Six Invitational 2020 Group Stage Review

Montreal, Canada. The largest Rainbow Six Siege tournament named Six Invitational 2020 has started! Moreover, the closed Group Stage is over, and on February 11-12, we're seeing closed playoffs to decide to best teams in the world. ESL and Ubisoft did a great job of organizing the tournament and supporting it from all sides. 

Rainbow Six Siege's main tournament of the year was just meant to be crazy. With R6 pro-scene developing rapidly in the past few years, the game's Year 4 is ending in quite a sublime way. 

The community was shocked by the fact that Team Empire has left Six Invitational 2020 after not making it through the Group Stage. The Russian team fought well against Fnatic in the first match, but then, unfortunately, lost to DarkZero Esports and so had to play a decider against Fnatic again. This time the Australians managed to take revenge and proceeded to the next stage. 

New favorites

The odds were all about Team Empire winning SI2020, but you never know. Now, without the main contender, we can say that Team SoloMid and Team Liquid are the favorites. The North American TSM roster has won DreamHack Montreal this season and shown great play throughout the year — these are the main reasons why people put them second, right after Team Empire. And the Brazilians from Team Liquid are deservingly among the highly rated squads too — OGA Pit Season 3 and Brasileirao 2019 winners, as well as top-three finishes at DreamHack Montreal.

The third team which can make it is Spacestation Gaming — the boys are playing very confident not only at SI2020 but the whole season. Still, sometimes it seems like they just don't get enough luck or lose themselves in the final moment. SSG has won United States Nationals 2019 and got silverware at OGA Pit Season 3 and Pro League Season 9. 

Any Jokers? 

Don't forget about G2 Esports, Six Invitational 2019 winners, who were directly invited to the tournament by Ubisoft. These guys may have not got to the tourney through blood and sweat, still, they are a hugely experienced team with great players and since at SI2020 we witness miracles, why G2 can't perform?

SI2020 Group Stage Results  

SI2020 Playoffs Schedule and Predictions

All in all, it's time for the playoffs. After the Group Stage, we have the following pairs of teams to fight each other on their ways to $3m and the title of the best Rainbow Six Siege team in the world. Let's add some predictions though. 

• Team SoloMid vs Ninjas in Pyjamas

Here we have quite an obvious outcome since TSM shown great play at the Group Stage (finishing second after a decider) and NiP, who did an excellent job and got to the playoffs as group winners. Still, we can't be so sure that TSM will drop their confidence here — they are the favorites and most likely will make it into the next stage. 

• G2 Esports vs Fnatic

The Team Who Beat The Favorites might sound scary but were Team Empire The Team Who Lost? We'll see if Fnatic can prove that they are worthy to be called that way. Speaking of G2, calm and positive group stage — but wait, they are the Jokers. A must-see match with a slight advantage for Fnatic. 

Did you know: the upper bracket winner will have a 1 map advantage in the Grand Final 

• Spacestation vs MIBR

This one is quite easy to predict as long as Spacestation Gaming is a very good team that can pass through the Brazilian roster almost lossless. 

• DarkZero Esports vs BDS

The match between these two teams is the second 'must-see' at the current stage because both teams are exceptional and both teams can surprise us with anything unusual — from complete failure to total domination. Still, DarkZero Esports have greater chances to progress into the next stage. 

What will happen in the playoffs? We can't tell. There's always a place for miracles, ups and downs, 1v5 map deciding clutches and emotions. For sure, because it's the World Cup. 

Rainbow Six Siege Invitational 2020 Playoffs start today, February 11th. The grand finals of the tournament will be held on February 16, BO5 format. Six Invitational 2020 Prize Pool is $3,000,000.

Don't forget to joins the official streams to get unique drops! You can also visit the Six Invitational 2020 Event Guide to learn more.