Aside from the restart of the Pro League and Challenger League, this next month will see the commencement of a number of smaller, national-level tournaments, from the return of the US Nationals to the recently announced Russian Major League tournament. Here is a short summary of each of these leagues you can take part in (or just watch) in the coming months:
Brasileirão 2018 - Season 1
This weekend sees the BR6 hold its LAN Finals to crown the best team in Brazil. After a regular season which saw the 8 Pro League teams from season 7 compete in a Bo1 double elimination, round-robin tournament the final 4 teams of FaZe Clan, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team oNe and paiN Gaming have all been invited to Rio de Janeiro for the Finals.
The finals will be happening at the Game XP, the “largest gamer event in Latin America”, and will have a “King-of-the-Hill” style bracket as seen below. They can be watched on the UbisoftEsports Twitch account this Sunday.
The playoff bracket for the Br6 Finals via Liquipedia
ESL Benelux League Season 2
Covering the nations of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the Benelux League Season 2 qualifiers began last month to find the 5 teams which will join last season’s top 3 later this month. Season 1 saw many notable players take part, including Pengu, Gomfi, Korey, and KS. The Dutch team of Trust Gaming, best known for their DreamHack Valencia main stage matchup against PENTA Sports, eventually took home the title.
You can sign up for the upcoming qualifier here for your chance to make it to the LAN Finals at “Bright Day” - an event with over 20,000 visitors - and to take home a part of the €7,500 ($8,700) prize pool.
US Nationals 2018
Stage 2 of the United States Nationals starts this weekend with the first of 2 open qualifiers taking place per region (East and West Conference) to see which teams will join Spacestation Gaming and Noble esports at the LAN Finals in December to compete for a slice of the $50,000 prize pool and the title of Team USA.
ESL Premiership Spring 2018
Announced earlier in the week, the ESL Premiership is a chance for teams from the UK and Ireland to compete for a £10,500 prize pool. The tournament kicks off with the first of 2 qualifiers starting next Wednesday, which will determine the 8 best teams in Britain before they are divided into two groups of four, and play each other twice every Wednesday in October and November. Following this, the top 2 teams in each group will be invited to the LAN Final on December 8th at the ESL Studio 1 in Leicester.
You’ll be able to watch the games on the rainbowsix_uk Twitch account cast by the Northern Irish caster Harry “Demo” Dempster, best known for casting DreamHack Valencia earlier in the year. You can see the complete rules and sign up for the tournament right here.
Canadian Nationals Season 2
Team Canada will be aiming to retain their title in this twice-annual tournament to find the best teams in Canada. A qualifier event will take place on September 22 to add two teams to join the top 6 from last season, which was won by a mixed team of Pro and Challenger League players including Davide "FoxA" Bucci and Jeffrey “EvlWaffle” Haworth. Season 2 will see 4 Bo1 matches happen every Saturday and Sunday starting at 8pm EST on the northernarena Twitch account. You can find out more and sign up for this tournament right here.
Team Canada standing with their Canadian Nationals Season 1 trophy
ESL Masters España Season 1
Also restarting next week after a mid-Season break is the Spanish National event which pits the best Spanish majority teams against each other to compete for their slice of the €20,000 prize pool. The league sees a number of recognisable players including much of the ex-Pro League team of GBots represented between Giants Gaming and Dragon Esports Club as well as the teams of x6tense (which competed in Team Secret’s group in DreamHack Valencia) and Movistar Riders (Pro League player Korey’s previous team).
After 9 playdays completed out of 18, Giants Gaming has understandably risen to first, with them and Movistar Riders being the only remaining unbeaten teams. You can watch the rest of the tournament unfold on the rainbow6es Twitch account every Wednesday to Friday from 5:30pm CEST.
Campeonato Mexicano Season 1
The recently revealed Mexican Nationals started last month with an online qualifier and has completed 5 out of the 13 play days. 8 teams will make it through the qualifiers, with 4 of them then making it to the LAN Finals in Mexico City next July, with a $500,000MXN ($26,000) prize pool up for grabs. This tournament can be watched on the rainbow6latam Twitch channel or can be followed on the rainbow6LATAM Twitter channel.
The 14 teams competing in the Mexican Nationals qualifiers.
Masters League Season 1
Beginning just last Wednesday, this Polish League will see 8 teams, including the Challenger League team of TrainHard eSports, compete in a GSL-style group with the top 4 qualifying for a LAN Final with 20,000PLN ($5,400) on offer. The games can be seen on the rainbow6pl Twitch channel every Wednesday from 7:30pm CEST.
Russian Major League Season 1
Announced just 2 days ago, the Russian Major League is the successor to the Russian Championship annual tournament and will offer a 500,000RUB ($7,200) prize pool for the top 4 teams to compete over at a LAN Final in December. Before that, though, 2 open qualifier events will take place to determine which 8 teams will play in the regular season throughout October and November -- the first of which takes place next Saturday, for which sign-ups can be done here.
Thailand League Season 1
Perhaps the least known and smallest of all national tournaments mentioned, the Thailand League sees the best teams in Thailand compete across a 9-week long tournament for a shot at the 100,000THB ($3,000) prize pool. Despite the low prize money, however, the tournament is only the third one listed (alongside the USN and BR6) to feature an actual Pro League team, Xavier Esports, competing. The Thai squad currently holds the top spot in the South-East Asian Pro League and will be playing in the sub-regional Pro League playoffs on Thursday.
Furthermore, this is also only the second one listed (alongside the BR6) to feature a “B League” for aspiring teams to compete in. This secondary league only has a 40,000THB ($1,200) prize pool, however, it also features a LAN Final meaning that in this month alone, Thailand will have the same number of PC LAN tournaments as the US has had since the game’s launch. You can watch these tournaments on the gakguaystudio Twitch channel every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 3pm CEST.
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As well as these currently active or upcoming tournaments, the ESL Italia Championship, Coupe de France and Six Lounge Series (Germany) all recently ended, with more seasons expected next year. With Siege spreading across the World quicker than ever, tournaments such as this are likely to continue to pop up everywhere giving us more opportunities to enjoy Siege as both a player and viewer, so keep up to date with these and other tournaments right here at SiegeGG.