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. One of the first ones to start will be the North America League 2025 Stage 1, which is expected to begin two days later.
Keep on reading to know more about the competition, as well as the teams and players in it:
Format
The North America League 2025 Stage 1 will be divided into two phases: Group Stage and Playoffs.
In the group stage, the ten teams in the competition will play each other once in a round-robin league with BO1 matches. The six best teams will move to the Playoffs, which will be a double-elimination bracket with BO3 matches.
The two top seeds from the group stage will automatically qualify for the Upper Bracket Semifinals, while seeds three, four, five, and six will start their Playoffs run from the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals.
Dates
The North America League 2025 Stage 1 will kick off on June 12 and will end on July 24. Here's a more detailed look at when the competition will be played:
Group Stage
The Group Stage will be played between June 12 and July 19. Here's when each playday will take place:
- June 12: Playday 1
- June 13: Playday 2
- June 19: Playday 3
- June 20: Playday 4
- June 26: Playday 5
- June 27: Playday 6
- July 11: Playday 7
- July 12: Playday 8
- July 13: Playday 9
Playoffs
The Playoffs will be played between July 16 to July 19. No information has been released about when each playday will take place.
Prize pool and SI Points distribution
While the total prize pool of the North America League 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 best four teams by the end of the stage will qualify for the Esports World Cup 2025.
Teams
Here's a brief look at the ten teams competing in the North America League 2025 Stage 1:
Cloud9
Cloud9 is back to Rainbow Six Siege's North American top flight after over six years since the organization's decision to move to South Korea.
In the team's return to America, Cloud9 has assembled a roster majorly formed by players who have very limited experience in the professional scene. The only exception is Mitch "Dream" Malson, who has competed in multiple Majors and has reached the Six Invitational Top 4 twice — in 2023 for Oxygen Esports and in 2025 for Unwanted.
Cloud9's debut came last month in Brazil. The American mix was groupped in RE:L0:AD after wins against PSG Talon and SCARZ but defeats against Team Liquid, G2 Esports, and M80.
DarkZero Esports
DarkZero Esports' squad to compete in the 2025 season is easily one of the strongest in the whole circuit. Individually, the team includes an outstanding mix of experience and skill, with all of the players having already proven themselves both regionally and internationally. Therefore, it makes sense to think DarkZero Esports shouldn't be just favorites in their home region but also at international competitions.
In RE:L0:AD, DarkZero Esports was arguably the most affected side by the group stage format. Following back-to-back 7-3 victories against Fnatic and Spacestation Gaming, the purple roster took a harsh maximum overtime defeat against w7m esports. One day later, the North Americans took down the eventual champions FURIA Esports — the only side to do so in the competition — but got knocked out by G2 Esports after consecutively losing the last five rounds of the game.
M80
M80's ending to the 2024 season was far from ideal after the team's underwhelming performance at the Six Invitational 2024, which also included controversy as Matheus "Budega" Figueiredo and Igor "Vivas" Vivas were ejected from the competition following an altercation against DarkZero Esports.
After the team's performance in Boston, M80 signed Gaven "Gaveni" Black and Matthew "Hotancold" Stevens to reunite four of the five BLAST R6 Major Manchester champions. Additionally, the team added Fabian "Fabian" Hällsten.
The roster made its debut under Fabian's orders in RE:L0:AD and finished with a positive record after wins against PSG Talon, Team Falcons, and Cloud9, but defeats against w7m esports and Team Secret.
Spacestation Gaming
The astronauts finished the 2024 season with a great performance at the Six Invitational 2025 Finals which saw them going out following a narrow 0-2 defeat against the eventual champions FaZe Clan.
Before that, the astronauts had pushed the Brazilians to the Lower Bracket after a 2-0 win in the Upper Bracket Round 1, and had also defeated G2 Esports before a 1-2 defeat against the eventual grand finalists Team BDS. All in all, the Americans' performance in Boston made North American fans extremely hopeful for the 2025 season.
Unfortunately, the team's first performance in Rainbow Six Siege X didn't go as planned. In the team's first tournament with Ethan "Nuers" James and the Six Mexico Major champion Arthur "TchubZ" Figueira, the astronauts got knocked out of the competition after defeats against DarkZero Esports, BNK FEARX, and Wildcard.
Wildcard
After the team's harsh 0-2 defeat against Oxygen Esports in the Six Invitational 2025 North American Finals, Wildcard only kept Evan "Kanzen" Bushore, Brady "Spiker" Lukens, and Jacob "Bae" Dowling, as they parted ways with Dylan "Bosco" Bosco, Chris "Spiff" Park, and the Six Berlin Major champion Matthew "meepeY" Sharples.
Instead, the team added the BLAST R6 Major Montreal champion Leonardo "Dash" Lopes, the French talent Joan "bbySharKK" Benito, and promoted Justin "Justin" Ponce as the team's coach.
So far, the decision has proven successful. Against all of the odds, the American-majority roster reached RE:L0:AD's semifinals, where they got knocked out of the competition after a 1-2 defeat against CAG Osaka. Before their defeat against the Japanese, Wildcard had beaten SCARZ, G2 Esports, Spacestation, Team Secret, and Elevate, which automatically makes the roster one to follow closely in the North America League 2025.
Oxygen Esports
Oxygen Esports was possibly the team that was affected the most by Ubisoft and BLAST's changes to the R6 Share 2025. With Oxygen Esports being left out of the skin program, Partnered teams quickly became too-good destinations to ignore; after all, playing for a Partnered team offers better opportunities.
After three years in the team, Ethan "Nuers" James departed Oxygen Esports to join Spacestation Gaming. Meanwhile, Lucas "DiasLucas" Dias joined Team Liquid in the South America League 2025. Finally, the team parted ways with James "Hat" Hatfield.
Despite the departures completely transforming the roster, it's fair to say Oxygen Esports have found their way to build what looks like a competitive roster for the 2025 season. To replace the departures previously mentioned, the green roster signed Adam "Atom" Gutiérrez, Roman "Forrest" Breaux, and Pablo "Gryxr" Rebeil, making Oxygen Esports a roster that should be a threat to any of the Partnered Teams in the competition.
Shopify Rebellion
Oxygen Esports isn't the only Affiliated Team that's ready to face the Partnered Teams in the North America League 2025, as Shopify Rebellion could steal the show this season.
The former Soniqs' core made its Shopify Rebellion debut at the Six Invitational 2025, where they finished in 13th - 16th place after surviving to the competition's group of death — which included the eventual champions FaZe Clan, the Six Invitational 2024 champions FURIA Esports, Team Secret, and CAG Osaka.
In April 2025, Shopify Rebellion announced the arrival of William "Spoit" Löfstedt from M80. The Swed's arrival automatically made Shopify Rebellion one of the strongest teams in the league, and likely one of the most-followed teams in the competition.
Luminosity Gaming
Although Luminosity Gaming couldn't make it out the mid-lower part of the North America League 2024 standings, the team surprised everyone when the American mix qualified for the Esports World Cup 2024.
Despite making a step to the right direction, Luminosity parted ways with their 2024 season roster before the Six Invitational 2024 North America Closed Qualifier, which meant the squad had to play the qualifier as an orgless mix called Friendship Team.
In May 2025, Luminosity Gaming, which had already been announced as one of the three Affiliated Teams in the competition, revealed the players in the roster, including the return of Edwardo "Eddy" Diaz, Julian "Kixhro" Velázquez, and the coach Anthony "Froshii" Nassar, as well as the rookies Landon "Beeno" Ashbee, Kees "epic" Hudson, and Mason "Fenz" Fender.
Team Cruelty
Team Cruelty will compete in the North America League 2025 after getting promoted to the league following a dominant performance in the LATAM North Challenger Series 2025.
Despite the roster fairly clinched a spot to compete in North America's top flight, some fans don't see with good eyes their presence in the league. This is because the three other top sides in the LATAM Challenger Series 2025, which were Associates, Rad eSports, and Relentless, could only claim two wins against American Tier 2 sides — out of a possible eleven — in the North America League Challenger Series 2025.
Be as it may, nobody can't ignore Team Cruelty's core has already played at multiple international competitions together, including the BLAST R6 Major Manchester and the Esports World Cup 2024. Unfortunately, the Mexicans have yet to win a single international match, as their current record includes defeats against Team BDS, CAG Osaka, and Spacestation Gaming twice.
JJ and Co
JJ and Co is the only orgless mix in the North America League 2025 Stage 1. The team qualified for the competition after winning the North America League 2025 Challenger Series following back-to-back 1-2 wins in the final day against IVsakeN and Revelations.
The roster's lineup includes three rookies in James "JJBlazt" Letkovsky, Riley "Rival" Killen, and Emilio, as well as the former Luminosity Gaming player Shawn "Twiizt" Testa and the former TSM player Nick "Snake" Janis.