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Why the 2018 Six Invitational was the best Siege tournament yet
An epic final may be what everyone will remember, but the entirety of the 2018 Six Invitational was a truly special event.
We've finally had some time to calm down after that epic best-of-five final between Penta and Evil Geniuses at the 2018 Six Invitational and we still can’t help but feel like this was by far the best event the world of Siege has yet experienced.
The final, and that epic 1v2 clutch from Niclas ‘Pengu’ Mouritzen to win the world championship, will understandably be what most people remember going forward. It was, after all, something that could challenge some of the most iconic esports moments and what got everyone in the esports world talking about Siege. However, there were also plenty of other things that went down at the Six Invitational – from major upsets, to new strategies, the rise of new regions and of course more than a few memes – which no good tournament should be without.
Anyone who was at the Six Invitational, or watching along from home, will surely have noticed just how good this event was compared to those in the past. If you missed out on the tournament, or even just the early parts of it, you missed a lot of important action. Fortunately, we’re here to get you up to speed on what went down to make this such a special event.
Penta’s dominant run
There isn’t really anywhere else we could have started. Penta Sports, one of the most successful teams in Siege history, finally got their hands on a world championship, cementing them as the undoubted best team in the world. The final may have been a little closer than the European team would have liked, but before that point, they looked almost untouchable.
Penta got their championship winning campaign off to a quick start with a 2-0 win over Team Vitality. Unfortunately for the French team they stood little chance here, with Penta taking a 10-2 win over them across Border and Oregon. For the first match of the event, this was quite the stat.
Thanks to the quirks of the group draw, Penta would then face off against Evil Geniuses for the first time, but this matchup was less of a nail biter than the final. EG did take Bank, but a 5-2 win on Consulate and a 5-3 win on Border booked Penta a quarter-final spot.
Once the knockout stage started, Penta really kicked it up a gear. Their long-term regional rivals ENCE were up first, but they were also quickly dismantled 2-0 with Penta never really looking phased. Then the same thing happened against Black Dragons e-Sports in the semi final. In fact, it was really only against EG that Penta looked a little worried, and as we all know, they still managed to come out on top. They really were a step above for this whole event.
The defending champions almost missed out
EG were so close to winning their second Six Invitational, but the day before the final they managed to come perilously close to not making it there in the first place. In their semi final against Rogue, EG lost map one on Kafe 5-3, and then on map two on Clubhouse, they found themselves just one round from elimination. Rogue had made it to match point, with EG trying to stay alive.
Somehow they managed to pull it off, taking that crucial round and extending the game for a few more moments. This crucial round win seemed to transform the team and they went from the brink of elimination to an incredible comeback to win the match. If the final hadn’t gone down the way it did, this could've been the match of the event.
APAC put up a fight
The Australian team impressed everyone
© ESL/Pawel Bastrzyk
This time last year, the whole Siege world was getting excited about the introduction of the APAC region to the pro circuit. More regions meant more teams, and more teams usually means new styles of play and better quality competition, which could only be a good thing. But heading into the event, many questioned if the sole APAC team at the Invitational – Mindfreak – would be able to put up much of a fight. Other regions seemed to be much stronger and they had limited international experience.
However, the Aussies showed up and surprised everyone. They took down both Room Factory and Team Liquid in the group stage to make it to the quarter finals. Both of these were also quite convincing wins. They beat Liquid with impressive 5-3 and 6-4 wins, while their match against Room Factory was one of the most dominant wins of the entire event. They lost the first map in a close 6-5 encounter, but then came back swinging with two 5-0 wins to close it out. Their quarter final against Black Dragons wasn’t what they hoped for, with Mindfreak picking up just one round in two maps, but they should still be proud of their achievements.
China could be coming to take over the scene
The Six Invitational played host to an important show match this year. Initially BRK Esports from Brazil, who narrowly lost the fan vote, were expected to play an unknown team. Visa issues scuppered this plan, but a makeshift team of Brazilians already at the event was drafted into their place. The other team for the show match was only announced hours before it kicked off, but it was certainly an interesting choice.
Chinese side uL Gaming were flown over to Montreal to compete, and while they couldn’t quite pull out the win, they put up more of a fight than many were expecting. This showed that despite little support in the region, the teams in China can compete at a top level. We've seen multiple times that it can take China a while to get into an esport, but when they do, they usually become very good, very quickly. So if this trend does continue, it might only be a few years until we see a Chinese world champion.
Big name orgs struggle
One of the big talking points before the event was that so many big name orgs had come into the scene and picked up teams. CLG, FaZe Clan, Team Liquid and Yeah! Gaming, the org of prominent Brazilian CS:GO players, had all picked up Siege teams in the months leading up to the Invitational.
But most of them underperformed at the event, with the more endemic orgs doing pretty well for themselves. CLG went out in last place in Group C, with Yeah! Gaming one place above them in third, but still missing out on the main event. Team Liquid also went out in groups, falling to Mindfreak in Group B. FaZe had a great group stage, topping Group D, but come the main event, they lost to EG and went out in the quarters.
While these teams have the backing of the big name orgs, it was the teams who've been around for quite a while that seemed to do better. Hopefully these orgs decide to stick around for year three and build on what they have, instead of dropping everything after one poor run.
