Rainbow Six Siege - May Recap

May has been a busy month in terms of reveals. We all know about the Siege X test server going live, but we also had some news regarding Europe’s and South America’s tier 2 scenes. Not to mention we had a rather unique competition for our professional R6 players that deserves some spotlight as well.

Europe’s Tier 2 Shakeup

First, let's go over the changes to our tier 2 scenes. Europeans should be preparing and getting excited for the Central Combine. An event that’s sure to bring eyes of strat builders and tier 1 scouts, the Central Combine is set to kick off on June 21st, and it is the first of three major Tier 2 tournaments this year. The second, the Rainbow Rumble, will take place between August and September, while the final tournament, South Breach, will take place between September and November.

The Central Combine is split into 4 stages, the first being an open qualifier from June 21st to June 29th. Following that we have the Divisional Clash. This involves 16 teams, split into 4 divisions. Teams will play opponents both within their division as well as across divisions. The top 12 teams move onto the next stage…the Conference Clash. Here teams will be split into 2 ‘conferences’ where they will play each team of the other conference for a total of 6 matches. The top 6 teams of this stage will move onto the fourth and final stage also known as the playoffs, which is a single elimination clash until we reach the grand final. The two final teams will be flown to Dusseldorf to compete in an offline Grand final on August 2nd. 

For more information, check it out here. 

Here’s a quick bulleted form of the event:

The Central Combine

• June 21st-29th - Open Qualifiers (to register, click here)

• July 5th-6th - Divisional Clash

• 16 teams - 4 divisions - 12 advancing teams

• July 12th-13th - Conference Clash

• 12 teams - 2 conferences - 6 advancing teams

• July 19th-20th - Playoffs

• August 2nd - Grand Finals

Prize Pool Breakdown

• Total = 20,000 Euros

• 5th-8th Place = 1000 Euros in prize money

• 3rd-4th Place = 2000 Euros in prize money

• 2nd Place = 4,000 Euros

• 1st Place = 10,000 Euros

South America’s Tier 2 Shakeup

Europe is not the only Tier 2 scene getting a revitalization. South America is getting one as well. For this, they’ll be having 4 major competitions. The first is the Liga Start. Holding 4 open qualifiers, some having already concluded, this phase of the competition will lead the top 16 teams moving onto the next competition. That leads us to the coveted Copa Sul-Americana. This is a 32 team battle for dominance. As just mentioned, 16 of these 32 teams will come from the Liga Start, 10 teams will come from the South America League, and the final 6 teams will be from an open qualifier featuring latam teams with at least 3 latam players on the roster (max 2 brazilians). 

A separate competition, known as the Rush Series will also be conducted. This competition will feature 3 open qualifiers. The best teams from the open qualifiers will move onto phase 2, a swiss bracket to reach an intense playoff series. The winner of the Rush Series and the Copa Sul-Americana will battle for the crown of South America’s top tier 2 team in an epic Grand Final where the winner will not only walk out of the match knowing their the best tier 2 team in all of South America, but also R$70,000.00 richer. 

Reload

Now let’s discuss the Reload Series. This was a new type of tier 1 competition featuring most of the top proleague teams across the globe. The uniqueness of this competition stems from bullets that were provided to each team. Each team started with 6 bullets and they would wager a set number of bullets per match. They could wager as many as they wanted, which will determine how many bullets the team either wins or loses. For example, a team wagering 3 bullets will either gain 3 bullets for a W or lose 3 bullets for an L. There are also some special cards that increase the depth of the tournament. For more information on the structure, check it out here.

NA as a whole, underperformed. The only team that made it to the playoff stage of this event was Wildcard, who did at least make it to semis. CAG made a rather impressive run to the grand final, beating their apac brethren, FearX, then facing off against Wildcard, and finally meeting Furia in the grand final. W7M and Furia were both performing well throughout the event. W7M went 3-0 in the opening stage, and toppled Shaiiko and his Falcons, but then proceeded to choke a huge lead in the first map in the semifinals against Furia.

The Grand Final, featuring Furia and CAG, was objectively a steam roll by the Brazilians. With a quick 3-0, the Japanese team didn’t manage to get more than a total of 10 rounds across the entire series. Going into the next season of Pro League, Brazil, as per usual, seems to be quite comfortably on the top. Time will tell if NA or EU can pull the spotlight back onto them, or if APAC can shock everyone and create a new era of Siege featuring their own take over of the scene.

Siege X

Finally we get to talk about Siege X. Yes, this was first talked about back in March, but May brought us the Test Server. Here players of all levels got to experience the changes first hand, and one thing is painfully clear. Clash is BUSTED. There is proving to be limited, realistic counters to her making her a menace whether you’re copper or a pro player. We can only hope that Ubisoft will react quickly to this outcry. 

The second most anticipated change to Siege X comes from the adding of interactive elements around the map. Initial feedback on these elements have been largely positive. Players are loving looking for ways to use them to their advantage. Time will tell if this is just a phase, or if these elements will continue to add depth to the game. 

Transitioning into some less hyped changes we have the new rappel. The biggest quality of life change in recent memory, this allows players to not have to come off rappel and go back on, just to change what side of the map they’re rappelling on. Adding another dynamic change, this will surely catch some players off guard with how quickly attackers move around the map, but is certainly a well liked change. On the other hand, a chance for added frustration, we have the reintroduction of electricity destroying team gadgets. So better keep an eye out for where you’re throwing those Yokai drones, or tossing C4’s. 

Lastly, let’s go over the nerfs and buffs. BB (and shields) skate by without any major nerf due to statistics showing that BB isn’t overly strong or overly picked, despite a nearly 80% ban rate on PC. Jackal takes a potentially devastating nerf. From being able to scan someone a max of 4 times, and a min of 2 times, he can now only scan an enemy once. But he does at least get 5 scans. That coupled with an earlier nerf of defender footprints not showing up during the prep phase, may put this op in a coffin. 

Jager gets buffed or does Capitao get nerfed? Jager’s ADS’s are now able to catch fire bolts and gridlock track stingers (same as wamai). Thunderbird buff? Thunderbirds kona stations will no longer heal enemies unless they get hacked by Brava. And lastly, as a buff for all attackers, hot breaching no longer requires placing down a breaching charge. You can begin the animation, and as long as the window is broken by the time you were to hit it, you will fly through the window and enter the map.

Coming Soon

That wraps up all of May. June will be the start of Pro League and the official release of Siege X. It should be quite an interesting time to be a fan of Rainbow Six Siege, and we’ll be here to cover the most pivotal and jaw dropping news.