This is it. The Grand Finals of the 2019 Six Invitational, the last day of this weekend’s Rainbow Six Siege major tournament. I think it’s safe to say that we are seeing a somewhat unexpected group make it to the final stage.
All-Star Game
Before we get to the grand finale, the best from the eliminated teams will compete in the all-star game. All-Star West included players from Spacestation Gaming, Team Reciprocity, FaZe Clan, and Team Liquid. On the other side All-Star East with players from PET Nora-Rengo, Penta, LeStream Esports, and Fnatic. Here is the full roster for each All-Star team:
Team East:
- Enemy (Penta)
- UUNO (LeStream Esports)
- Magnet (Fnatic)
- Acez (Fnatic)
- Wokka (PET Nora-Rengo)
- Coach kizoku (PET Nora-Rengo)
Team West:
- Rampy (Spacestation Gaming)
- FoxA (Reciprocity)
- Astro (FaZe Clan)
- Nesk (Team Liquid)
- Paluh (Team Liquid)
- Coach Ranger (Rogue)
We can talk about what happened during the All-Star Game but the important thing here is that all these players are having loads of fun. There were some serious matches but you can tell the teams are here to entertain. All-Star East doesn’t have their headsets on, confident they can win without it. Heck, there was a point when both teams went outside Kafe to have a knife fight.
It is no surprise that PET Nora-Rengo got the biggest pop when they were mentioned in the beginning. There were a lot of people rooting for them to make it to the Grand Finals but were eliminated by Russia’s Team Empire. A great moment for fans was when kizoku, Nora-Rengo’s coach subbed himself into the fight leading to cheers across the arena.
The All-Star match did end up going to overtime. It didn’t need to be but the shenanigans on-screen was really great. All-Star West were technically the winners. I like to think everyone at Place Bell were winners. Everyone was having fun which is great to see, especially right before the most important game of the tournament.
G2 Esports vs. Team Empire
G2 Esports and Team Empire have had quite the journey throughout the 2019 Six Invitational. G2 has been dominating but had a pretty solid matchup in the first round against Spacestation Gaming. While Team Reciprocity was able to defeat favorite Evil Geniuses, they could not take out G2 as they got stomped advancing the German team to the Grand Finals.
Team Empire has had quite the climb. In close matchups with both Team Liquid and crowd favorite PET Nora-Rengo, Empire was able to defeat both. They are the underdog in this tournament and will have to really step up their game if they want to defeat G2, arguably the best team in Rainbow Six Siege esports.
Unlike the previous two days, the Grand Finals is a best-of-five series; the first team to take even rounds takes the map. As part of the map veto, Villa and Consulate we taken out of the mix which means Coastline, Border, Bank, Oregon, and Clubhouse. Banning stage saw Dokkaebi, Glaz, Mira, and Jager get the hammer. This is pretty expected and can be chalked up as comfort bans for both squads.
If I were a betting man, I would have put my money on G2 winning 2-0. After that first map, I’m not so sure. This was the longest match of Rainbow Six Siege in the professional circuit. Going 22 rounds, Team Empire definitely showed that they can keep up with the best. Although there were some incredibly close matches with potentially clutch moments for both teams, there were also times when G2 and Empire were able to sweep their competition. This match was engaging throughout but G2 came out on top taking the first map.
Now that the longest match known to mankind finally finished, G2 put on the performance that was probably expected of them in the first place. We see Operator bans for Ash, Montagne, Mira, and Jager. Ash is definitely a reactionary ban from the last match where Mira and Jager are comfort bans.
It looked close in the first round but G2 won easily in round 2, winning 2-0. Empire managed to take a map but G2 goes back to their hot streak leading 5-1. A tight game between the two teams looked as if G2’s Pengu could maybe pull off a clutch play but Empire took the round bringing the match to 5-2. This seemed to give Empire the confidence to make a small comeback winning the next match by just sticking to the objective. That streak didn’t last long as G2 was able to pick up two more wins leading to another map win with a final score of 7-4.
The third and final match was a landslide. After only one round win from Empire, G2 showed that they are the best around by winning seven in a row winning the Six Invitational. This makes G2 the first team to ever be World Champions for two years in a row.
Don’t let the 3-0 score fool you. Team Empire did an unexpectedly phenomenal job against G2 Esports. The Russian squad is now part of Rainbow Six Siege history not only as a Grand Finals participant but also as one of the teams that had the longest match in the history of professional Rainbow Six Siege. With that being said, G2’s win was expected and they will be taking home the cool hammer trophy, as well as that large cash prize.
Winner: G2 Esports def. Team Empire (3-0)
That puts an end to the 2019 Six Invitational. If you missed it during the stream, Ubisoft’s Year 4 plans for Rainbow Six Siege have been unveiled. You can also check out our preview coverage of the upcoming Year 4 Season 1 update, Operation: Burnt Horizon. The new update will introduce two brand new Operators, as well as a new map.
Rainbow Six Siege is available now for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
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