In Boston, in front of a sold out crowd in the MGM Music Hall, Team BDS fell against FaZe Clan in what was the roster's first defeat in the competition since PSG Talon's thrilling 2-1 win in the group stage.
After winning the Upper Bracket, the Europeans earned the right to pick the first map of the series, as they went for Chalet – a map the Brazilians had banned from every Six Invitational 2025 match. Following the bans of Lair and Border, the Brazilians picked Consulate, right before the teams banned Kafe Dostoyevsky and Bank. Finally, Team BDS picked Nighthaven Labs and FaZe Clan picked Clubhouse; Skyscraper would be the decider.
Surprisingly enough, Chalet was closer than expected as the Brazilians pushed Team BDS to maximum overtime, which saw them reaching the sixteenth round. After getting an early advantage, the Brazilians tied up the series with a narrow win on Consulate.
Team BDS' chances of winning the game took a harsh twist on Nighthaven Labs as the Brazilians, commanded by an extraordinary José “Cyber” Ramos, took down the French-majority roster. Last but not least, the Brazilians became world champions with a 7-4 win on Clubhouse, a map they have won 18 out of 22 times since October 2023.
At the end of the day, history is written by the winners. While it may sound like a cliché, this popular saying doesn't just perfectly describe Team BDS defeat against FaZe Clan but also the roster's entire season: the Europeans were three wins away from winning absolutely everything there was to win, only three wins away from surpassing w7m esports' dynasty one year later.
Instead, this season will go down as the campaign where Thiago “Handy” Ferreira lifted the hammer one year after his brother. People will remember it as the season where FaZe Clan's investment finally proved to be fruitful; and Team BDS, despite being recognized as a powerhouse, will be remembered as the team that can only get the job done in Riyadh, a team that struggles when history is written.
Regardless of their outcomes, four back-to-back grand finals and above USD$1M in prize pool alone can't be ignored in the esports industry. Furthermore, it's the first French-majority roster to reach a Six Invitational grand final, and the first European lineup to do so since G2 Esports in 2023.
- Read more: Six Invitational 2025 MVP: Handy
To top it off, Team BDS' defeat has already given us what will be next year's main storyline: the Europeans, including three of the most prestigious French players in the scene, will try to redeem themselves next year in front of a home crowd, as the Six Invitational 2026 will be played in Paris. Certainly, it feels like it's written in the stars, just like the Ferreira's storyline.
Following the conclusion of the Six Invitational 2025 Grand Final, SiegeGG interviewed Théo "LikEfac" Mariano and Loïc "BriD" Chongthep to know more about the team's performance in the match and what this result means to them.
Note: Answers with "L" are by LikEfac, answers with "B" are by BriD.
After winning the Upper Bracket you had an advantage in the map ban phase. Chalet is a pick that they probably expected, so how did you get ready for Chalet, and did you expect it to be so close?
L: “Chalet was the expected pick, yes, because it's one of our favorite maps and it's one of the maps they hate, so they knew we were going to pick Chalet, and we knew they knew we were going to pick Chalet. We prepared Chalet because they already played it during the Esports World Cup and Manchester, so we knew a bit how they were going to play. I didn't expect the map to be that close, Cyber had a really good game, and especially the wallbang on me was an amazing one, but no, I didn’t expect this. In the end, we managed to get the win on this map, and I think we were happy with this result, we needed the win.”
Nighthaven Labs was where everything changed. In the first round, Cyber went berserk with Ela, and he turned around a clutch situation that proved to be differential. Could you drive us through that round, and what happened in the end?
B: “I only remember the end of the round; so, I think in the mid-round Shaiiko said there was one downed in pilar, then I didn't know that we were 3v1 at this time, so I went for the plant and Like and Yuzus went for the kill at this time, but I should have gone with them to get the kill, I think we just trolled the round, in some mini-maps as well as Chalet, as you said, it was close, but it shouldn't be close, because Cyber did a 2v1 against us, but if he could do that it was because of us, you know, because we didn't play well the situation, so it should have been a 7-4 for me Chalet.”
After losing Nighthaven Labs, which was your pick, you headed to one of FaZe Clan's favorites, Clubhouse. How was the team feeling?
L: “To be honest, the mental was good because we were confident as well on Club, we knew the situation about being in a disadvantage in a BO5, 1-2, we prepared for this moment, the mental was good, just didn't manage to close rounds, they were the better team today, I think it's that simple, we should just like work on some mistakes we did, but the feeling of the team was good, even if we are 2-1 up we don't give up and we give everything.”
Talking about Clubhouse, there was this round on the Basement Bomb where you kill the guy with the defuser in Blue, the Blitz goes, picks up the defuser, and you expect him to start the plant… but that wasn't the case. That's when the Smoke runs to kill the planter, just to get killed as the attacker was waiting for the run. Could you talk about the end of the round and how did that affect you ahead of the end of the game?
L: “That round was completely on me, we knew he had the defuser, the Blitz, we expected him to take the plant at two seconds, and I said to Josh (Yuzus) as he was the Smoke, 'I think he is planting' and he wasn't, I just blatantly trolled this round, it was all on me, and after this round, yeah, I think that was this round on Club when we had the advantage on the round, and we just had miscommunication, and lose the round on this, I think the mental was a bit out, but anyway, we were ready, we were really ready today to give everything we had, so we don't have any regrets, so yeah, that was our round, but mental was still fine.”
Despite the hard end to the series, this is the best result by a French-majority roster at any Six Invitational. How important is this for you and the rest of your teammates?
B: “I think, speaking for the French guys on the team, I think we're really proud of what we did, but we wanted the hammer this time. I don't know how to say it, but it's just fate for us, maybe if we don't get it today, we will get it the next day, so I will keep this in mind. We're just happy and proud of what we did, to be the first French to reach a Six Invitational grand final.”
It has been the first year for Team BDS playing with English comms, as you signed Yuzus and Solotov. In this initial season, you have reached four grand finals, which means you have gone through four deep international runs, which translates to plenty of time together in and outside the server. How has the adaptation been and how would you describe this first season together?
L: "I think it has been easy, to spend time with people you like, and you like spending time with, so we learn English fast because every day you are just speaking English, like constantly, you just spend the whole time, the whole day with the same people speaking English, when BriD, Shaiiko, and me were on Team Speak, we would talk in English and be like 'oh, what, guys, we're all three French, we don't need to speak English.
I think the language part was quite fun. We had one problem during the Manchester Major, when we started having the pressure and speak English, but after that, communication wasn't a problem at all. We spent a lot of time in game and outside the game, working on the game, so yeah, it's quite tiring, but the key is after an event, after a big season, you just have a break. Like, cut everything with the game, with your work, and spend time with your friends and family, and this is the key."
Unfortunately for Team BDS' fans, the Europeans won't be able to redeem themselves until May 2025, when they compete in Reload. The tournament, which will be played in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will kick off the esports season shortly after the conclusion of the Challenger Series.
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