In the late hours of the evening, hitting the threshold of early morning hours, Parker "Interro" Mackay was close to wrapping up his community cast of several North American Six Invitational qualifier matchups. After the close matchup of Spacestation Gaming versus the ex-Noble team of Orgless, came one of the most unforgettable matchups that Rainbow Six will ever see.
It was approximately 12:15 in the morning on the East Coast, as teammates Hyena, Rexen, Filthy, XecratioN, and YardySosa loaded into a game against one of North America’s most lethal teams- DarkZero Esports. Little did they know on the other end of their server, the cast of Interro, joined by several pros and figures including (but not limited to) Kevin "easilyy" Skokowski, Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski, and Rob "Flynn" Flynn, would provide this matchup an astronomical push through to the mainstream of Siege. From the ‘V’ formation roam clear in Kitchen/Open Area to the infamous Hyena Rule (“thou who hast the most frags, doth be promoted to Doc”), the night could only last so long.
In May of 2019, that same ‘Dream Team’ which lost that matchup 0-2, defeated Challenger League favorites Susquehanna Soniqs in the CL playoffs grand final to make it to the Pro League. A dream materialized, yet most of us have no clue where this team came from, or how the aptly-named '92 Dream Team found their success. This is their story.
"When we started the team, we didn’t really think of a name -- we didn’t really care what the name was.” says Kian "Hyena" Mozayani, one of the three core players of the roster.
'92 Dream Team was birthed out of the remnants of an infamous United States Nationals team known as Strength. In one of the very early iterations of today’s Organized Chaos, Adam "Drip"(formerly known as YardySosa) Kolodkin had participated with other very well known players such as CloudStruck to eventual teammates Coal "Doodle" Phillips and XecratioN. After sporadic dominant showings against Tier 2 teams at the USN Qualifiers, Yardy approached Hyena.
Thus, the bond of '92 Dream Team was born. Hyena would eventually convince ex-teammate Richie "Rexen" Coronado to enter the team, having played with Rexen back at DreamHack Austin 2018 under the banner of Team Nitrox. Along the road, XecratioN and Filthy would join to complete the lineup. These five would go on during the Six Invitational 2019 online qualifiers, where they brought the Rainbow Six world one of the most entertaining matchups they had ever seen.
After winning against Elephant Gang post-acquisition of Lauren "Goddess" Williams, the team would await their matchup against Pro League’s own DarkZero Esports. With it being late into the night and with another tournament to tackle the day after, the team recognized they could not play to the best of their ability.
The match lifted them to stardom, as the hollers and laughs of casters and pros alike resounded through the stream. From Hyena’s promotion to Doc to Yardy’s failed clear of basement staircase, the match surely left the impression that this team was nothing more than a meme team. However, it would be the end of the road for Filthy.
Filthy’s job commitments would conflict with 2019’s Six Invitational online qualifiers, which unanimously resulted in his exit. Doodle had already been part of the team sometime prior to the Invitational qualifiers, after deciding to separate from Team SiNister sometime after the United States Nationals playoffs in Las Vegas.
'92 Dream Team would then continue on with Doodle in the place of Filthy, as they played in the Challenger League Season 9 online qualifiers just days after their match between DarkZero. The team was undefeated all through the open qualifiers heading into the closed bracket playoffs, when XecratioN was let go from the team to pick up OwtaCtrl for the playoffs.
Bracket for the North American Challenger League qualifier, via Liquipedia.
‘92 Dream Team finally had an organization behind them for the playoffs, carrying the banner of Vicious Gaming as they dropped only one map in the bracket, qualifying for the Challenger League. Their dream would be realized but they had a larger goal to commit to, a dream-above-all-dreams. Owta’s presence didn’t assist the team chemistry too much, despite his incredible performance.
For Season 9 of Challenger League, Organized Chaos’ Bombs joined to carry the team through alongside Obey Alliance’s ex-coach, Trevor "KenZ" Kenzie. KenZ would face a falling out with the organization, which prompted the addition of Cloud9’s ex-coach, Anthony "ViiRuS" Ybarra.
North American Season 9 Challenger League season standings, via Liquipedia.
Vicious would have an interesting Challenger League, going 6-4-4 in the season to earn a fourth-place spot prior to the Challenger League playoffs. Their chemistry in the latter half would take a beating due to inconsistent showings from Bombs, which prompted a change. Luckily for Hyena, he had a few strings he could pull.
Hyena would make the transition to a support player, where he learned from Tom "Tomas" Kaka’s experience in Pro League to better his playstyles and methodology to accommodate Tomas’ introduction. After making the decision to leave Vicious Gaming before the end of the CL season, they would pull off an upset run in the playoffs by beating NA CL juggernauts Organized Chaos and fan-favorites Susquehanna Soniqs to make it straight into Pro League.
The dream was completed. From a meme match to a dream team, ‘92 Dream Team fully materialized their dreams of Pro League. From beginnings as scrim warriors and the Tier 3 competitive scene to being the newest addition to Pro League Season 10, these five individuals would finally achieve one of the highest honors in competitive Rainbow Six. From here on, the team must continue to adapt and evolve to their new opportunities in both Pro League and the upcoming Allied Esports Minor.
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You can watch '92 Dream Team compete in the upcoming Allied Esports Las Vegas Minor from June 7th - 9th, and Season 10 of North American Pro League.