The first and only super week of the European League stage started yesterday, as play day six of nine took place. With the tournament nearing its close, here is how things turned out:
- Team BDS 7 - 5 TT9 Esports
- MNM Gaming 7 - 4 Team Secret
- Wolves Esports 7 - 4 Heroic
- Rogue 7 - 5 Outsiders
- Natus Vincere 7 - 0 G2 Esports
Play of the day: m1loN 1v3 quad-kill
While Kayak, Leadr, dan, Cryn, Spoit, and Solotov all also secured quadruple kills of their own, it was m1loN’s quadruple kill that was the most impressive, as it included a 1v3 clutch.
Deapek, Kantoraketti, and Spoit ran into his sightline as he defended above the planted defuser after having previously dispatched LeonGids earlier in the round.
Player of the day: Kayak
A 2.23 SiegeGG Rating was earned by Kayak against his ex-teammates on G2 Esports. This is the highest Siegegg Rating across the world so far in Stage 3, as he secured 10 kills without a death in the 7-0 demolition of G2.
This included a quadruple kill on round one, a 1v1 clutch on round five, and a triple kill on round seven to end the game.
Surprise of the day: G2 Esports
G2’s 0-7 loss to NAVI was the single worst result in the organization’s Rainbow Six history.
Previously, G2 has lost 1-7 on five occasions -- three times against BDS and twice against Rogue. This is the first time a best-of-one has not seen a single round go G2’s way in the four years since the organization entered the scene.
They had lost 0-7 twice before, as part of a best-of-three at DreamHack Montreal 2019 against Team Liquid and against Team Reciprocity at SI 2020, as well as a 0-6 against Mock-it at the Paris Major -- the organization’s debut game. Nevertheless, G2 went on to beat Mock-it and Rec and won a map versus Liquid, making yesterday’s result worse overall.
While the team did manage to recover from an embarrassing 1-7 loss during Stage 2, G2 now need to beat MNM, BDS, and Outsiders to make it to their third Six Major of the year.
Top moments of the day
Here's a quickfire rundown of other top moments in the EUL yesterday.
Rogue qualifies for SI 2023
The reigning Six Major champions have locked in a spot at the Six Invitational, becoming the sixth roster to do so alongside w7m, XSET, OxG, Astralis, and DarkZero.
With a title this year already and the lead of the hyper-competitive European League this stage, they’re likely leading the pack as the Six Invitational favourites.
As it stands, Europe could have up to seven teams at the Six Invitational, which would be a new record for the region.
Alongside Rogue, G2 Esports would likely qualify even if they fail to win any points in Stage 3, while Wolves only need a mid-table finish. BDS and MNM likely need a top-five finish, while Heroic probably need to qualify for the Six Major. Finally, there will be one open qualifier spot available, which Challenger League rosters could be favourites to win.
TT9 almost win first point of the stage
With a 0-0-0-6 record to their name, a matchup against BDS seemed like an impossible task. Nevertheless, they almost did it.
A 1v3 clutch from wTg began the game, before Renshiro got a 1v2 of his own in round two. The two teams remained neck-and-neck all the way through to 5-5. TT9 needed just one more round to win their first points under the new British organization, but they squandered the opportunity again.
A very slow attack by TT9 on round 11, in which there were still 10 men up with 12 seconds to go, was followed up by a triple kill from LikEfac on round 12. Despite wTg earning a 1.50 SiegeGG Rating, it wasn’t enough.
This is now TT9’s fourth game out of six to end in a 5-7 result, as they have missed out against MNM, Heroic, NAVI, and BDS. They will play a Russian derby later this week, while their final game of the stage comes against ninth-placed Team Secret -- their best chance to finally net a point.
Major spots draw near
In Stage 2, fifth place in the European League under this points system had 15 points, while in the four other stages it was just 14.
Three teams in the EUL could still pass the 14 mark -- Rogue, Wolves, and BDS -- while MNM could tie it. While they wouldn’t be mathematically locked in for the Major, it would be all but confirmed should the former three win their games. Rogue and Wolves will be facing each other, however, complicating matters.
Rogue can also mathematically lock in a Six Jönköping Major spot should they win all three points against Wolves and both NAVI and Heroic win zero against BDS and Secret, respectively. This latter result is the most unlikely, however.
Always almost pulls of an Echo 1v3
Rogue managed to kill off two Yokai drones in the matter of two seconds to stop a plant denial from Always on Echo, with zero seconds remaining.
If he had achieved this, it would have been a 1v3 clutch and would have likely caused the game to go to overtime, as it eventually concluded 7-5 to Rogue. An overtime result would have stopped Rogue from locking in SI qualification this week and could have pushed them down from first to third place.
Standings so far:
As it stands, TT9 are mathematically ruled out of the Major race while Outsiders, G2, and Secret could see their chances end this week should they lose their games.
Short of a drastic fall in performance, it seems like Rogue, Wolves, and BDS will make it through, and there’ll be a three-way fight for fourth. But, there are still two more weeks to go and things could well change.
