Players to watch from each region during the Rainbow Six Invitational 2021

With the Six Invitational soon to start, there are many different nationalities and personalities converging on Paris to play their hearts out and go for the coveted title.
Three times’ the charm

One of the most known players to return into competitive Rainbow Six Siege is of course none other than Troy ‘Canadian’ Jaroslawski, a 24 year old retiree. After a very successful career, Canadian decided to step down from competitive play in March of 2021, stating he did not have the motivation and drive to keep on playing with the distinct lack of offline events. It didn’t do the team justice to play with someone that couldn’t give the full 100% needed to compete at the highest level, yet he has now decided to come back for a single tournament.

He has already won the Six Invitational twice, something that just a few players can say. Nobody has won it three times however, which might have been the reason Spacestation Gaming were able to lure Canadian back into playing. With the analyst of Spacestation Gaming not being able to cover the pressure Canadian had before, it was an even bigger necessity to bring him out of retirement. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t hope that this event will reignite the fire within Canadian to make him compete again, and possibly bring Spacestation to the top of the North American scene once more.

Shaiko ready to live up to the hype

A slightly more controversial character is that of Stéphane ‘Shaiko’ Lebleu, a formerly banned player in the Siege competitive circuit. He has been impressing many during his competitive time, yet had a lengthy time-out as he was banned for two years by ESL on October 11th, 2017. This was due to macro usage, but even without that he was already seen as one of the biggest prodigies for the coming years.

With his team BDS Esport, he has been at the top of the European scene since his return. Topping the charts of group stages and also winning the Six August Major 2020 – Europe. He has already qualified for the previous iteration of the Six Invitational, just before the start of the Pandemic. He was able to make it into the fourth place during his first global tournament, now looking to improve on that result in his second go. Will he be able though, as his team has been slightly less commanding in the ongoing season, and with many other teams of course being able to read into their playstyle which is challenged by many others in the European League?

One thing we do know is that Shaiko can rely on his great aim and game sense to help him out in the coming Six Invitational, possibly his first to win.

Young, but full of hope

With the APAC region flourishing, some teams will be competing for that side of the world as well. Some players are more experienced than others, with age sometimes being a deceiving factor. As is the case with the 19 year old Jordan ‘Jrdn’ Cheng Jia Heng, a player for Giants Gaming.

Despite his relatively young age, especially with Ubisoft enforcing a minimum age requirement for players of 18 years old, Jrdn has quite a decent resume already. With his coaching and playing experience dating back all the way to 2018, he might be an interesting player to keep an eye on. Will he be the youngest ever to win an Invitational?

Brazilian Underdogs

The Brazilian scene is always a strong one and trying to overcome the odds to beat the Europeans and North Americans alike. With this Invitational fielding a grand total of six teams from the country, the chances are higher than ever to win the Six Invitational for their country. FURIA’s captain Thiago ‘LENDA’ Torres might have a bit of extra motivation, as he wasn’t due to the global standings, but due to winning the Latin American qualifier, which fielded an extra team from the region.

FURIA hasn’t been able to impress in the regional league this season, but to make amends it would of course be great to perform well in this global event, showing the team can make it work. It does seem to be an uphill struggle though, with so many teams from Brazil eager to go for the title.

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Image Credit: Ubisoft (Peter Chau)
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