Andrew Czysz Jr.
2023-02-06 05:08:00
Since the days of Pro League, the Six Invitational has been the annual championship event for Rainbow Six Esports. Even though the program's format has changed multiple times, the Six Invitational remains in the cards and has been untouched. It is an event that brings the Siege community together to watch the best teams in the world compete on a grand stage. With this in mind, the 2023 Six Invitational is around the corner. Starting on Tuesday, February 7th, twenty teams across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, will compete for the chance to be victorious in the greater Montreal area. Group Stage will be played from February 7th - 11th. Playoffs Part 1 follows between the days of February 13th - 15th. Finally, Playoffs Part 2 takes place February 17th - 19th. Being in the spirit of Six Invitational season, this article will focus on the top 5 highest rated teams with the most points, heading into the event. Before that though, let's take a closer look at what teams will be competing this Tuesday.Teams in 2023 Six Invitational Group Stage As mentioned previously, 20 teams will be a part of the Group Stage. They will be split in 4 groups of 5 where they'll face-off in a single round robin with best of 3 matches. The top 4 teams of each group will advance to the Playoffs. Here is Ubisoft's tweet revealing the teams participating in the event next week:
First, Group A will consist of: Elevate, G2 Esports, KOI, Spacestation Gaming, w7m esports Second, Group B will host: Dire Wolves, MNM Gaming, Soniqs, Team Liquid, and Wolves Esports Third, Group C includes: Astralis, CYCLOPS athelete gaming, LOS + oNe, Oxygen Esports, and Team BDS Finally, Group D has DarkZero Esports, FaZe Clan, Heroic, M80, and Team Secret Ubisoft has also revealed the Group Stage schedule for streams A and B:With all Regional Qualifiers done and dusted, we have our full list of teams attending the #SixInvitational 2023! pic.twitter.com/AaTMzpHC8W
— Rainbow Six Esports (@R6esports) January 30, 2023
Now that each group has been pieced together, we can focus on identifying the top 5 highest rated teams prior to the Six Invitational's commencement.
Beginning with Astralis, they are the second highest ranked North American team, heading in the 2023 Six Invitational.
Astralis, a Danish esports organization founded in January 2016, entered Rainbow Six Siege on September 3, 2021, thanks to acquiring Disrupt Gaming.
In the 2022 season, Astralis garnered 980 points, across a trio of Regional League stages and Six Majors. For Stage 1 of the Regional Leagues for North America, the Danish scored 225 points as a result of a first place finish. The same fate was presented in Stage 2. While a sixth place finish in Stage 3 rounded out Astralis' Regional League play.
Transitioning to Six Majors, Astralis earned 300 points in Charlotte for a 2nd place finish after losing 3-2 to DarkZero Esports, 50 points in Berlin for failing to emerge from groups, and 0 points in Jönköping as they were not present.
Based on their past Regional League and Six Major performances, Astralis will be a team to watch. They could have what it takes to make it out of Group C, in order to reach Playoffs.
Moving down the list, we have DarkZero Esports, the highest ranked North American team, heading in the 2023 Six Invitational.
DarkZero, is an American esports organization that joined Rainbow Six Siege on November 28, 2018. This was made possible thanks to the acquisition of SK Gaming's roster. A formidable component of DZ's roster is Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski.
Canadian is one of the most well respected Siege players in the world. In short, he's known for being only one of six players to win the Six Invitational twice. Once with Continuum in 2017, and with Spacestation Gaming in 2020. Bringing in someone who has experienced playing in high stakes competition helps DZ immensely.
At the halfway point, we have Wolves Esports, the second highest ranked European team, heading in the 2023 Six Invitational.
Wolves Esports, is the esports division of English football team Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wolves joined Rainbow Six Siege on September 3, 2018 after acquiring the roster of Looking for Org (ex - Vitality).
During the 2022 season, Wolves followed a similar path to that of DarkZero, as they mustered up a total of 675 points across all three stages of European League. Specifically, Wolves were able to win stages 2 & 3.
In the Six Charlotte Major, the Wolves earned 105 points for making it to the Group Stage. For the Berlin Major, 165 points were received after making it out of the Group Stage, reaching the quarter-finals, and falling 0-2 to XSet. Finally, Wolves earned another 165 points from the Jönköping Major where they lost 0-2 to Team BDS in the quarter-finals.
Although Wolves Esports did not win or place that high in any of the Majors, they were dominant in league play. Dominance in that department serves to be a reason why they are number 3 on this list.
Confidence gained from league play, will help Wolves immensely as they will seek to do their very best during the Six Invitational.
Descending further, we have Team BDS, the highest ranked European team heading into the 2023 Six Invitational.
Team BDS is a Swiss esports organization that was created on May 30, 2019. On this same day, BDS officially joined competitive Rainbow Six Siege. A notable piece of BDS that has remained since the organizations inception is Stephane "Shaiiko" Lebleu. Although he is not the captain of the ship, Shaiiko is a key piece to BDS' squad, and has one of the most fascinating stories in all of Rainbow Six Esports.
In 2022, Team BDS was a force to be reckoned with, as they collected 1,170 points throughout the season. In Regional League stages 1-3, BDS received a total of 670 points. They were able to win stage 1 and 3, while finishing second in stage 2.
From there, Team BDS also performed well in Six Majors as the season went on. A modest quarter-final placement was in the cards for BDS at the Charlotte Major after losing 0-2 to Oxygen Esports. Following this up, Team BDS was not present for the Berlin Major. However, they would have a turn around and climb atop the competition to win the Six Jönköping Major. November 27, 2022 was the day that Shaiiko would finally get his moment. It was his first win at a Six Major. Fans were ecstatic that Shaiiko and BDS pulled off a huge 3-2 series win over Team Liquid in the Grand Finals.
However, Team BDS and Shaiiko are eyeing an opportunity to have another huge moment. The moment is winning the 2023 Six Invitational.
Only time and Team BDS' performance throughout the 2023 Six Invitational will inform everyone on if Shaiiko can bestow the honor of winning a Six Invitational. Capturing the momentum encapsulated from winning the Jönköping Major will come in handy to make this valiant dream come true.
The final destination to this list comes with w7m esports, the highest rated Brasilerião team heading into the 2023 Six Invitational.
W7M esports formerly known as W7M Gaming, is a Brazilian esports organization owned by the W7M Investments Group. The team was created on March 15, 2017 and joined Rainbow Six esports on May 20, 2020.
Throughout the 2022 season, W7M performed well enough to earn 1,240 points. They are the highest rated team heading into the 2023 Six Invitational based on points earned. Points come from performances in Regional League play and Six Majors.
In dominant fashion, W7M won in all three stages of Brasilerião league play. A combined total of 675 points were earned. This was by far the best performance in Regional League play by any team in 2022.
The only blemish on W7M's 2022 campaign was having a 9th-12th placement in the Charlotte Major, which only granted 105 points. On the contrary though, W7M improved their performance in both the Berlin and Jönköping Majors. A combined 455 points were earned for reaching semis in both.
Since its creation W7M has performed exceptionally well in league play and in Majors. Although, they have not really have had a definitive win to put the scene on notice. Come next week, W7M Esports has a legitimate shot to shock the world and not only make it out of groups, but make a run to win the Six Invitational. However, they will have to get past teams such as Elevate, G2 Esports, and Spacestation Gaming in Group A to succeed.
These were just 5 of the highest rated teams heading into the 2023 Six Invitational. With new teams entering the fray, it will be interesting to see which ones could step up and fight through adversity to advance past groups, and craft a dynamic run in order to eclipse the feeling of victory.