Last weekend, two teams secured their place at the Stage 2 U.S. Nationals Conference finals as well as launched the qualifiers for the teams that will be taking them on. Here’s a recap of everything #R6USN you might have missed from last week.
Qualifier Finals
Starting the weekend off last weekend was the Eastern qualifier finals between Apache eSports and Obey Alliance. Despite an up and down performance in the NA Pro League from Obey Alliance, they were able to prove themselves on Clubhouse for the first map with a flawless 6-0 win. Headed onto Border for the second map, Apache were able to fight back against Ober; however strong play out of Obey with Bosco finding a 1 versus 3 clutch on defense and Skys securing himself an ace on the attack, Obey ended the map 6-4, winning a spot in the Stage 2 Conference finals.
In the Western qualifier finals, SiNisterGG faced Nomads for the first spot at the Conference finals that would not go to a Pro League team. The series started out even, with both teams trading rounds Bank. Nomads began to find an advantage however and eventually lead the series with a 6-3 win. The second map of the series on Border saw even closer action, as SiNister and Nomads went round for round all the way up to 4-4 on the scoreboard, with SiNister eventually managing to break the deadlock and string the final two rounds together to a 6-4 victory and tie the series, bringing it to a third and final map. The final map of Oregon mirrored the tense play from the rest of the series so far, with both teams finding strong play on the defense. As the teams headed to overtime, Nomads were able to secure the two round wins necessary and secure themselves a victory.
Online Qualifier #2
With the end of the first Stage 2 qualifier coming to a close on Friday, teams began playing once more for a chance to make the Conference finals with the start of the second Stage 2 qualifier. The Eastern qualifier saw fierce competition in the upper side of the bracket, with mousesports making a return, taking down well-known amateur team Elephant Gang on their way to the finals. In the lower side of the bracket, Apache eSports attempted once more to make it through the qualifiers after the loss in the previous qualifier finals, however tough competition against the surprise entry from Cloud9 into the U.S. Nationals (who had previously been ineligible until acquiring a Visa for their Canadian player FoxA), proved too difficult a task.
In the Western qualifier, SiNister returned to the challenge after their defeat to Nomads in the recent qualifier finals but were met by Pro League opposition in the form of Rogue. With a victory over SiNister, Rogue will move on to the qualifier finals to face HypeR Esports.
With the first teams for the Stage 2 Conference finals confirmed as Obey Alliance and Nomads, the remaining teams in the second online qualifier will be looking to secure their place not only in the Conference finals but also their ticket to the US Nationals Finals in December. The action is beginning to heat up as we head into the final qualifier for Stage 2, with Pro League teams Cloud9 and mousesports facing each other in the Eastern finals, and Rogue versus HypeR Esports in the Western finals. The U.S. Nationals returns with the second Stage 2 qualifier finals September 21, live on the official Rainbow Six Twitch channel.
