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Get the insights into how Bravado Gaming is dominating in Siege
2021 has seen a renewed energy in the Bravado camp. We have the scoop:
Bravado Gaming went quiet after Project Destiny came to an end. The project saw the organisation make themselves known in international CSGO and ultimately allowed three players the opportunity to remain in the USA, signing to Cloud9 and later Extra Salt. While the Bravado team continued to perform in Fortnite and FIFA in South Africa, the blue star’s signature sparkle wasn’t glittering as bright…. And then they set up Siege.
2021 has seen a renewed energy in the Bravado camp. Their Fortnite and FIFA players continue to be seen at the top level of their respective games. A new CSGO line up led by BVD stalwart Dimitri "Detrony" Hadjipaschali has begun to make waves and, at the end March, Bravado made an announcement that surprised: they introduced their new Rainbow Six Siege roster to the organisation:
It comes as no surprise that Bravado would look to enter Siege. The game has steadily grown in popularity locally, with a small but healthy competitive player base and a growing casual base on consoles. Ubisoft, the developer behind the title, deployed servers in the region and even introduced a South African operator to the game.
The Future of Rainbow Siege
Bravado Gaming’s Siege lineup consisted of the previous “Regicide” team:
- Divan 'dvn' Rossouw
- Matthew 'Eryie' Bezuidenhout
- Dyllan 'Mystiic' Lotter
- Liam 'Minted' Knipe
- Kyle 'elyk' de Villiers
The team had been fielding consistent results at top level but local teams had no luck toppling the giants that were ATK Arena. ATK’s Siege team had dominated the top of the leaderboard for months and were held up as the standard for any Siege team wanting to progress. Much talk of the ATK roster going overseas ensued in Quick Play games and on social media. They were not the gatekeepers of South African Siege, they owned it.
Rainbow Siege in South Africa
South African Siege tournaments have been on the up in recent months. Organiser Mettlestate has hinted to their next large event being Siege focused and runs two cash leagues online. Many other tournament organisers have recently added Siege to their roster of games and a small local organiser that runs Siege events, World League Esports, hosted a R10 000 tournament - which was where Bravado Gaming decided to make sure the competitive Siege community was well aware they were claiming their piece of the competitive map.
The team had an impressive performance throughout the competition and soon faced up against the immovable ATK Arena. The winning team would advance to the grand finals with the losing team having to fight their way back through the lower bracket. Bravado Gaming and ATK fought two close maps, when it came to an end, BVD had done it. They’d beat ATK and suddenly the South African Siege story became spicy. ATK could not be written off. The team fought their way back to face off against Bravado Gaming in the Grand Finals. ATK’s experience and the amount of work their players, like Rowan “Xhosa” Steyn, put into learning the game meant they could not be underestimated. However, momentum was in BVD’s favour and they were able to beat ATK once more in the Grand Finals - claiming first place and giving South African Siege a rivalry for the ages: the battle lines between Bravado Gaming, ATK and third place Omnius Gaming had now been drawn.
Here is what the BVD Siege team had to say about their first victory:
What sort of preparation did you do coming into the World League Esports tournament?
Divan 'dvn' Rossouw: Leading up to the tournament, we tried to follow a schedule as much as possible to get the perfect balance between real life responsibilities and in game practice and scrims. We tried to focus on ourselves as a team and not to concentrate too much on what the other teams were doing. We knew that if we just did the basics right and stuck to the fundamentals of Siege, that we could beat anyone if we believed it. We experimented with players in different roles and before long we were all feeling very comfortable with the assigned roles. After scrimming some of the other top teams, we were confident going into the competition and just focused on taking it game by game, and round by round.
Being able to beat ATK not once but twice was a huge victory for your team because of ATK’s dominance for so long. What do you think was the key to your success?
Dyllan 'Mystiic' Lotter: Facing them in the upper bracket final we were really excited. Honestly we knew that we have what it takes to bring them down, we kept our heads high and definitely played our hearts out. I definitely think they underestimated us and that was their downfall - we wanted to prove ourselves to Bravado that they didn't make a mistake picking us up. It was definitely the most highly anticipated match-up the community has ever seen, Bravado against ATK. We took it round by round, keeping the energy high and we were hyping each other up. The second game in the best of 3 series was a nail biter as it was neck and neck but we came out on top taking the series 2-0. The victory was a milestone for us as we had dethroned the kings. We knew they were going to be more prepared if we were to face them in the Grand Final of a best of 5 series and they definitely were, they did their homework this time but we knew we had the power to beat them again and we took it round for round, map for map keeping morale high and not getting ahead of ourselves. When the final kill was delivered to seal the deal for our 3-1 victory we were ecstatic as we had for sure proven that they could be beaten. We were all proud of what we had accomplished together and that we proved ourselves to everyone who doubted us.
How much of a difference has Bravado Gaming’s support made to your team?
Liam 'Minted' Knipe: Before everything took off, Regicide started as five friends who had a love for the game, we weren’t anything special or out of the ordinary but rather enjoyed spending our time playing video games and Rainbow Six Siege in particular. When we first heard about Bravado’s interest in us everyone was going crazy because that meant we could put in the hours and time into improving and we can show the community the potential we have. Since the first day in Bravado, all I have received is love. It comes from our managers Zozu and Wasim, the fellow BVD members who already feel like family and even from Detrony and Cent, the BVD owners. We received videos and messages of support which stunned me completely - to think that is how involved the whole organisation is and that is how much they care for their players. Our manager Zozu messages us every day on things we need or what is going on in our lives, makes sure all our gear is up to date and fires us up before games. Just knowing he is watching makes our whole team push that extra bit and that is a big factor that helps in competition.
Do you think there is added pressure now playing under the BVD banner?
Kyle 'elyk' de Villiers: Yeah there's definitely added pressure when you're representing an organization on the level of Bravado but the pressure playing under the Bravado name is seriously offset by the huge amount of support that everyone provides us. After the first victory against ATK we had people from every role in Bravado offering congratulations and advice, from players in Fifa or Fortnite to the streamers and admin staff. People took an interest in how the game works and how the operators affect the game. Yet, despite this attention we received, there was never pressure put on us to win. The pressure applied was purely to play our own game and remain level-headed. That really motivated us to focus on what we do best, without nerves for the outcome of the game.
Why is R6 Siege the title to watch this year for South African esports fans?
Matthew 'Eryie' Bezuidenhout: Rainbow Six Siege is the perfect mix between a fast paced FPS and a strategic team game. R6 Siege is inclusive as it is accessible and enjoyable from the casual gamer to the pro player. R6 is growing in the Esports community in South Africa at an accelerating rate - especially with bigger gaming organisations such as Bravado Gaming entering the scene. Siege is a diverse game as every round presents a new set of challenges and strategies, no round is the same. R6 as an Esport is also one of the most entertaining games to watch even from a non-siege player's perspective as it teaches the spectator new aspects about the game in every round. I believe that Rainbow Six Siege will become one of the most prominent games in the Esports community and I cannot wait to experience its growth.
