FaZe UPNEXT Rising Series: Everything you need to know

The FaZe UPNEXT Rising Series is a Tier 2 exclusive competition for South American teams. It will give fans the chance to see some of the region's most talented Tier 2 players for the first time since the conclusion of the Liga START 2026. Unfortunately, Liga START 2026 champions ENX won't be playing in the tournament.

Here's everything you need to know about the event:

Dates and format

The event will be an online tournament played between August 22 and August 23. The event will have a single-elimination bracket with BO3 games.

Here's the time for each match:

Quarterfinals

• August 22: FaZe Up Next vs. Flintstones (7 PM CEST)
• August 22: 9z Team vs. SuperNova Team (7 PM CEST)
• August 22: xerenha vs. Elevate Academy (9 PM CEST)
• August 22: Mystic Esports vs. Escolinha do Mid (9 PM CEST)

Semifinals

• August 23: TBD vs. TBD (7 PM CEST)
• August 23: TBD vs. TBD (9 PM CEST)

Grand Final

• August 23: TBD vs. TBD (11 PM CEST)

Prizepool

The FaZe UPNEXT Rising Series will include a prize pool of R$45,000. This is the equivalent to approximately USD$8,700.

How to watch

FaZe Clan will have four different official watch parties for the FaZe UPNEXT Rising Series. Streamers such as the Six Invitational 2022 champion Jason "Beaulo" Doty or the BLAST R6 Major Manchester champion Eric "fett" Tong will broadcast the games.

Rainbow Six Siege's Brazil account will also broadcast the matches.

Teams

This weekend's FaZe UPNEXT Rising Series includes some of the strongest teams in South America's Tier 2, including:

• FaZe Up Next
• Mystic Esports
• 9z Team
• SuperNova Team
• Elevate Academy
• xerenha
• Escolinha do Mid
• Flintstones

Here's a look at the most interesting ones:

FaZe Up Next

FaZe Up Next was born earlier this year as FaZe Clan's academy roster. Its the home of some highly interesting players in South America's Tier 2. The team's best result so far is a third-place finish at the recently-finished Liga START 2026.

Bruno "Hurbyz" Gussoni is one of South America's most brilliant prospects. The player made his Tier 2 debut in South America's Challenger Series 2025. After a full year in Brazil's Tier 2 ecosystem, the youngster was picked up by the back-to-back world champions' academy project. With a SiegeGG rating of 1.15 in 22 maps played, he was FaZe Up Next's best player at Liga START 2026.

Elevate Academy

Unlike other teams in the event, Elevate Academy's current project isn't about finding the region's next big talent. Instead, the team is formed by players who have already made their top flight debut.

Caio "Neskin" Szazi is the team's most experienced player as the former Team oNe player has a Six Major under his belt. The Brazilian won the Six Mexico Major and took part in multiple international events before joining 00 Nation. His last international appearance was for Geekay Esports at the Esports World Cup 2024. Since then, he returned to South America's top flight after joining Keyd Stars. In early 2025, he joined Stellae Gaming where he won the Liga START 2025 and the RUSH SERIES 2025. A short stint at 2GAME Esports was followed by a move to Elevate's academy roster.

Thiago "LENDA" Torres has also got plenty of regional and international experience after having represented FURIA, Team Liquid, Keyd Stars, among others. He has played at two Six Invitationals for the Black Panthers. Meanwhile, Victor "Hornetao" Araujo has also played on the international stage as he represented Black Dragons at the BLAST R6 Major Montreal.

Finally, Vitor "Hashasky" Kubota and Kaik "Gomess" Sousa have yet to make their international debuts. However, they have played for some of Brazil's biggest esports powerhouses, including Fluxo and MIBR, respectively.

9z Team

9z Team is the only Argentinian-majority roster in the tournament. The team has made two changes since the conclusion of the Liga START 2026 as they signed Josías "Soco" Altamirano and lioo, so it's hard to know exactly what to expect from the Spanish-speaking lineup.

It's worth mentioning that most of these players have got plenty of regional experience on their backs as they played in the already-extinct Copa Elite Six, which offered Argentinian and Chilean teams the chance to play against the best Brazilian lineups for a chance to qualify for a Six Major. Whilst they couldn't upset the Brazilian powerhouses, teams like Six Karma, ALPHA Team, or the Knights reached the international stage after BLAST picked up the Rainbow Six Siege esports ecosystem.

Bastian "Basthian" Aguilera and Soco are the only two players with international experience after having played at the BLAST R6 Major Montreal and the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen, respectively.

SuperNova Team

SuperNova Team returned to Brazil's Tier 2 ecosystem in 2025 after a two-year-and-a-half hiatus. The Brazilian project currently includes five former top flight players, including Luiz "Miracle" Augusto, Vinicius "Patoxy" Lima, Vitor "Kurtz" Monteiro, Willian "WiLL" Rodrigues, and Samuel "fxrias" Farias.

Miracle and Patoxy are the most experienced players in the roster as they played internationally for FURIA and Black Dragons. Meanwhile, the rest of the players in the squad have got a couple of professional stages on their shoulders.

For more information about Rainbow Six Siege and its esports scene, make sure to check out Siege.GG.