If you predicted the favorites to win on day four of the 2021 Rainbow Six Siege Six Invitational, you were wrong the vast majority of the time.
Parabellum beat Spacestation and Ninjas in Pyjamas, Giants took down TSM, and MIBR defeated NiP. Overall, four games out of the nine played today went to overtime, two others went to round 12 (the maximum in regulation), and only one game on the day didn’t go the distance.
Considering the caliber of all the teams that lost, it’s safe to say that this day of group stage action was the most upset-prone in SI history. Even if the matches didn’t end in upsets, they went the distance. It’s a cliché phrase, but it truly was an exciting day.
Parabellum stun both SI 2020 finalists, end day 3-0
In February 2020, NiP and Spacestation dueled in the SI 2020 grand finals. Spacestation took the crown in a 3-2 victory. And today, during the group stage of SI 2021, they both lost to Parabellum Esports, a plucky group that earned their spot in SI through the NA Qualifier.
Parabellum slapped NiP around to the tune of a 7-4 scoreline and survived a furious Spacestation comeback to knock off the champs 8-7. Two days ago, the Canadians (and Logan “Sonar” Parker) looked like the worst team at SI. Today, they looked like world-beaters. It’s unclear if this was just a good day or the start of something brilliant, but for now, Parabellum have caught the attention of the international Rainbow Six community.
Giants stand tall
If Parabellum looked like the worst team at SI before today, Giants weren’t far behind. The APAC representative was struggling heavily and were beat 7-0 by Spacestation on May 12.
Today was a completely different story, though. TSM stormed out to a 4-1 lead on Kafe Dostoyevsky, and for a spell, it looked like everything was going to end how most predicted. But Giants bounced back in an incredible fashion and won the game in regulation 7-5. Earlier in the day, they defeated an upstart MKERS roster behind a stellar performance from Jeremy “HysteRiX” Tan, who notched 19 kills during the max overtime 8-7 win.
Giants have new life. What they do with it will be something to watch on May 16.
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be
Group B is shaping up to have an absolute barn burner of a finish. At one point, six of the eight teams had a 2-2 record. Only one will be knocked out of SI in group play, but there are prizes to be gained for the other seven teams. The top four will play a double-elimination tournament in the upper bracket, while the bottom three will immediately head to the lower bracket and face elimination.
Any team could feasibly be the best or worst in this group. They’re very evenly matched, at least in best-of-ones. In best-of-three playoff brackets, the upsets will dwindle. Enjoy the parity while it lasts. The cream will soon rise to the top and those teams with small map pools won’t be able to hide their deficiencies in the map ban phase.
Fultz goes massive
In all of the upsets, the performance of Spacestation’s Alec Fultz was lost. He had 32 kills over the 30 rounds he played on the day, averaging over a kill per round. In quick succession against Parabellum, he picked up an ace and notched four kills the very next round.
Related: Entry duo of Fultz and Rampy ready to bring Spacestation back to the top
Fultz is playing like a man possessed—and within Spacestation’s structure, that’s a lethal thing. In the long term, in the playoffs with best-of-threes, look out for more massive performances from Fultz and for Spacestation’s play to become what most R6 fans expect from a world-class team.
