Following the conclusion of RE:L0:AD, Rainbow Six Siege X's first-ever competition, both fans and players are now looking forward to the start of the BLAST R6 2025 Season. With Rainbow Six Siege X being released on June 10, the regional top flights will kick off almost immediately after.
Surprisingly enough, following CAG Osaka and BNK FEARX's performances in RE:L0:AD, and with Dplus' Brazilian roster having yet to make its debut in Asia's top flight, the APAC North 2025 Stage 1 has got extremely interesting.
Keep on reading to not miss out on anything before the competition kicks off on June 15:
Format
The APAC North 2025 Stage 1 is dived into two phases: Group Stage and Playoffs.
In the group stage, the eight teams in the competition will face off against once in a round-robin league with BO1 matches. The best six teams will qualify for the playoffs, while the two bottom teams will be eliminated.
Meanwhile, the playoffs will be a double-elimination bracket with BO3 matches. The top two seeds from the groups stage will start from the bracket's Upper Bracket Semifinals, while the other teams will start from the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals.
Dates
The APAC North 2025 Stage 1 will kick off in June 15 and will last until July 27. Dived into Group Stage and Playoffs, here's when each round will take place:
Group Stage
The APAC North 2025 Stage 1 Group Stage will be played between June 15 and July 6.
Playoffs
The APAC North 2025 Stage 1 Playoffs will be played between July 13 and July 27.
Prize pool and SI Points distribution
While the total prize pool of the APAC North 2025 Stage 1 hasn't been announced yet, here's how SI 2026 Points will be distributed across the participants:
- 1st: 300 SI Points
- 2nd: 150 SI Points
- 3rd to 5th: 50 SI Points
Additionally, the winner of the APAC North 2025 Stage 1 will qualify for the Esports World Cup 2025.
Teams
Here's a brief look at all of the teams that will take part in the APAC League 2025 Stage 1:
SCARZ
The three-time Japan League champions have been struggling internationally despite the organization's success on home soil. As a consequence, the team decided to make two roster moves and a coaching change as Taiyo "Ayagator" Hirayama and Yuuta "Tyopi" Yanagi signed to replace Nina "Nina" Abe and Taiyo "Taiyou" Kitano. Meanwhile, Juusei "Eclair" Oura joined the team replacing Shota "Blueno4ronandes" Aono.
Unfortunately for the Japanese, the squad couldn't show any signs of improvement in the players' first international competition together as they got knocked out of RE:L0:AD after defeats against Wildcard, Fnatic, Cloud9, and Elevate. However, regionally, the team is expected to be one of the region's powerhouses.
CAG Osaka
While SCARZ have been struggling internationally, CAG Osaka have been stealing the show. In February 2025, the Cyclops finally survived to an international group stage as they finished in 9th - 12th place at the Six Invitational 2025.
Shortly after, in March 2023, CAG Osaka announced the arrival of the former Cyclop Takashi "Arcully" Ono who signed to replace the retired Sho "Sironeko" Endo. Two months later, the Japanese became the first Asian roster to reach an international top-flight grand final as they took a harsh 0-3 defeat against FURIA Esports in RE:L0:AD's final match.
Due to the team's recent results abroad, it's fair to say fans expect a lot from CAG Osaka. However, a big portion of them still think their result in Rio de Janeiro happened due to the combination of multiple factors, including an unbalanced group stage format and weak sides in their playoff bracket. Be as it may, the Japanese made history in Rio, and have a shot at proving themselves this season.
BNK FEARX
Alongside CAG Osaka, BNK FEARX was one of the positive surprises for APAC in RE:L0:AD.
During the Six Invitational 2025, BNK FEARX, who hadn't qualified for the event, announced the arrivals of the former Dplus players Jo "coted" Sung-jun and Park "Woogiman" Jin-wook. In a matter of days, the yellow roster was already known as the new South Korean super roster. Time proved them right.
Against all of the odds, the South Koreans claimed three back-to-back victories against CAG Osaka, G2 Esports, and Spacestation Gaming, which put them in a very strong place to qualify for the next stage. After a 3-7 defeat against Team Falcons, BNK FEARX survived to the group stage following to a 7-5 win against Team BDS. Unfortunately, they got knocked out two days later after a 1-2 defeat against the Cyclops.
Despite an early exit from RE:L0:AD's playoffs, the South Koreans managed to get great results against top international sides; something that gives APAC fans plenty of hope ahead of the start of the 2025 season.
PSG Talon
PSG Talon quickly became Asia's main hope at international competitions after Fabian "Fabian" Hällsten completely transformed the team. The players' performances in Manchester brought hope to a region that had struggled in Year 8. Finally, at the Six Invitational 2025, despite not surviving to the group stage, the South Koreans' victories against DarkZero Esports and Team BDS were enough to proudly represent the region in Boston.
However, PSG Talon's Rainbow Six Siege project is now surrounded by question marks following the Swede's departure to M80. In RE:L0:AD, the South Koreans were the only ones to be knocked out of the competition on Day 3 after defeats against Cloud9, M80, and Elevate.
After having suffered regionally in last season's second stage, and with the South Koreans now having to face off against SCARZ, CAG Osaka, as well as their previous opponents in the South Korea League, BNK FEARX and Dplus, it's hard to confidently say PSG Talon will be able to hold themselves at the top of the region.
Dplus
After missing out on a Six Invitational 2025 qualification, Dplus took the drastic decision to completely transform its Rainbow Six Siege project as they dropped their South Korean roster to pick up a Brazilian lineup.
Including two Six Major champions in José "Bullet1" Víctor and Juliano "Levy" Andrade, the Six Invitational 2021 champion Dyjair "Mity" Soares, as well as the two-time Six Invitational Top 4 Kaique "Faallz" Moreira and Nicolas "NearZ" Fresnel, Dplus' lineup is the most successful and experienced side in the region.
However, despite the players' careers, importing Brazilian players isn't a synonym of instant success. Both Faallz and NearZ played together for Six Karma and failed to qualify for the BLAST R6 Major Manchester after finishing in third place in the LATAM League 2024 Stage 1. Nevertheless, it's fair to say Dplus are one of the favorites to become the leading force in the region this season. The first stage will give us a better picture of the roster's real potential and ceiling.
KINOTROPE gaming
Based on last year's results in the Japan League 2024, KINOTROPE gaming technically were above CAG Osaka, as they finished both stages in second place, only behind the regional champions SCARZ.
Despite the team's results during the Japan League 2024 group stage and playoffs, the squad couldn't qualify for any of the Majors played last season after second-place and fourth-place finishes in Manchester and Montreal's LCQ, respectively. The same happened at the Six Invitational 2025 Japan Closed Qualifiers, as the team was ran over by the Cyclops, who took the qualifier's first spot after back-to-back 7-1 wins.
Although KINOTROPE gaming have yet to play at an international Rainbow Six Siege tournament, it's fair to say the Japanese have given watchers plenty of reasons to believe in their potential. Now, in a league where they will play against Japan and South Korea's biggest powerhouses, the job has got even more difficult.
ENTER FORCE.36
Throughout 2024, ENTER FORCE.36 slowly but steadily got closer to the top half of the Japan League standings, going from a bottom finish in the first split to a sixth-place finish in the second, and a third-place finish in the Japanese Last Chance Qualifier for the BLAST R6 Major Montreal.
To top it off, ENTER FORCE.36 ended the 2024 season with a third-place finish in the Six Invitational 2025 Japan Closed Qualifier, a run that included two victories against Crest Gaming Lst and two narrow defeats against KINOTROPE gaming, with three of the five maps played against them reaching maximum overtime.
Given the team's progression during the latter months of the 2024 season, the Japanese decided to keep four of the five players that were part of the team by the end of the season, including Jin "JiNm" Maekawa, who had joined the team to play the Six Invitational 2025 Japan Closed Qualifier. The organization's only change was the addition of the former SCARZ player Nina "Nina" Abe to replace the retired Kyohei "Take" Koyama.
Mir Gaming
Mir Gaming was unveiled as the final esports organization to join the APAC League 2025 Stage 1 in April 2025. One month later, the team's roster was unveiled.
The South Korean roster is a mix of players who went LFT following the conclusion of the 2024 season. The team's IGL is the former PSG Talon player Kim "RuMaTick" Jang-wook, who briefly played under Fabian "Fabian" Hällsten's orders during the Esports World Cup 2024.
The roster also includes the former Cloud9 and Talon Esports player Kwon "h3dy" Yu-geun, the former Dplus player Jang "dmaly" Hyun-jun, Park "Guard" Sung-woo, Jeong "aEnde" Tae-hoon, and Jeong "Napz" Tae-yeon.
Mir Gaming have already been seen playing in Rainbow Six Siege X as they competed in the Orient Elite Clash, which included Latent Dragon Esports, KINOTROPE gaming, and FURY. After a win against the Hong Kong mix, the South Koreans were knocked out after defeats against the Japanese and the Thai.