Today, Ubisoft announced that a selection of the sixteen best Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Pro League teams worldwide will compete in the 2018 edition of the Six Invitational. The Six Invitational celebrates the anniversary of the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege release and will bring together, fans, pro players, developers, streamers and all the people who made the title the success it is today. The competition will take place from February 13th to 18th in Montreal, Canada, birth city of the game, the Six Invitational 2018 will unveil major content and be host to the biggest esports event ever organised on the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six scene so far.
The Six Invitational 2018 will feature sixteen teams, representing all four regions of the Pro League that will compete for an unprecedented prize pool of $500,000, bringing the total prize pool across all official Year 2 tournaments to $1,250,000.
Among these teams, several new names, well known by all esports fans, will make their first appearance on the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six esports scene at the Six Invitational 2018. The first of these “newcomers” is Team Liquid, following the signing of the MOPA Team from Brazil, composed of seasoned Pro League players such as André “neskwga” Oliveira and featured in our Escalation series. Still in Brazil, FaZe Clan acquired the roster formerly known as Team FONTT, famous for their fast, entertaining and high-risk, high-reward playstyle. Last but not least, Counter Logic Gaming acquired the North American roster of Elevate, winner of Six Invitational 2017 on Xbox One. Over the past year, the team has managed to successfully switch to PC from the Xbox One, which is an incredible feat.
The Six Invitational 2018 will take place at the TOHU Montreal from February 13th to 18th and has been sold out for weeks as fans from all over the world will gather in Montreal. The exact schedule will be as follows:
- February 13th -15th: Group Phase
- February 16th: Quarter Finals
- February 17th: Semi Finals
- February 18th: Grand Final
In addition to the intense main competition, the Six Invitational will also host two supplementary and original showdowns, with a Showmatch taking place on Saturday February 17th as well as an All-Star Match ahead of the Grand Final on Sunday February 18th.
The Six Invitational 2018 will also be the occasion for more announcements on both Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege Year 3 game updates, including but not limited to Outbreak and Operation Chimera, and the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six esports scene itself, during dedicated panels. Make sure to follow the competition on our broadcast channels to follow all matches live and have all details on our major announcements and reveals: https://www.twitch.tv/rainbow6
Here is the complete list of the sixteen teams competing for the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Year 2 World Champion title, who have qualified via their previous victories in major Pro League events, via Regional qualifiers, or as they received wildcards:
- PENTA SPORTS (EU): The German organisation can be ambitious. Despite their defeat in semi-finals against Black Dragons in Sao Paulo, the back-to-back winner of Pro League Seasons one and two can now count on Sha77e (ex-ENCE) as a premium addition to resume their dominance.
- COUNTER LOGIC GAMING (NA): winner of the Six Invitational 2017 on Xbox, the former Elevate roster will compete on PC this time around. Throughout Year 2, they have proved the transition did not affect their performances, notably at Gamescom where they just lost the Final against PENTA, earning them spot at the Six Invitational 2018.
- ENCE (EU): The brilliant winner of the last Pro League season in Sao Paulo, Willkey and his teammates proved to the whole scene that their LAN curse belongs to the past. They now aim at pulling off the same performance than Continuum last year : win a Pro League season and the Six Invitational.
- BLACK DRAGONS (LATAM): One of the main forces in Brazil, Black Dragons earned its spot for the Six Invitational via their impressive local results, winning Seasons 1 and 3 of the LATAM Pro League.
- EVIL GENIUSES (NA): Formerly known as Continuum, under which name they won the Six Invitational 2017, the team led by Canadian will be eager to show that their defeat against ENCE in Sao Paulo was just an accident.
- EINS (APAC): Winner of the first Pro League play-offs of the APAC region, the Japanese team will want to show more in Montreal than they did in Sao Paulo, and that the last three months helped them to step up their game.
- ERA ETERNITY (NA): Defeating team Reckless in the grand final of the NA qualifiers, eRa Eternity will show its new roster composed of seasoned players. A strong test for GurmyWormy and his teammates.
- MINDFREAK (APAC): The Australian team emerged as strong victors in a tough contest for the APAC LAN Qualifiers. No stranger to the Invitational, having competed last year on Xbox, they are back this year on PC.
- ROOM FACTORY (EU): The Russian side earned his spot at Montreal thanks to a solid showing during the Qualifiers. Competing in Challenger League, they are definitely not a team to be underestimated.
- SUPREMACY (EU): The French team victory’s in the EU Qualifiers shows how stability is important in the Pro League, as they have played together since August 2016, besides the strong addition of BriD in October 2017.
- YEAH! GAMING (LATAM): The former Lanchonete roster is one of the nice surprises of these Qualifiers, in a LATAM region where competitors had names such as FaZe Clan, Team Liquid or BRK.
- 1UP ESPORT (EU): The German team, which has recently made its entry into the Pro League has been invited in Montreal following their close defeat against Supremacy in the Finals of the EU Qualifiers.
- FAZE CLAN (LATAM): The former FONTT roster showed its consistency throughout Year 2. As they have reached the semi-finals of the Season Finals twice, GohaN and his team have been invited to compete in Montreal.
- ROGUE (NA): Invited to Montreal by Ubisoft, Rogue has always been considered as a strong contender to the Pro League Finals. For Year 2, they qualified for two back-to-back LAN events, but struggled against Brazilian teams.
- TEAM LIQUID (LATAM): The former MOPA roster will be looking at proving their worth in the disputed group B of the Six Invitational. Invited by Ubisoft, they reached the Season 1 Final.
- VITALITY (EU): The French side made its way to the Invitational by claiming victory in the Community Vote. Vitality has been involved in the scene since Season 1 Year 1 on Xbox One, but their PC roster was picked up in Year 2.