The first matchday of the GSA League in Rainbow Six: Siege is over and began with a huge highlight, followed by a surprising, perfect round. Read the summary here.
This is how the first matchday went: On May 14, the first matchday of the GSA League took place. After the pre-show at 6:00 PM, the first match started at 7:00 PM, followed by another match every hour. The games were played in a “Best-of-1” format. Here are the teams of the GSA League:
- G2 Esports 7:4 Team Secret
- FACT Gaming 0:7 Turtle eSport
- DIVIZON 7:5 Rogue
- War Kidz 7:2 mYinsanity
How many people were watching? Already on the first matchday, the official German channel of Rainbow Six: Siege on Twitch had a peak of 7664 viewers (via sullygnome). In addition, there were more viewers on Mixer and YouTube as well as VODs.
Rainbow Six Siege: So seht ihr die Deutsche Liga
Alle Infos, Ankündigungen und Streaming-Pläne zur großen deutschsprachigen GSA-Liga.
Newcomer FACT Gaming dismantles Turtle eSport
What happened? In the second match of the evening, Turtle eSport faced FACT Gaming. The Turtle team was directly invited by Ubisoft as one of the teams, while FACT qualified for participation in the qualifiers under the name TRSH and was relatively unknown until now.
Turtle eSport is a “traditional club” that has been active in Germany as an e-sports club, especially in Rainbow Six: Siege, for many years. Numerous well-known players like Exp0 (Team Secret) have played there. Commentator ShatterXx called Turtle eSport the “forge of the impressive DACH players.”
Prior to the event, the analysts of the Weekly Breach and the commentators were divided on who would win the match. And although the audience was mostly of the opinion that Turtle would win this match (68% in favor), FACT Gaming managed to secure the victory – with a perfect round of 7:0.
Victory across the board for @factgamingde ?
— Rainbow Six Siege DE (@RainbowSixDE) May 14, 2020
With 7:0, the turtles must concede defeat today.#R6GSA pic.twitter.com/H1iv8zwqio
How did FACT do it? The first round was relatively balanced, although Turtle became a bit overconfident after an initial advantage and allowed themselves to be overwhelmed instead of playing defensively. Turtle eSport lacked teamwork in this match.
At the same time, FACT played extremely cautiously and thoughtfully and did not engage in risky rush tactics. This behavior was consistent throughout the match, and the players’ teamwork ultimately ensured FACT’s victory.
There were numerous strong plays in the round that also helped FACT in their victory, including from players Gisela, Daya, and BZ. They managed to prevent a loss even in seemingly impossible situations:
Why was FACT actually at a disadvantage? FACT Gaming had already played in the previous qualifiers of the GSA League under the name TRSH and completed numerous matches there.
These matches can be used to analyze gameplay and player teamwork. Thus, professionals can develop tactics and strategies against them.
Turtle eSport had a break before the GSA League and had an analyst who was supposed to carry out such analyses. Therefore, FACT might have been at a disadvantage, as their playstyle and games could have been analyzed beforehand – yet they achieved a perfect victory.
Highlight of the evening: G2 against Team Secret
However, the highlight of the evening was the first match of the GSA League: G2 Esport against Team Secret (formerly OrgLess). G2 is considered one of the strongest and best-organized teams in the world, while OrgLess was only signed by the association Team Secret shortly before the GSA League.
G2 Esport is currently the favorite for first place in the league, and the victory against Team Secret was not surprising, although it was hard-fought. G2 Esport had to exert themselves considerably to win 7:4, while Team Secret proved to be surprisingly resilient as the underdog.
Both teams played cautiously and thoughtfully and demonstrated strong teamwork. Ultimately, however, the preparation by G2 and their experience were likely decisive for the victory. Strong plays by professionals like Virtue contributed to their success:
However, for the future, Team Secret could become quite interesting. Since the team now also has the opportunity to analyze current gameplay styles of their opponents and prepare better. In the upcoming match days, this newcomer might prove to be a strong competitor for the title.
Anyone interested in Rainbow Six: Siege should rewatch the match to possibly pick up tips on how to improve. The match embedded in this video starts at about hour 1:30:00:
The surprise: DIVIZON defeats Rogue
Another surprise of the evening was the match DIVIZON against Rogue, where Rogue, as the favorite of the match, lost 5:7. At the same time, this match was the closest one.
Rogue is an internationally active club that has already placed in numerous major tournaments since 2018, such as the United States Nationals and the Pro League Season 11 in Europe. The team is considered one of the favorites for the title alongside G2.
DIVIZON, on the other hand, is the second team that managed to qualify for the GSA League in the qualifiers. They have already stood out to numerous fans and analysts as potentially strong opponents.
In the close match, the qualified newcomers managed to overcome the invited favorites. They had the same disadvantage as FACT Gaming: they could be analyzed better.
In the end, however, their stronger teamwork led them to victory – possibly due to a lack of preparation on the part of Rogue, which we have no insight into.
The next matchday starts next week on Thursday, May 21, again at 7 PM. Visit our overview of the GSA League to learn more about match times, standings, and upcoming matches.
GameStar and MeinMMO are media partners of this year’s league for Rainbow Six: Siege in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. We will regularly report on our websites and channels about the league, matches, and teams in the coming weeks and months.
