Gaming
esports
Pro players reveal their Rainbow Six: Siege battle tactics
ESL Premiership players Jake 'NoThumbs' Grove and Thomas 'GreedyWillo' Williams tell us about the key strategies they have used during matches.
There’s more to Rainbow Six: Siege than shooting down the enemy. Of course players need a good aim, but to be a top player you need to have an understanding of battle tactics. Jake ‘NoThumbs’ Grove plays in the ESL Premiership with 1nFamy and has performed in the Pro League, so he needs to have a good understanding of strategy.
“Strategy, or tactics, is a key aspect of the game if you’re going to be successful,” he says. “The more time you put into strategies sets you apart from other teams.”
While Jake points out that battle strategies change every season as the meta changes with the new operators, he has shared some effective attacking and defensive tactics that he’s used in the past with us. 1UP eSports’ Thomas 'GreedyWillo' Williams also told us how changing strategies has helped his team this season and lifted their game.
Jake Groves on Attacking
Rainbow Six: Siege's bandit
© Ubisoft
Nading from below
"This is a strat that I have used previously. If, for example, a Bandit is Bandit tricking a reinforced wall then you can almost bait him into doing it. So, for example, if you go to thermite a reinforced wall then you can get someone to go below that person, and when you place your thermite the Bandit will be in the process of Bandit tricking. This allows someone to go below him – whether that’s a Buck, Ash or someone with grenades – to shoot him or even grenade him through the floor. This not only gives your team the advantage of getting an easy kill but also allows you to blow the wall off, killing any Bandits on the wall. A good Bandit trick can sometimes make or break a round.
To explain this further, I used to team with a guy called Kinderz, and, to this day, I am yet to see a better player than him when it comes to nading someone from underneath. If you simply told him the general area of a guy above him, nine times out of 10 he would be able to nade him straight away.
A key example of this is on Oregon when attacking kids’ bedrooms and dorms upstairs. Typically, a defender would be sitting on top of white stairs, ready to ambush anyone pushing up those stairs, but Kinderz would be able to nade that guy from underneath for an easy, simple but key kill. The great thing about having someone like that on your team is that the opposition has no idea it’s about to happen and can’t even stop it from happening."
Attacking on Chalet
The chalet in Rainbow Six Siege
© Ubisoft
Bomb site: Kitchen/Trophy
"Another Attacking strat that my team used in the 6 Invitational qualifiers for Xbox last year was on Chalet. We used to attack the kitchen/trophy bomb site hard. So we would have two to three people go below trophy and Buck and nade the entire floor to get either an easy kill or to push that person out of the room to allow the planter to push into the bomb site and plant on top of the display in the middle of the room. Planting on an elevated position allows you to watch the bomb from way outside on top of the rocks, meaning it’s almost impossible for the opposing team to defuse the bomb without seeing them."
Jake Groves on Defence
"Sometimes, teams focus more on defensive strats than attacking strats. You get some teams that are almost impossible to beat on defence simply because of the strats they have developed."
Map: Bank
The bank in Rainbow Six Siege
© Ubisoft
Bomb site: Lockers/CCTV
"So on this defence we used to have two people roaming outside the objective, typically holding open area with a rotation into archives and tellers. This allows the roamers plenty of places to go, whether that’s to get escape or to rotate for a kill.
We also used to have Valkyrie cams in open area for the roamers in lobby to watch anyone come in from that area. Then, finally, we had one watching the the server stairs/skylight area. Valk would then sit near the top of the server stairs with barbed wire and Jagers to protect her. That cam in the skylight would then be used to watch anyone come in above or pushing server stairs. Valk would be using the Spas 12 shotgun which, typically, is very hard to lose a gun fight with. This not only locks off the enemy pushing server stairs but also allows Valk to help the roamers if they are getting pushed from that particular side of the map."
Thomas 'GreedyWillo' Williams on 1UP's successful strategies
"From my point of view, you have to challenge the opposition at every stage of the round, whether that’s making it hard for them to get out of their spawn or simply shooting drones early to waste time.
On our last two games (1UP vs Horizon and 1UP vs Fable) we found ourselves 4-2 down. We made a change on the first match point which broke their momentum, whether that was changing a bomb site or playing a lot more passive. It worked and from there onwards we didn’t give up; we saw what worked and were able to pull it back to overtime and went on to win the games that took us to the LAN finals.
It’s almost out-thinking your opponents rather than out-shooting them (so to speak). It’s about being there for each other so we can pick off trades. There’s always someone not too far away to support your teammate whilst setting up to make it a living nightmare defending the bomb sites – having two to three stationary whilst two move the defenders around (ripping off windows, ripping up the floor) for the stationary players to pick up the kills. Making the enemy not know where you’re defending or attacking is vital."
