The second week of the U.S. Nationals Stage 1 Conference qualifiers came to and end last week, and with it the Stage 1 Eastern and Western conference finals are now confirmed.
The Eastern Qualifier
After the first week of the Eastern conference qualifier, well-known amateur team Renascence, who had until two months ago been playing on console, faced off against TASK Esports in the semi-finals. Having fallen to Noble eSports in the previous week (the winners of the week 1 qualifier), Renascence were able to secure a chance in this week's final after taking down TASK. On the other side of the Eastern qualifier bracket, two Pro League teams, mousesports and Obey Alliance, faced off against each other once again. During the first qualifier, Obey won the matchup 6-2, however this week mouz found revenge. After a 5-2 lead to Obey, mouz were able to secure a comeback, winning 7-6.
With Renascence facing mousesports in the finals, Renascence were given another opportunity to show that they can transition from their console background and compete at the highest levels of the PC scene, just as Supremecy had once done at the start of Year 2. Renascence however struggled to find their footing on the first map, Coastline, with mouz falling just short of a perfect map at 6-1. After a difficult first map, Renascence began to push back against mouz, winning the first two rounds. Despite signs of stronger play and a better performance from Renascence, mouz fought back on Clubhouse and eventually won with a score of 6-3, securing a match against Noble in the upcoming Stage 1 Eastern conference finals.
The Western Qualifier
In the Western conference qualifier, Spacestation Gaming made another appearance after last week’s upset defeat by Disrupt Gaming. This time, Spacestation successfully made it through the bracket and into the Western qualifier finals. On the other side of the bracket, amateur teams such as Cerberus Sports, Adapt and Deception battled it out to try and secure a chance in the finals against Spacestation. With a win in the semi-finals against Cerberus, Deception moved on to face them.
Headed into the finals, Spacestation Gaming started strong and showed why they are among the top Pro League teams, winning the first map 6-0, on Clubhouse. Heading into Border, Deception began to show signs of potential with a few round wins. Spacestation however eventually won out, with some impressive plays from Shuttle and Chala, winning the second map 6-2.
With the Week 2 qualifier finals now finished, the Eastern and Western conference finals are set. In the Eastern conference, mousesports locked in a spot to face Noble eSports. With Noble currently 5th in Pro League standings and mouz at 7th, it will definitely be a close match. In the Western conference, Spacestation Gaming secured their place to face off against against Disrupt Gaming. Having lost in a surprising defeat to Disrupt in the first week qualifier, this will be their chance at chance at revenge. Be sure to tune into the action Friday, August 3 to catch the Stage 1 conference finals, live on the official Rainbow Six Twitch channel.
