (totalling $70,000/€63,00) split up as follows:
US Division / CA Division:
- 1st Place: $15,000 / $8,000
- 2nd Place: $8,000 / $4,800
- 3rd Place: $7,000 / $4,000
- 4th Place: $6,000 / $3,200
- 5th Place: $5,000
- 6th Place: $4,000
- 7th Place: $3,000
- 8th Place: $2,000
The first Six Major August 2020 graphic. (Image: Ubisoft)
On top of this, with the Six Major in August being moved online and being replaced by seven separate regional tournaments -- Europe, North America, APAC North, Oceania, South Asia, Brazil, and Mexico -- rather than one international event, the distribution of the Six Major prize pool and Six Invitational points have been changed to be as follows:
Six Major Prize Pools and Points Distribution:
These numbers are all on top of the previously mentioned approximately $60,000 regular season prize pools:
Europe and North America:
- 1st place: $62,500 and 510 points
- 2nd place: $31,250 and 390 points
- 3rd place: $18,750 and 330 points
- 4th place: $12,500 and 275 points
- 5th place: 225 points
- 6th place: 180 points
- 7th place: 140 points
- 8th place: 115 points
Brazil:
- 1st place: $50,000 and 510 points
- 2nd place: $25,000 and 390 points
- 3rd place: $15,000 and 330 points
- 4th place: $10,000 and 275 points
- 5th place: 180 points
Brazil's top team at the Six Invitational, Ninjas in Pyjamas.
Mexico:
- 1st place: $10,000 and 225 points
- 2nd place: $7,000 and 140 points
South America:
- 1st place: $8,000 and 115 points
North Division:
- 1st place: $25,600 and 510 points
- 2nd place: $16,800 and 390 points
- 3rd place: $12,800 and 225 points
- 4th place: $10,400 and 180 points
- 5th place: $8,000 and 140 points
- 6th place: $6,400 and 115 points
Oceania:
- 1st place: $15,000 and 330 points
- 2nd place: $9,000
- 3rd place: $6,000
The Oceanic team of Wildcard Gaming at the Season 10 Finals.
South Asia:
- 1st place: $7,500 and 275 points
- 2nd place: $3,750
- 3rd place: $2,250
- 4th place: $1,500
Challenger League-Replacements
Also kicking off over the next few weeks are tournaments across each region which act secondary to the ones listed above. The winner of each of these will face off against the bottom placed team in each region in the Regional Finals event planned for November and December, with the victor taking the spot in the primary league. Each region has wildly different formats for the tournaments, as shown below:
Europe
The winner of nine national leagues below joins PENTA, LowLandLions, and one open qualified team in the FACEIT 2020 Challenger League tournament, kicking off during Stage 2. The two teams of forZe and Sector One have already earnt eant their spots by being the top non-Challenger or EU League team in the Russian Major League and Benelux League.
- PENTA -- ENEMY, RevaN, BlaZ, Kaktus, Alive, Janixs and BiOs (their substitute and coach)
- LowLandLions -- Leonski, Avaiche, Deapek, Next1, blas, Sternab and Phenomene (their coach and analyst)
- forZe -- SmashByAsh, Leri, eXoduSS, ViKiNG and Neky
- Sector One -- WishMaster, MXKX, SE7EN, BaasheD, Duco, HughesDS, Darjetii and Okidokie98 (their substitute, coach and analyst)
- GSA Nationals -- Supporting the nations of Germany, Switzerland and Austria
- 6 French League -- Supporting France and French-speaking Europeans
- Nordic Championship -- Supporting Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden
- UK & Ireland Nationals -- Supporting the UK and Ireland
- Spain Nationals -- Supporting Spain
- PG Nationals -- Supporting Italy
- Polish Masters -- Supporting Poland
- One Open-Qualified Team
The feeder format for the EU Challenger League.
These teams will be first divided into two groups of six teams each. Similar to the top-flight league, each group will play each other once in a round-robin, best-of-one map format, with the top four teams (top two in each group) advancing on to the Challenger League Playoffs. Here, these four will fight it out to become one of the two teams headed to the Relegations Playoffs at the Regional Finals in December.
North America
Two stages of the Challenger League in the US and CA Divisions will be played alongside the North American League every Friday following the Canadian Division games. Both Divisions see the teams below be split into two double-elimination groups of four each. After playing through these groups for five weeks, the winners of each will face off to determine the first and second place for Stage One of the 2020 Challenger League.
The winner of this stage doesn't directly contribute to who will face off for the promotion spot to the 2021 North American league, however, but instead seeds the more crucial Stage 2 of the Challenger League, making this second stage more important to perform in.
US Division Challenger League Teams:
The Last Dance -- Factor, Yung, Brainbow, Spades, and Kilo Bruh -- Phozzo, AnthonyMGS, Rooty, Jaay, and SippinOnOJ Joe Esports -- Rethinkin, Whimpy, Prophecy, J9O, Bexstly, and caleb (their coach) RentFree -- Benjimoola, Tomas, Rexen, Filthy, Drip, and Brycer and DrewSpark (their coach and analyst) Spiker GG -- Takeoff, Toon, Mada, PrayK47, and yungalec The Oblation -- Inryo, Gity, GuyOnaBear, Razorr, and Vivid PogChamp -- Trippen, Sweater, Jarvis, Prod, and GhxsT The Favelas -- Jolten, DiasLucasBr, Thumbus, Aero, and KyNo
(Image: Ubisoft)
CA Division Challenger League Teams:
Team Rose -- Pyrex, Boomski, KindaFrostyy, Cabal, Bacca, and Domo (their coach) Les Cornets -- DwnSHFT, joeeee, LsG, twist, and Stealyo Oceanus Gaming -- Phoenixdeath, Exod, Japanadian1, DarkN, and Kybbs Axios -- SnCAshes, BigSekzy, XChallengerX, Veross, and high_amp Honor Esports -- Pox, Wolfzies, Maple, TaC, and Envision Team Madness -- Roster to be confirmed Valors -- London, Toasty, TG1ng, Prophet, and w9s AcaRa Gaming -- Bushidobudo, Perry, kezziC, Schultzy9, and BOOM TOWN
The prize pools for these leagues have also been announced to be $27,000 for the US Division and $9,000 for the CA Division, split up as follows:
US Division / CA Division:
- 1st Place: $8,100 / $2,700
- 2nd Place: $4,300 / $1,400
- 3rd Place: $3,800 / $1,300
- 4th Place: $3,200 / $1,100
- 5th Place: $2,700 / $900
- 6th Place: $2,200 / $800
- 7th Place: $1,600 / $500
- 8th Place: $1,100 / $400
Latin America
All three sub-regions -- Brazil, Mexico and South America -- see one Liga Six tournament take place per month per region, each of which gives points to the top 32 teams. After three months of tournaments -- in May, June and July -- the top eight teams by points qualify for the Séries B Challenger League tournament in September.
This tournament sees a similar format as North America, with the eight teams split into two groups of four in which they play a round-robin tournament. The top two in each group qualifies for the Séries B playoffs, of which the winner attends the Regional Finals in December for a spot in the primary tournament. The Brazilian and Mexican relegation matches are both planned to be LAN events in São Paulo and Mexico City, while the South American relegation game is online.
With the first of three Liga Six tournaments done, these are the leading teams in each region:
Brazil:
- Team Singularity -- LENDA, rhZ, Levy, KDS, and KingSt4r
- 28 anos -- Barbieri, KURTZ, Maiaaa, Alpha, and yangotox
- Uniao Flasco --Kacabello, ASK1, TONIOZNKZ, Florioo, MAGO777, TH-Wizard, hermS-, and iTravellz
- Looking4ORG -- Neskin-, ESCHERR, Ghostxv-, PPWSDURIN, ZaaK-, and deadzap1
Mexico:
- TalenT E-Sports -- zRxan, ImChrixs, Rovi-, aAztaroth, and Akibxxl1
- OverKnight R6 -- DraabG, LarztQ, Xyro, Libe, and Kcire2100
- STORM -- Fiirus, Ricto_, GonnaESG, GladiuZzz, and ClericiESG Panda gaming -- Hoddgins, Geo1203, NeegoPG, CLIPER6, and AlanLeal591
South America:
- CA Academy -- nktr6, PePeZ, WeTzz, AlpacaRefuge, and LeaSSJ
- Blues Academy -- blk9, L4ZinG, elshadow, Retterzinho, and DelBa
- RusherX -- MrPopperr, NukeRXG, LucyDesu, Serchocha199, and Almanza33 Catch2 Gaming -- Mit05, HitanY7, Nutrilovich, Noobsinho, and RodMicro0zu
Asia Pacific
Finally, while the APAC South Challenger League replacement tournaments have not been announced, the APAC North sub-region has a very different relegation format in order to ensure representation from every major nation.
This somewhat confusing format is best explained with an example: if the bottom four teams in the league is made up of two Korean teams, one Japanese team and one South-East Asian team, the winner of the 2020 Japan Nationals will face the Japanese team in the bottom four, the winner of the 2020 Korean Open will face the Korean team in the bottom four, and the winner of the Operation League Playoffs will play the SEA team in the bottom four, with the winner of each qualifying for APAC North in 2021.
No matter the nationality of the fourth team, they will face the runner-up from whichever sub-region has the least number of teams in the top eight (so if there's only one Korean team in the top eight they will play the Korean runners-up).
When referring to the "Japan Nationals victor" for instance, just like with the EU Nationals, this means the top team not already competing in APAC North. For the SEA region, each of the nations will run their own "Operation League" national tournament with the victors of each meeting in a regional playoff -- it is the winner of this playoff that will be offered the chance to play for an APAC North spot.
And, finally, it is currently unclear what will happen in the very unlikely scenario that Fnatic ends in the bottom four, as they don't strictly fit in the three sub-regions that make up APAC North.
Japan and Korea will have straightforward Nationals tournaments, while it seems SEA will have feeder Operation Leagues.
This effectively means there is no "Challenger League" tournament in the Asia Pacific region, with the national tournaments instead acting as the path to the North Division. This format ensures at least one team from each of the old sub-regions -- South Korea, Japan, and South-East Asia -- remains in the North Division no matter what.
At the moment, the first of two seasons of the Japan Nationals have finished, with the NORA-Rengo NRG national team taking the title, while the Korean Open Summer Season is set to kick off on July 11th with a currently unconfirmed format or team lineup. The last season of the Operation League tournaments only just ended, with no word on the next seasons of yet.
Nora-Rengo J -- Shift, iZRO, VaNiSh, solty and Window
Rule Changes
Cosmetic Rules - A long-awaited change, the North American League has moved to a whitelist format (previously using a blacklist), where all skins are banned with the exception of a select few. Aside from the default skins, the only allowed uniforms and headgear are Pilot program skins (Phases 1, 2, and future phase 3 skins) and Pro League 'Gold' sets. Weapon skins and charms are unaffected by this rule.
Operator Pool - As expected, Iana and Oryx will be allowed for the upcoming seasons while the two newly released operators of Melusi and Ace are in quarantine.
Map Pool - the official map pool for at least the next three months will be:
- Coastline
- Kafe Dostoyevsky
- Clubhouse
- Consulate
- Villa
- Theme Park
- Oregon
This sees the change of the newly changed Oregon map replacing Border in the pool, which you can read about here.
The new map pool. (Image: Ubisoft)
SiegeGG Caster Predictions
In order to expand the caster pool taking part and create a bit of rivalry between the casters, we've paired the casters up together and added a number of new faces to the lineup to make the following pairs:
- Hap and Geo
- Scok and FuriouSG
- AlexPolo and Verdi
- Stoax and Velly
- Jesse Chick and Uzumaki
- Devmarta and Jess
- Frieda and Tomozo
- Meligeni and foxtrot
- Viic and qeP
Each week, each pair will submit a single prediction of that week's BR6, USPL, EUL, and APAC North games to go on the weekly graphic, and to be scored in an ongoing leaderboard throughout the first stage of the upcoming season between June to August.
Stoax, Flynn, Interro, BLU, Velly, mzo and KiX at the Raleigh Major.
Due to the vastly different number of games each region has per stage, scoring the tournament with one point per correct prediction would hugely benefit the LATAM and APAC experts as those leagues would offer the most amount of points.
Due to this, the regions will be standardised when scoring with your correct predictions, earning you a maximum of 100 points per region throughout the regular seasons of each stage. This is to ensure whoever's leading the standings in the Caster Predictions is the top predictor when looking across all regions, and not highly specialised in those regions with more games.
Furthermore, as the APAC North matchups on Thursday aren't determined till after the Tuesday results are known, we won't be releasing predictions for the Thursday games. This is as the such short notice is bound to cause issues and it would be unfair if predictions are unable to be submitted due to the time constraint.
Because of this:
- A correct North American League prediction is worth 4.76 points (as there are 21 predictions in total)
- Four GSL-style groups at five games each, totalling 20 games plus the Regional qualifier victor.
- A correct APAC North prediction is worth 3.33 points (as there are 30 Predictions in total)
- Every team plays 10 games a season in a Swiss-format totalling 60 but only one playday a week will be predicted, resulting in 30 games for predictions.
- A correct EU League prediction is worth 2.22 points (as there are 45 games in total)
- 10 teams play each other once in a single round-robin format, totalling 45 games.
- A correct Latin American League prediction is worth 2.22 points (as there are 45 predictions in total)
- Every team plays each in what's effectively a Bo2 round-robin format totalling 45 games.
Flynn at the 2018 US Nationals.
The top-performing pair at the end of the season will join the previous victors of:
- Season 9 Online - Hap
- Season 9 Finals - Velly, toldersma, and Demo
- Raleigh Major - LuKid
- Season 10 Online - SiegeGG Rankings
- Season 10 Finals - Uzumaki and SummerRain
- Six Invitational 2020 - FuriouSG
- Season 11 Online - Flynn
Due to Flynn now playing in the favourites to win the Canadian Division, we opted not to include him in this upcoming season to avoid the situation where he'd be predicting his own match results. Nevertheless, with nine new faces joining the competition and with the predictions including five ex-champions (Hap, Velly, SiegeGG, Uzumaki and FuriouSG), it is bound to be a tight competition.
Keep an eye out here at SiegeGG for more updates, results and statistics for the above leagues when they kick-off over the next week.