Guest post by @LiamHorley1
In case you aren't aware, the closed qualifiers for the 6 Invitational start today. So let's take a look at the teams playing in the different divisions.
EU PC
Penta
- http://penta-sports.com/
- https://twitter.com/PENTA_Sports
- Youtube
- https://www.facebook.com/pentasports
Penta are probably one of the best known teams in the European Pro League. They are based in Germany, but have players from everywhere. They have been playing since the first season of the Pro League of which they won. Penta usually end up pretty high in the results table, but only been able to clutch the trophy once. They finished 3rd in the season 3 pro league.
Penta will be one to watch, they have a big following and will have a lot of support from the sidelines.
Playing Ducks
- http://www.playing-ducks.com/
- https://twitter.com/playingducks/
- https://www.youtube.com/user/PDucksTV/
- https://www.facebook.com/PlayingDucks/
Playing Ducks were second in the Season 3 Pro League finals losing to Continuum. They were formally known as AERA. They are also known for having a player with a very glorious beard. They also bought little rubber ducks to their desk when they played in the finals.
Playing Ducks only lost by the skin of their teeth in the finals, they were seen as a bit of an underdog compared to Gifu but managed to get further than their EU competition.
gBots
- http://www.gbots.pro/
- https://twitter.com/gBotsPRO
- https://www.youtube.com/user/gBotsClub
- https://www.facebook.com/gBotsPRO
gBots are another team that have been playing since season 1 of pro league. They haven’t been able to get into the finals since the first season where they were one of the favorites to win. This could be a good chance for gBots to gain some attention.
gBots finished second from last in season 3 with no wins. It will be interesting to see how they have improved since then.
Euronics Gaming
- http://euronics-gaming.com/
- https://twitter.com/EuronicsGaming
- Youtube
- https://www.facebook.com/euronicsgaming
Euronics are a fairly new team only playing in the Pro League in Season 3. They finished 5th beating some of the more popular teams and with only one win less than the Season 2 champions.
Euronics have done really well to make it this far into the invitational.
NA PC
eRa Eternity
eRa were formally known as Orbit/Most Wanted in Season 3 of the Pro League. This team made it to the final and were knocked out by Playing Ducks. They have the well known Kixstar in their roster who was a caster in Season 3, a Pro Player in season 2 and a youtuber throughout.
This will be a very interesting match to watch, eRa came first in the Season 3 standings and it was a shock when they were knocked out by Playing Ducks.
Astral Authority
Astral will be a well supported team throughout these invitationals. They were formerly known as Milspec and are made up of streamers Serenity and Remorce. They finished 5th in the season 3 Pro League. It will be difficult for them to balance streaming and practicing but we will see if they have managed to do it.
Ferocity
Ferocity are a new team only participating in season 3 where they were placed 4th above Astral (formerly Milspec). This team is fairly unknown so it will be interesting to see how they perform against some pretty impressive teams.
Flipsid3 Tactics
- http://www.flipsidetactics.com/
- https://twitter.com/flipsid3tactics
- https://www.youtube.com/user/flipsid3tactics
- https://www.facebook.com/flipsid3tactics
Flipsid3 are a team that have been playing Pro League since the beginning. They have finished in top 3 in all seasons but never gone on to win the Pro League. Like gBots, getting to the invitationals could be a big opportunity to grow Flipsid3’s fanbase.
ASIA PC
Envy
Envy are a small Rainbow Six Siege only team from Singapore. They have beaten both Dynamo and Team 1122 in qualifiers.
Dynamo Gaming
Dynamo formerly uFF have been playing together as a team since July 2016 when the Asian community cups started. Dynamo won the last community cup in November giving them a good platform to keep improving themselves from.
Dynamo and Envy will be a very close match in my opinion and will be one to watch.
Liberty
Liberty are a pretty difficult team to talk about. They haven’t played many community matches. However I can say they beat a top Asian team “Father's Back.” It will be interesting to see how they face up to the challenge which is easily one of the top asian teams.
Team1122
Team 1122 are well known team on the Asian scene. They have won a few community cups and blew their way through the invitationals only losing to Envy.
LatAM PC
Santos Dexterity
- http://dexterityteam.com.br/
- https://twitter.com/dexteamoficial
- https://www.youtube.com/user/dexterityteamoficial
- https://www.facebook.com/dexterityteamoficial
Santos have been winning a lot of recent community cups and other leagues hosted by ESL. Santos is a big organization spanning many games, they will have a lot of experience with more known eSports so should fit into this very nicely. They will be sure to show off some new tactics they’ve been working on.
BRK Esports
Much like the Japanese team Liberty, BRK is difficult to write about just because it hasn’t been participating in recent community events and cups. It’ll be good to see if these teams going under the radar and holding the tactics very close to their chest will work out.
paiN gaming
- http://soupain.com.br/
- http://pain.gg/twitter
- https://www.youtube.com/user/paingamingg
- https://www.facebook.com/paingamingbrV
Pain have been playing pretty well recently. They have got pretty far in the community cups. Managing to face off against Santos. I imagine this close to the playoffs they will be keeping some plays up their sleeves.
Nyx Erebo
Nyx are going to be coming into the invitationals big. They have recently defeated both pain gaming and BRK. Recently they were knocked out of a community cup pretty quickly which may lower the moral a little bit. Pain and BRK may also be going over the tactics of Nyx to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
Make sure to tune in and watch all the great matches today!
