ESL has announced it will reveal the final 2020 Rainbow Six Invitational invite this Wednesday. With a whole globe of teams to choose from, ESL will have to decide who’s in and out. Rainbow Six Siege fans have fiercely debated over who’s worthy enough to grace the stage in Montreal. Here’s a case for four teams – one from each region – that could fill the final Six Invitational invite slot.

G2 Esports – Europe

G2 Esports is arguably one of the most controversial picks ESL could make for the Six Invitational invite slot. The main core of Fabian “Fabian” Hallsten, Juhani, “Kantoraketti” Toivonen and Niclas “Pengu” Mouritzen are some of the most successful players in Siege esports. The trio are back-to-back Six Invitational champs, winning in 2018 and 2019 with Penta Esports and G2 respectively. The team hit the ground running when G2 entered pro Siege in late 2018, winning four major LANs.

However, G2 esports started to stumble in late 2019. Disappointing showings at Dreamhack Montreal 2019 and at the OGA Pit Season 3 finals left them without a Six Invitational invite. With the team’s last LAN hope being the SI2020 European qualifier, G2 looked like a solid favorite. After a good start, the team was hit by major upsets from Team Secret and MnM Gaming. Knocked out of the EU qualifiers and without a Six Invitational invite, fans and critics wondered if G2 had lost it’s shine.

Why G2 deserve the final Six Invitational invite

Despite hitting a rough patch in late 2019, G2 Esports is still a capable team full of talented R6 veterans. With a new year comes a fresh chance for Hallsten’s squad to prove themselves and silence the critics. Giving G2 the final Six Invitational invite gives them a shot at redemption on the biggest stage in Rainbow Six esports. It also gives Hallsten, Toivonen and Mouritzen a chance at becoming three-peat champions.

G2 Esports is one of the biggest orgs both in R6 and globally. Inviting their roster would help bring a lot of attention to the Six Invitational. While that’s not a good marker for competition’s sake, it’s something ESL must be considering. G2 is a team with die-hard fans and critics that can’t help but love to hate. The buzz of inviting G2 Esports may outweigh the costs of skipping out on a better performing squad.

Luminosity Gaming – North America

Luminosity Gaming put their heads down and worked hard to become one of North America’s top five teams in 2019. The roster is full of young talents in players like Kian “Hyena” Mozayani and Richie “Rexen” Coronado. R6 veteran Spencer “Slashug” Oliver joined the roster in December and helped them with an electric run at the SI2020 NA qualifiers. LG managed to make a strong push from the losers’ bracket, knocking out Obey Alliance and the Susquehanna Soniqs. Luminosity pulled off a miracle reverse sweep against Evil Geniuses after going down two maps. LG fell in the finals to Space Station Gaming, one of the strongest squads in North America.

Why Luminosity deserve the final Six Invitational invite

While others may feel that Evil Geniuses should get the invite based on their pedigree, I believe LG is the much more deserving squad. Luminosity showed they’re ready to compete with a run through the losers’ bracket that resulted in Evil Geniuses being reverse-swept. While they lost in the finals, they played strong and kept SSG on their toes the whole series. The team is chock full of young talents that could really shine with a vet like Oliver by their side at SI2020.

While the roster is fully American, Luminosity is a Canadian organization. ESL has a great chance to help grow Canadian esports further by giving one of the country’s biggest orgs a chance to shine.

Team oNe eSports- Latin America

Team oNe eSports came out swinging in Season 10 of R6 LatAm Pro League. oNe eSports got the call up to the big leagues after grinding through Challenger League Season 9. The Brazilians quickly proved they could hang with the big dogs of Latin America. They finished third in Season 10, with better records than the veteran squads of Team Liquid and Black Dragons e-sports. The team is full of fresh Brazilian talents lead by Tassus “Reduct” Scarinci, the team’s former coach turned captain.

Much like Luminosity in NA, oNe eSports had a big run in the loser’s bracket of the LatAm SI2020 qualifier. The young squad managed to take down big orgs like Black Dragons, Elevate and INTZ before falling to MIBR in the finals.

Why Team oNe deserve the final Six Invitational invite

Team oNe has a fantastic story line in Rainbow Six esports. For a team full of newer talents to make it out of Challenger League and prove themselves so quickly in R6PL is extraordinary. Giving a team that grinded up from the amateur league a chance to shine in the biggest tournament in Rainbow eSports would be fantastic for Team oNe.

Latin America esports is one of the fast growing markets in the world. Showing that anyone with enough dedication can come up from Challenger League to play in the SI2020 would be great promotion for the LatAm scene.

CYCLOPS athlete gaming – APAC

The APAC scene does not often get the spotlight it deserves, but it has proven time and time again it can wow in international competition. Cyclops athlete gaming is one of Japan’s premier R6 teams. With veteran Japanese talent Reon “Anitun” Sakai, CAG has become a consistent team in the Asian R6 scene. CYCLOPS proved they can hang with the top talents in the Pacific with a strong third place finish in the Season 10 APAC finals. However, they couldn’t go the distance in the four team APAC qualifier, losing to Xavier Esports. Regardless, CAG is a strong contender for a Six Invitational invite.

Why CYCLOPS deserve the final Six Invitational invite

Japanese teams proved they can compete with the globe’s top talent when PET Nora-Rengo made an electric run at SI2019. Bringing in another APAC team would help even out regional representation in the Six Invitational. Currently, only three teams from the APAC region have qualified for SI2020. All other regions have four qualified teams each. CYCLOPS being invited would help give more exposure to Asian Rainbow Six Siege while bringing equal representation for the regions to SI2020.

Honorable mentions should go out to Evil Geniuses, Team Secret, Molotovs and Marshmellows, Xavier Esports, Black Dragons e-Sports. Regardless of who makes it into the final Six Invitational invite, this year’s tournament looks to be stacked with talent. Stay tuned to SQUAD for more coverage of the Rainbow Six Siege Six Invitational 2020 this February.