Who Can Make It Through the Six Invitational NA Qualifier?

For years, the North American scene had stood in the shadows of Europe. Spacestation Gaming finally remedied this at the most recent Six Invitational, where they were crowned winners after an intense Grand Finals. Last year, quite a few NA rosters have announced themselves competitively on international soil. But just like in Counter-Strike, after the first few great teams, there is a sharp decline in quality.

The playing level drops drastically after SSG, DarkZero Esports, Team SoloMid, and Oxygen Esports are out of the equation. These four teams are already qualified. This means that the other weaker teams will have a shot at making it to this mega event. The most attentive viewers of NAL will already have recognized that Disrupt Gaming, a well-known team in the scene, are in attendance. They made sixth place in this season and after the dissolution of Susquehanna Soniqs, they got a spot at this Qualifier.

DISRUPT GAMING ARE THE FAVORITES FOR THE CLOSED QUALIFIER

Alexander “Retro” Lloyd and his colleagues have a lot going for them. In this constellation, they are the only team to have played in the US Division. Over the course of a year, they have gathered experience going up against the best teams of the region. Retro and Aaron “Shuttle” Dugger are two veterans of the scene. They boast knowledge the likes of which their Canadian Division or Open Qualifier colleagues could never have. On top of that, Shuttle was one of the top performers of Stage 2 as well. Due to seeding, they’ll only have to play two matches in order to make it to the Six Invitational. But on their way there, they might face a team whose potential is quite difficult to make out.

DO SUPRSONIQS STAND A CHANCE?

This congregation of free agents has a lot to offer. With Tim “Creators” Humpherys, they feature an actual top player. During the US Division Stage 2, he put up a phantastic show for Tempo Storm and almost played up to the level of Jason “Beaulo” Doty and Gabriel “LaXInG” Mirelez. Both of these players have already qualified for the Six Invitational, so Creators is arguably the best North American R6 player to not have secured a ticket yet.

Seth “supr” Hoffman is an in-game-leader with lots of experience under his belt. He at least helped the Soniqs to a first-place finish in the Losers’ Group of Stage 2. Richie “Rexen” Coronado and Pablo “Gryxr” Rebeil both finished NAL on positive ratings. In comparison to TSM and the rest, they couldn’t really shine, but the Closed Qualifier features a much weaker playing field anyways. Even though this roster boasts great talent, it is virtually impossible to guess how much training they have had and how coherent supr and his men can actually play now.

However, Disrupt Gaming is the only team to really challenge them, at least based on past results. The roster features veterans who have already showed up in solid fashion during NAL. Fortunately, the two sides can only meet in the Grand Finals. Should they dominate their opposition as expected, the fight for the last remaining Six Invitational spot will go down between the two. Will Shuttle continue on, or will it be Creators?