Six Sweden Major playoff preview – SiegeGG
Sweden Major: Playoffs will certainly be action-packed based on the teams that dominated the groups. With lots of convincing wins – 48% of the matches were won by a 7-3 margin or more – it will definitely be an intense final when the teams meet on November 12.
The Brazilians may have a slight advantage over the other regions, as they have retained their dominance and seemed almost irresistible in groups. However, you can never count teams like BDS esport, Spacestation Gaming and the latest APAC power plant DWG KIA out of the dispute.
Let’s take a look at the eight teams left until the last international tournament in 2021.
Team one
The Mexico Major champions look as strong as they have ever been, which confirms their favoritism after coming to Sweden.
Karl “Alem4o” Zarth especially stood out as the best player in the entire tournament. The newest Brazilian star currently has the best rating, K / D (+/-), kills per round and the tournament’s second best DIET.
Team One had two losses during the group stage, but none of them should be worrying. Both were against Vitality, the first happened in a rather unusual way to attack Chalet who captured the Golden Boys with a 6-0 split. The second loss took place in a match where Team oNe had already secured first place in their group.
Team one is fighting to be the first team to win a major twice, something that even the best team in Rainbow Six history, G2 esports, could only dream of.
Ninjas and pajamas
NIP did not seem as dominant as Team One in terms of the round difference during their win. However, the team was able to win every match from the group stage except the last one against BDS Esports.
The NIP fans who were expected to be seen at Mexico Major had finally appeared in Sweden, and the squad continued to dominate the BO3 matches. In the last 10 international BO3 matches, NIP has an impressive 9-1 record, with a winning streak of seven matches.
If Gustavo “Psycho” Rigal continues to take the step up, as he did in groups, NIP is a team that no one wants to face in a Major playoff. There’s just one big mystery regarding the ninjas for this playoffs: Have they improved their map pool? Eventually, they have to play Chalet, Oregon or Villa, three maps that they have been struggling with a lot lately.
DWG KIA
Damwon KIA once again accomplished something that many thought was impossible. This time, they snagged first place in the most controversial group of Major, showing that Mexico Major was not just a stroke of luck. They even defeated Spacestation Gaming twice.
Just like in the last major, their best performing Sanghoon “yass” is Yoo, with an impressive rating of 1.25 – the 6th best in the entire tournament. The member of the team who really makes the difference is Sungjoon “coted” Jo. During the group stage, DWG’s support player was among the best in his role and received a rating of 1.02, the fourth best in his position.
If everyone continues to step up and excel in their roles, maybe the South Koreans can make a memorable race in the playoffs.
FaZe clan
The FaZe Clan absolutely slaughtered its group. The Brazilians had by far the best round difference in the entire tournament, with 23+ on all their five wins together, they lost only six rounds. In addition to their only loss to Rogue, they seemed immobile during the group stage.
Their dominance is illustrated by the phenomenal performances of Jaime “Cyber” Ramos and José “Bullet1” Victor, both among the top three and KD (+/-).
But this amazing performance from FaZe in groups can be somewhat misleading. No doubt they looked really sharp, but it is also worth mentioning how weak the teams in their group were, apart from Rouge. FaZe will face BDS in the quarterfinals, which makes fans worried.
BDS Esport
Even though they finished second in their group, BDS still showed that they are a really strong team. A small trip to Soniqs, who only won in overtime, cost them the chance to fight for first place against NiP in their last match.
The French duo Stephane “Shaiiko” Lebleu and Loic “Brid” Chongthep both led the team in almost all statistics. The pair ends up in the top 7 best ratings, top 8 best KD (+/-), while the support player has the best KOST in the tournament and Shaiiko the best contribution (+/-).
BDS looks to finally get to at least a Major final this time in Sweden, something they have not done yet. The good news for them is that their Kryptonite, NIP, is on the other side of the console, which means they will only face them if both reach the finals.
Their strength will be put to the test directly in the first game, where they face a hot FaZe Clan.
Spacestation Gaming
Space Station was the first team to qualify for the playoffs from Group D, despite finishing second. Being in a really controversial group and qualifying is clearly a good result, but we expected more from the best team in North America.
The only thing that really stood out for them was the huge amount of connections that were won. Relying too much on a 1vX situation is good but very risky. They were by far the teams with the most connection wins, with 11 in 6 matches, where two of them were absolute miracles against Team Empire in a match that would definitely have ended differently if it had not been for them.
The good news for them is that they have only shown three maps in the entire group game, which can help them in a BO3 against NIP. The last time these two teams met in a do-or-die situation, SSG was crowned the SI 2020 champions.
Villain
Rogue was the first team to qualify for the playoffs, but they have not shown anything special during the group stage. In their first international event since SI 2020, they had an average performance in addition to a fantastic match against FaZe at Kafe.
The European squad did its homework, but the winners did not win easily. Two of their four wins came only in OT against two of the worst teams in the tournament, Oxygen Esports and Chiefs Esports Club.
Their hopes are based on the German trio Kevin “Prano” Pranowitz, Pascal “cryn” Alouane and Maurice “AceeZ” Erkelenz, all among the top 15 in this tournament.
When Rouge arrives as clear underdogs against Team One, Rouge will have to show flashes from his game against FaZe to emerge as the winner.
SANDBOX Games
SANDBOX is probably the most overlooked team in this entire playoffs. They reached the next phase of the tournament after dominating their rival for 2nd place, Vitality, in both of their matches.
It is worth noting that the SDG player with the highest rating is Kim “EnvyTaylor” Seong-soo, in 24th position, by far the lowest ranked best player for a team in the playoffs.
The former Cloud 9 and Mantis FPS lineup has already achieved its best position ever in a Rainbow Six international tournament. Their hopes are based on meeting a team they know very well, their compatriot DWG KIA, whom they defeated last time they met 7-1 in Oregon in APAC North League Stage 3.