The Six Invitational 2020 review continues with the honorable mentions of the tournament. From amazing upsets to Cinderalla runs to dominating returns, there’s a lot to unpack for these three Rainbow 6 teams. Let’s take a look at how things went for BDS, Fnatic and G2 in this Six Invitational 2020 review.

Press “4 4 4” for fourth – BDS Esport

BDS Esport entered the Six Invitational with a bit of a bad reputation. The dramatic kicking of Dimitri “Panix” de Longeaux and coach Tony “fiskeR” Geoffroy left a poor taste in the mouths of pro R6 fans. The French squad had already faced anger for picking up Stéphane “Shaiiko” Lebleu. He was formerly banned by ESL for the contested use of macros during a Pro League match. However, he and BDS are not afraid to poke fun at the years-old controversy.

Since his return to pro play, Lebleu has shown he does not need macros to compete with the top talents of R6. BDS dominated APAC’s Wildcard Gaming with ease, but fell to G2 Esports in the decider match for first place in Group D. Reciprocity took BDS all the way to three maps, before the French squad pulled through.

In the quarter finals, BDS looked unsteady against DarkZero and dropped down to the losers’ bracket. That’s when they really got motoring. They stomped out MIBR easily, and ended Fnatic’s Cinderella run. BDS entered the lower bracket semi finals against a Ninjas in Pyjamas team that was looking more dangerous with each tournament round.

Bon voyage BDS

The BDS – NiP series ended up being some of the most exciting matches played up until the grand final. The series featured unbelievable clutch plays, close rounds and narrow victories. On Bank, BDS pulled back from a four round deficit to push NiP to overtime. While the Ninjas still managed to close out map one, BDS came back swinging for map two. Map three on Club House saw a back-and-forth effort from both teams, but the Frenchmen couldn’t stop the Brazilians from winning.

While they may not be the most beloved team by some fans, there is no denying the raw skill on the BDS roster. Leblue proved to the haters he’s still a talented player despite his past with the top average rating of SI2020. While the “Panix drama” was unfortunate, Bryan “Elemzje” Tebessi showed he was worthy of the controversial roster spot with the fourth highest average SI2020 rating. Expect BDS to continue to push the limits of EU Rainbow Six, but don’t expect them to push the 4 key anytime soon.

Down underdogs – Fnatic

Fnatic came into the tournament as the top team in APAC, but as a darkhorse in Group A. The “Group of Death” featured top teams from each region; FaZe, DarkZero and group favorite Team Empire. While I had them as one of the teams breaking free from this group, they were underdogs across the board by far.

The APAC boys put up a fight against Empire in the first map but were overwhelmed in the second. Fnatic moved on to the decider match against FaZe Clan. The two traded maps before ending up on Club House, where FaZe went up 5-1 at the first half. Everything pointed towards another group exit for Fnatic after disappointing at Raleigh.

A Cinderella run cut short

But Fnatic woke up just in time. They took 6 straight rounds to win the series against FaZe in a stunning reversal of fortunes. Etienne “Magnet” Rousseau and his team went on to take down Empire in the rematch and broke out of Group A alongside DarkZero. They had enough fight in them to upset G2 Esports before falling to TSM and BDS.

Chinese star Patrick “MentalistC” Fan and Aussie talent Tex “Tex” Thompson were Fnatic’s newest additions for this tournament. Fan showed he wasn’t just a big fish in a small pond after being snagged from Aerowolf last November. There were glimpses at his skill throughout Fnatic’s run, with potential for growth. Thompson looked mostly solid in his first debut at a major international LAN event. His play was impressive against Empire in the rematch, and even in the hard loss to TSM. It will be exciting to see how this Fnatic lineup grows together in the coming months

Fnatic’s run helped bring some much needed excitement to the Six Invitational, with upset after upset against top teams. Rousseau and his squad cemented that while APAC is still a growing scene, there are diamonds in the rough ready to challenge the best players in the world.

Woe of the samurai – G2 Esports

G2 Esports wasn’t even supposed to be at the Six Invitational. Plagued by mediocre performances at big tourneys, and not even being able to actually qualify for SI2020 cast a lot of doubt on the squad. Many believed that the Euro mix didn’t deserve the spot when compared to teams like Secret. The sudden replacement of Pascal “Cryn” Alouane by Ferenc “SirBoss” Mérész was seen as a step forward by some – and a desperation move by others. G2 Esports had a lot of baggage walking into this tournament, but there’s no denying their pedigree. Anything is possible when the samurais come ready to strike.

G2 snuck past Reciprocity despite getting completely shut out on the second map of their first series in Montreal. They even managed to defeat BDS for top spot in their group. It looked like Fabian “Fabian” Hallsten, Juhani, “Kantoraketti” Toivonen and Niclas “Pengu” Mouritzen would have a shot at three-peating the Six Invitational.

G2 squared off against Fnatic in the quarter finals. It looked like the APAC team’s luck was running out after G2 claimed victory on Fnatic’s map pick. But the Aussies fought back and took G2’s map pick of Border before edging out the samurais on Villa. G2 would have to face Ninjas in Pyjamas in the lower bracket, a team that was looking hot coming out of Group C. NiP smacked G2 in the mouth on the first map with a 7-2 victory on Border, and squeaked by the Europeans in overtime on Coastline. The dream of three consecutive Invitational wins for the main core was over.

What to do about G2?

G2 and the org’s fans should still be proud of what was accomplished in Montreal. A quarter finals finish for a team that wasn’t supposed to be there is certainly a positive. Especially if that team was facing a short notice roster change less than two weeks before opening matches. G2 is full of some of the most successful Siege players to grace the stage, and we certainly saw that talent in Montreal.

In the short time off before the return of Pro League, G2 needs to find a reliable fifth. While Alouane certainly was not the problem with this roster, it may be time to look elsewhere. Ex-BDS player and free agent Dimitri “Panix” de Longeaux was in the running for the fifth roster spot before Mérész was selected. Other popular names the community has thrown around include Rogue’s Lukas “korey” Zwingmann and Maurice “AceeZ” Erkelenz.

Regardless of who G2 decides to pick for a fifth, the samurais will need to hone themselves to stay competitive. While they sit in the middle of the Pro League pack, who knows where they could end up if an EU shuffle takes place this off season. With the new global ranking format announced for the Rainbow Six scene, it’s uncertain if pedigree and name recognition will be enough for G2 to make tournaments from here on out.

The Six Invitational 2020 – The best Invitational yet

This year’s Six Invitational was one of the most exhilarating tournaments yet with stellar matches, exciting upsets and interesting story lines. With less than 356 days left until next year’s SI and exciting changes to the pro scene format, we can’t wait to see how the Rainbow Six Siege landscape changes by then. For more on SI2020, give the first recap on Spacestaion Gaming, NiP and TSM a read. Stay tuned for more breakdowns, analysis and Six Invitational 2020 recap stories at SQUAD.