Rainbow Six Pro League: NA Playday 10 & 11 preview
In the first week back, Rainbow Six Pro League kicked off with a ton of great matchups last week. We saw a new map in Theme Park and new operators in Wamai and Kali. The top two teams in NA went head-to-head in Team Solo Mid (TSM) and DarkZero Esports while the rest of the league played catchup.
In this segment, we will break down everything you need to know about each NA Pro League team and share our predictions for the week’s playdays.
TSM (25 points)
TSM continued their dominance and undefeated streak in Pro League this past week, handling both DarkZero and Luminosity. Everyone is starting to realize to not bring TSM to Villa. They have dominated in recent memory on that map and took DarkZero by the score of 7-4. The scoreline is a little deceiving, as the match should not have been that close. The only team to not lose to TSM so far this season was Luminosity Gaming when they drew back on Playday 4. Luminosity did put up another great fight, but ultimately TSM was just too powerful winning 7-5. Matthew “Achieved” Solomon stood out above the rest last week, posting a 21-11 K/D and a 1.34 rating.
This week TSM matches up against Team Reciprocity and Tempo Storm. First off, Team Reciprocity, who is coming off a solid week, looks to redeem themselves against TSM. TSM demolished Reciprocity on Playday one 7-2 on Villa. Reciprocity should be smart enough to not bring TSM to Villa, but TSM is still too strong. TSM will win 7-4.
Their next opponent is Tempo Storm. A team that went winless last week will be looking to get things back on track. But with the best going against the worst according to the standings, this will not pan out well for Tempo Storm. TSM will win 7-3.
DarkZero Esports (17)
DarkZero did not have the week many of them expected to have. TSM stomped them, and they tied with eUnited. This past week just further the gap between them and TSM for first place with TSM gaining six points and DarkZero only getting one. Drones and attacking seemed to halt DarkZero’s progression this week as they only won four out of 12 possible attacking rounds. Only one player recorded a rating over 1 this past week. That was Matthew “HotanCold” Stevens, who boasted a 1.1 rating over the two matches.
DarkZero looks to get back on track this week. They will face off against another tough opponent in Spacestation Gaming (SSG) and also Evil Geniuses (EG). As long as DarkZero does not bring SSG to Clubhouse, they should be able to win. DarkZero will once against show they are a dominant online team and will take the match 7-5.
This matchup against EG has the making to be a trap game. DarkZero needs all the points they can get since they are currently tied with SSG. DarkZero can not let up on the gas this week. EG has looked better since coming back but still is not proficient enough to put up a solid fight. DarkZero will take it 7-4.
Spacestation Gaming (17)
The reigning Six Invitational Champions are coming off a solid Pro League week, defeating both Luminosity and Tempo Storm. This was probably the easiest week any team in NA had. For some reason unknown to practically everyone in the Siege scene Tempo Storm decided the bring SSG to Clubhouse. The match was closer than many expected, but still, never ever take SSG to Clubhouse. You will lose, in this case, Tempo Storm lost 7-5. The highlighted player for SSG this past week was Alec “Fultz” Fultz who put up 17 kills against Tempo storm and ended the week with a 25/15 line and a 1.37 rating. Those 25 kills were the most by any player in NA between those playdays.
This week SSG battles DarkZero and eUnited. As mentioned above DarkZero has historically been the better online team and will squeak by SSG 7-5. This matchup will turn out the be the match of the week.
SSG’s next matchup against eUnited will likely decide who takes home second place this season. SSG needs to win and that they will do. SGG will dominate eUnited in hopes of reaching that second place by the scoreline of 7-3.
Team Reciprocity (13)
Do not let the point difference between Reciprocity and the teams above them deceive you. Their matchup with EG last week is still under review as there was a controversial round with the winner undecided by ESL. If it goes in favor of Reciprocity, they would have won the match 7-5 and have 16 points, but as it stood at the end of the playday with a tie, Reciprocity will only have 14 points. If they want to have a chance to reach the second place they need this result to swing in their favor. Reciprocity dominated on defense this past week winning nine out of 12 possible rounds. The original Reciprocity duo of Davide “FoxA” Bucci and Gabriel “LaXInG” Mirelez dominated their competition recording 40 kills together over two matches. “FoxA” recorded a 1.40 rating while “LaXInG” was not far behind with a 1.27.
This week they will match up against TSM and Luminosity Gaming. Reciprocity will need to win both matches to have a chance to claim the second spot in the standing. Unfortunately for them, TSM is just too strong for anyone online right now. Reciprocity will fall 7-4 to TSM in a fragfest.
Looking to bounce back after that loss Reciprocity will dominate Luminosity just like they did on Playday 5 where they won 7-1. It will not quite be that dominating, but they will win 7-3.
eUnited (9)
The team right in the middle of the standings are looking to climb up after a huge tie against DarkZero last week. Many teams expected DarkZero to win, but eUnited fought tooth and nail to close out the match with a tie. eUnited won only three rounds of attacking during their two matches. eUnited’s new European member in Léo “Alphama” Robine stole the show on his team in his first week of NA Pro League. He collected 23 kills with a +10 in the K/D column and a 1.38 rating.
This upcoming week eUnited with go against Tempo Storm and SSG. The newest teams to Pro Leauge square off again this week. eUnited won the first round, but will not be as lucky this time. Will both teams looking to prove they belong in Pro League they will tie 6-6.
SSG, on the other hand, are veterans in the Pro League space and have never been stronger. SSG needs to keep their chase for second place going and will defeat eUnited 7-3.
Luminosity Gaming (6)
Luminosity had the hardest week out of any other team in Pro League this week. They went up against TSM and SSG. Surprisingly they came within one round in each match of getting a tie. Losing 7-5 both times. Their biggest problem was attacking. Luminosity only managed to win two attacking round out of 12, which will not cut it. Richie “Rexen” Coronado had the best week on the team racking up 21 kills and a 1.13 rating. If Luminosity can get a little bit more fragging support from their support players they can get over this hump they are stuck on.
Luminosity’s upcoming week will be a little easier than their last. They will place EG and Reciprocity. EG does not want to drag their name through the mud and end the season at the bottom of the leaderboards. Because of that Luminosity is going to be overwhelmed and lose 5-7.
Reciprocity is still trying to meld their new roster together, but still have the firepower to overcome Luminosity’s current roster and will win 7-3.
Tempo Storm (5)
The team tied for the last place with EG brought in a long time pro in Mark “MarkTheShark” Arismendez to fill the empty spot on their roster during the split. His impact has yet to be fully shown, but they were able to tie EG this past week which gained them a point in the standings. Their main seems to be defenses as they have only been able to capitalize on five out of the 12 rounds they have played on defense. Under 50 percent of their defenses are successful that number will not get any team very far in Pro League.
This upcoming week Tempo Storm will play eUnited and TSM. Tempo Storm has not played eUnited since Playday one where they lost 4-7. Both teams have made roster changes since then and are both the newest teams to Pro League. These two teams have played each other a lot as they both came up through Challenger League together. This match will be a draw 6-6.
TSM, on the other hand, have been in Pro League a little bit longer and have some of the biggest names in the scene. TSM will not lose this season it does not matter their opponent. TSM wins 7-3.
Evil Geniuses (5)
The once king of NA has fallen and continues to fall week after week. One of three teams in NA with only one win and that came all the way back at Playday 1. EG did show improvement since the split though. They drew against Tempo Storm and are still awaiting results of their matchup against Reciprocity. Before the split, their performance was very unsatisfying. With Nathan “nvK” Valenti now IGLing full time they are looking to improve week by week and carry some kind of success into next season.
EG will compete against Luminosity and DarkZero this week. Looking for the season sweep of Luminosity, it will be quite interesting to see which team wants it more as they are both out of the running for the top seeds and nothing but pride is on the line. EG will win 7-5.
In their first matchup against DarkZero, EG lost 2-7. EG would love an upset here to knock DarkZero out of the top two, but it will not happen and DarkZero will win 7-4.
