Up The Siege! - March 2024

MAR 2024 | ISSUE 2
RAINBOW SIX FANZINE

IN THIS ISSUE
2
3
12
13
15
17
21
22
23
27
30
Letter From the Editor
Why We’re So Back
Six Invitational 2024 Recapped
Interviews with Felipox, Maria Bonino & Iain Chambers
Stage 1 Calendar - All Leagues
Provided by Sprabuni
North American League Stage 1 Preview
With Lynnx
Europe League Stage 1 Preview
With TomJSherlock
Exclusive FNATIC Interview
With Patrik Sattermon, Saethus & Tyrant
Around The World Stage 1 Preview
With Titan
Esports Global Updates
How OCE, MENA, LATAM & ASIA are competing for Phase 2 Spots
Coach Corner
KangruKenny returns to discuss upcoming balance changes
Operation Deadly Omen
Learn about Deimos with Alyttleton
Humans of Siege
Feature Xhosa
1

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
WE ARE SO
F*CKING BACK
I don’t know how any event follows up the Six
Invitational 2024. Seriously.
I’ve not watched the event back yet so I don’t know how
it looked on the broadcast, but believe me when I say I
think that is the loudest crowd I’ve ever seen or
experienced in my life. I’m not talking just esports, I’m
talking having witnessed multiple live sporting events
spanning Football, Boxing, Rugby, NBA and many
more. There might have only been 10,000 fans in that
arena but the passion and energy on show made it feel
like there was 100,000.
On a personal note I’m incredibly proud and honoured to
have played a small part in the success of the
tournament and broadcast. First of all running two
streams concurrently in different languages is no mean
feat, from an analyst desk point of view we had to be
shit hot all over our timings for throws which we
executed perfectly (in my opinion). It was also Fabians
first time on the desk in front of a crowd, not that it
phased him whatsoever.
Turning now to Up The Siege! Response to Episode 1
was absolutely incredible, over 10,000 people showed
interest and support which gave me so much confidence
that this passion project is viable and I’ve started making
plans and commitments going forwards to secure future
episodes. If anyone has any feedback or
recommendations you’ll know that I am probably the
most open person to any kind of feedback,
recommendations or criticism so just hit me up on
socials or email.
Future episodes of Up The Siege! will be translated into
multiple different languages to engage a worldwide
Siege community. Alongside that we’re planning on
releasing physical copies in time for the Manchester
Major in May. When we do release physical copies we
will do a bundle that includes all previous copies for
those that would enjoy collecting them.
Thanks again to everyone that supports us, you don’t
know how much it means.
Jack Fresh Allen
Editor-in-Chief
2

3

Maria - thank you so much for agreeing to do an interview. First of all what was it like for Brazil to host
Six Invitational 2024? How important was it to Brazilian fans & players?
It was a dream coming true!
It felt like a gift for us after all the hard work, from Brazilian teams that were so dominant to the staff and
casting talent that always worked from 7am to 10pm on tournaments to make the best broadcast ever. That’s
without forgetting the Brazilian R6 community which deserve a lot too, we are very passionate about the
game.
We are already in March, but something just keep us holding onto the SI, it’s like the feeling of not letting go
even after it’s done.
How much of a difference do you think the Brazilian crowd made to help W7M achieve victory? Can
you translate some of the songs that they were singing?
I can say that the crow was the real grand final’s MVP. W7M had almost a whole stadium screaming for them
and that only made the players more confident to play their game.
I even asked Nade if they would hear the crowd and if they would anxious about it, he answered saying that it
didn’t have a negative impact, only positive. One of their songs that I remember is as follows:
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, W7…W7…W7…”
What was your favourite part about Six Invitational being held in Brazil?
For me personally, the best part was that I had the chance to meet a lot of people that watch me on R6
streams, I had no idea of how loved by the community I was until that moment.
It’s also funny seeing people outside Brazil having the chance to come to a country like ours, with so many
diversities in food, music, culture and weather (it is really hot hahaha)!
You’ve been to so many Siege LAN events worldwide, do you think this was the best event Siege has
ever had?
Brazil is the best region for so many reasons, one of them it’s the passion we have for Rainbow Six Siege.
Brazil held an event that is unforgettable, it’s not fair to even compare. It was, in fact, the best event Siege has
ever had! I remember going to Six Invitational 2023 in Montreal and not hearing 50% of the crowd, at the
Ibirapuera, after the teams, the crowd was the main attraction for sure.
I do not see anything like SI2024 happening again so soon, maybe in another game, but in R6 I don’t think so.
If we want something to compete with SI 2024, it must be a Major in Brazil.
4

5

6

Felipox - first of all CONGRATULATIONS ON
WINNING THE SIX SINVITATIONAL 2024. This
means that you won every official event in
Rainbow Six this year to become the undisputed
Champions. How does that feel?
Thank you very much. It feels surreal to win every
tournament this year, and to be honest I can’t
describe how happy I am with that.
It has always been my dream to win a S.I, but I never
imagined it would be the way it was, dominating all
year before it and then making a historical comeback
in the last map.
Just surreal.
Lots of people said that W7M started a dynasty
with the Six Invitational win. Do you think that
you created a dynasty or is there more work to
do?
Yeah, I think it’s fair to say that we created a dynasty.
Winning everything there is to win in a year is not
something that is easy to do and it is something that
hasn’t happened in a very long time in Siege. With
that being said, we still have lots to do to consolidate
ourselves as maybe the best team of all time.
You obviously played in one of the greatest
comebacks of all time.
In fact W7M had to come back twice to get to the
SI title. First the comeback against VP and then
the comeback against FaZe in the final.
What were the big reasons for the comeback?
How was it even possible???
To be honest, i don’t even know how that’s possible
hahahahah, I think some things are just meant to be.
Of course we did our part, we didn’t give up in any
moment, always trying to find solutions even when it
all seemed too difficult for us.
7
I think the trust we have in each other helps a lot in
these moments too, it’s like we know we can do it.

It was well documented that the roster will now
leave W7M after Six Invitational. How much did
that have an impact on the team at SI? What
happens for this team and roster after Six
Invitational?
In my opinion it didn’t really change much. Of course
we wanted to win this event to come to a perfect end
with W7M, but we didn’t let that affect us in a
negative way.
About the future, I can say that the roster is all going
together to a new organisation, with the addition of
Vittzz, an analyst that worked with us during this S.I
and helped us a lot.
What are the top 3 reasons you were so
successful this year?
1 - Work Ethic
We are a team that works really hard, and more
importantly, knows HOW to work. Not only that, but
we never stopped even after winning events, we
actually worked even harder in those periods.
2 - Synergy
Since day 1 our team has got along really well. We
have a very good chemistry and really like playing
with each other. Also, each of us are world class
players on their respective roles and are always
trying to learn and improve more.
3 - Understanding of the Meta
I think we really understood the Meta better than
anyone else. We see a lot of teams copying strategy
we created but they don’t understand what the
purpose of the strategy is. In addition, we are one of
the few teams that plays all 9 maps, and play them
well. Of course we have maps that are worse than
others, but we can play all 9 maps against any team
in the world.
8

Iain, Six Invitational in Brazil. VAMOS.
How did the event stack up across all of the
esports events you’ve ever worked? The fans, the
noise, the atmosphere!
I’ve been lucky enough to work events all over the
globe. What’s cool is, fans all have their own unique
approach to attending a live event. The vibe, energy
and volume is different wherever you go. But THIS Six
Invitational in front of THESE Brazilian fans felt like a
once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The passion, the noise, the atmosphere… it just
screamed Brazil. Standing in the centre of the stage,
hearing the roar of the crowd and feeling the ground
rumble underneath my feet was a sensation I’ll never
forget.
They showed up for the players in every way
imaginable. To play Siege in front of those fans
must’ve been magnificent for the pros.
How much fun did you have at the event working alongside Leo Bianchi? Learning Portugese?
I was anxious coming into this event because I’m so used to being a stage host on my own. For this one, we
had two hosts speaking both English and Portuguese, so the fans in-house enjoyed a true experience at all
times.
I knew I would only meet my counterpart just two days before we went live, so it would leave us very little time
to build a rapport. As soon as I met Leo Bianchi all my fears went straight out the window. A seasoned
broadcasting professional with years of Siege experience and a charismatic beast of a man. He helped me
learn Portuguese phrases and built a bridge for me to connect with the non English speaking fans in the arena.
We had chemistry from the moment we first went live, bouncing off each other and creating moments for the
crowd. I really hope I get to work with him again!
What was your favourite part about Six Invitational being held in Brazil?
Coming into the finals weekend in the arena we were all concerned about how the Brazilian teams were
performing. Despite all of the dominance the BR region has shown in recent years - it wasn’t looking good. But
there we were on Championship Sunday with an all Brazilian Grand Final.
To see W7M end their sensational journey in front of the fans who wanted them to win the most was my
favourite part of being in Sao Paulo. In football we talk about the fans being the 12th man, using their energy,
chants and support to get their team over the line. That’s exactly what we saw from the fans in the Ginasio do
Ibirapuera - they were W7M’s sixth man. It was unreal to witness live.
How on earth does Manchester even follow this event up???
Do not underestimate UK fans. We’re different. Manchester is almost sold out and these fans know what they
need to do. We’ve wanted an R6 Major on UK soil since the beginning of time and we won’t take it for granted.
The custom, clever, original chants. The volume will be
there. The passion will be there! Yes we’re not as sexy
as the Brazilians, but my word can we sink a pint.
I’m buzzing for it!
Anything else you’d like to say Iain?
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank the R6
community for welcoming me into the family.
From my debut at the Charlotte Major through to the
events I work today, you’ve supported me as part of
the team. I appreciate it very much and love nothing
more than meeting you in person at shows worldwide!
To Fresh, my Hull comrade - thanks for bringing Up
The Siege! to the fans and community. You’re a real
asset to the scene both in front of the camera and
behind the scenes.
9
IT’S ALL LOVE SIEGE FAM!

10

12

NAL Preview
with Lynnx
Spacestation
My (potentially hot?) pick for the best team in NA.
Iconic is a straight upgrade in the exact same role over Hotancold, and he has
plenty of experience with Forrest’s in-game-leading and Callout’s coaching system.
I had plenty of criticism towards SSG around Atlanta, but at Six Invitational they
started moving towards a G2/W7M style of play that has me very excited.
1st Place
DarkZero
Easy Top 2. Nafe/Beaulo both put up great performances at SI 24 and njr is one of
the best players in NA (highest rated at SI 24 too).
Before someone says they “aren’t with the meta”, please note that they almost
placed 3rd after two roster changes.
As long as they’re playing well, I don’t care how they’re doing it.
Soniqs
2nd Place
I think losing CTZN might prove to be a blessing in disguise.
Soniqs have replaced their two superstar lurkers (CTZN/Gryxr) with two aggressive
players, Atom and Merc, the latter reuniting with his former IGL Geometrics.
This new SQ roster is giving me old TSM vibes in the best way possible, we’ll just
have to see how quickly they can adjust to this new mentality.
3rd Place
Beastcoast
This roster is giving 2023 Wildcard vibes, even down to picking up a newly dropped
SSG player.
They will find gaps, hit licks, and probably punch above their weight.
I think their best hope is qualifying via the LCQ, but in a region that is rebuilding
across the board, that’s a very real possibility.
M80
4th Place
In the movie “Moneyball”, Jonah Hill’s character (Peter Brand) says “in baseball,
your goal shouldn’t be to buy players, it should be to buy runs”. Well, M80 bought a
lot of players this transfer window.
Cameram4n could fix a real issue for 2023 M80 (lack of in-game leadership), but I
see him and other players butting heads very quickly. I just hope Spoit gets a team
he deserves.
13
5th Place

Oxygen
60% of the 2022 XSET roster (Yoggah/Dias/GMZ) return under the OXG banner.
Yoggah was the highest rated player in the NAL last stage.
If Nuers is back in form, OXG can fight for the major off those two alone.
With the return of old XSET, I’m curious if we’ll see a problem of (now) old M80: who
is calling amongst a squad of quiet players?
Wildcard
6th Place
The NA R6 equivalent of the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show.
I want these guys to succeed (I am a big VertcL fan), but they’ve replaced an
aggressive entry (Slothi) with a backline support (Bosco); someone needs to fill that
space on a roster of (generally) slower, passive players.
I think they might be a middle of the pack team.
7th Place
LOS
NA gets its own REVEN.
This LOS roster has some promising Brazilian T2 pickups and some veteran talent
(Sexycake actually had a very good Stage 2).
If a roster of Brazilian transplants makes a major from NA, we as a region have a lot
of soul-searching to do.
Luminosity
8th Place
In NA, we have always had at least two teams of young talent that lack the proper
direction and development. LG, in my opinion, is now one of these two teams.
I honestly rate most of these players very highly (super happy Wifi and Kixhro are
getting T1 opportunities), but despite the skill I don’t see this roster putting up a
massive fight.
9th Place
Spiff & Co.
This is the second of those two “directionless” teams I mentioned earlier.
It isn’t entirely their fault, many have real life commitments alongside competing, but
despite some players with high-level experience (Spiff was on a Top 4 team at SI
23).
I doubt they will have much of an impact.
10th Place
14

Team BDS
Europe Preview
with TomJSherlock
Quite simply the most exciting prospect in all of R6 Esports.
A true definition of a super team, literally every single individual on that team is
capable of unreal feats!
Forget W7M it’s BDS Dynasty time - winning minimum 2 trophies this year.
1st Place
Have the fan favourites, loved by most of EU / The world, now been knocked off
their perch!?
This OG EU superteam has a new rival! There is no doubt that this team will
challenge at the top of EUL this season in my eyes!
Let’s not forget we’d all let Doki shag our wife after all!
G2 Esports
Virtus Pro
2nd Place
We saw at SI VP have answered their critics about how they perform internationally
and I see these lads continuing that impressive performance.
One of the longest standing rosters who have continued to work on that map pool!
Also Pasha is bringing that extra spice and bucket load of passion up the VP!
3rd Place
This Fnatic will see PRIME LEONGIDS cooking up a storm.
The pickup of tyrant is fantastic can’t wait to see how he fits in with Jigsaw - I may
be a bit of an old romantic but who doesn’t want to see Leon going mental on the
stage in Manchester??
I BELIEVE, I BELIEVE!
FNATIC
15
4th Place

ENCE
The new boys on the block.
A fantastic story follows this predominantly French side, from the grassroots of T2
siege to the bright lights of T1! Everyones favourite underdogs in the off season
tournaments but now with the T1 Status will they crack under the pressure?
I SAY NO
5th Place
SECRET
HUGE pick up of the gunners of Jume and Adrian.
I think there is a lot of work to with this team and hope the players get given the
time to figure it out!
Once the roles are comfortable I think they could challenge seriously for top 4, but
think stage 1 will come to soon for them!
WOLVES
6th Place
I think Wolves are like Marmite you either love them or hate them!
When Mowwwgli and Deadshot are firing on all cylinders then THIS TEAM LOOK
UNSTOPPABLE - but its about having that happen consistently.
After losing to Team 86 in Malta the pressure in on for these French lads
7th Place
ITB
I love what ITB are doing with the grassroots pickups recently of Creedz and Oscr
previously Noa as well!
I think Stage 1 will come too soon, I think with time Kenny will be building and
creating a master piece - Stage 1 will be a perfect opportunity to ground these
players into Tier 1 fully!
WYLDE
8th Place
It’s been really had to pick a last place team because I love all the lads competing in
EUL.Looking at last season Pacbull did miracles for Wylde and they’ve
strengthened massively in experience but with a lot of changes coming in I think this
team will need time to gel.
Stage 2 could be their play ground, I could also be entirely wrong, don’t forget how
strong Wylde are in BO1’s
9th Place
16

Ahead of the 2024 season, FNATIC exited Rainbow Six Siege in Japan after spending 4 years trying to make
the Japanese dream possible.
They are however, not done within Rainbow Six Siege esports. Choosing to continue in the title but moving
regions and coming a little bit closer to home! FNATIC have picked up the existing core that competed under
KOI/Rogue in 2023 and added a couple of exciting players to it that will compete under the FNATIC brand for
2024.
The 2024 roster consists of Major winners LeonGids, Deapek, Jigsaw, Jeggz & Tyrant with Saethus as a long
standing coach of this roster.
Leon, Deapek and Saethus are all previous Major champions having won the Berlin Major with Rogue. Jigsaw
is an international import signed to the team last year, hailing from Australia having previously attended Majors
with Team Bliss. Jeggz & Tyrant are both new to this roster having joined after being released into free agency
ahead of 2024, however they bring a wealth of talent and excitement.
Up The Siege! is proud to have exclusively interviewed FNATIC ahead of their 2024 campaign, having spoken
to Patrik Sattermon - CGO, Tristan Savage (Saethus) - Coach, Luke Casey (Tyrant) - Player.
Thanks for agreeing to the interview Patrik.
What are the key reasons that FNATIC made the
strategic decision to exit the Japanese Rainbow
Six Siege market and move into Europe?
The key reason is that we want to compete on the
highest level of play and thought this was the best
opportunity to pursue to achieve such - while also
being better positioned to support the athletes hands
on.
We are tremendously thankful that we were given the
opportunity a couple of seasons back to relocate our
Oceanic Rainbow 6 investment to Japan, and
participate in the APAC North and regional leagues.
Unfortunately the results weren’t what we were
expecting, and by having the latest market movements
in mind it felt natural to bring the title investment closer
to our HQ here in London.
What attributes did you look for in a team to sign
within EU Siege? What was it about this roster that
stood out for you?
I think we are very aligned with this group of talent when it comes to what we want to accomplish in and
outside the servers.
You can say that both the players and us as an org have had a tough season behind us, but both definitely
share the hunger to get back to work and optimise the pre-season time to maximise the chances for us to
return to not only the top of our region, but also international play.
The fact that we were able to begin our team building effort with an existing ‘core’ of players and staff did
contribute to our decision, and the timing of us choosing this path enabled us to do pre-season tryouts which
is something that we as a management group appreciate a lot.
From an organisational standpoint, what would you consider the short and long term goals of this
roster to be?
The immediate goal is to prepare our team in the best possible way for the new season, which currently takes
its form by hosting them for a bootcamp here at our London HQ.
As mentioned earlier, our ambition this year is to return to international play and when such has been
achieved we can start calibrating our efforts around next SI which is an event we have missed dearly the last
few years.
17

Tristan, its been a while! What does it mean for you
and the team to join FNATIC?
An incredibly proud moment for me - something that a
lot of time, effort, and care was put into in order to find
the perfect match for both this organisation and team.I
cannot express how excited every single member of
this team is to be here, to raise our standards, and to
really build a family within the team and organisation.
You will see it in much of the promotional content, but
we just feel collectively so lucky to be here.
Circumstances matched up perfectly, and it is on us
now to really push on. Thank you so much to FNATIC -
lets make you guys proud!
Obviously 2023 didn't live up to expectations for
this roster. Can you describe the reasons why this
happened and what solutions you've put in place
to achieve success in 2024?
I could deflect responsibility and blame a dozen
external factors for our difficulties last year, but
ultimately we were nowhere near good enough despite
how much work we put in.
Losing both Spoit and Kanto at the same time was an enormous loss for us that we did not anticipate during
our plans for the roster to start 2023, and set us back a fair bit at the start of the year. I think that we were
constantly trying to claw our way back to a level that we were previously at, instead of conducting a complete
reset of our ideas, strategy, etc etc etc that we have now done for this year.
This is a fresh start for us, it is not Rogue, Ex Rogue, KOI, ex KOI etc - This is FNATIC, it is a brand new
identity and we want to be better than we have ever been.
At the time of interviewing, you'll be mid bootcamp ahead of EU League starting in March. How are
things going and progressing?
It feels very fresh (pun unintended) - and I think that is the best way to put it. There was no real way to move
this team forwards when we would still put loads of pressure or energy in to being “the ex Major winning
team”.
The real goal of this bootcamp isn’t even the practice itself, but using this as an opportunity for the guys to
bond, to want to win for each other, to feel the human element. We had 3 bootcamps with the “old” roster that
everybody loved, but nothing since, and if you know the way that we work, the human element and bonding is
such an enormous part of our success. I want us to become a team that will really fight for each other and set
standards for each other, and I think we are progressing ahead of schedule on that front.
You've picked up two new players since we last saw you inside of EU League. Jeggz played various
off season tournaments with you but Tyrant isn't one people were necessarily expecting, how did it
come about and what do both of these players bring to your roster?
Let's start with Tyrant as he is obviously a point of real excitement for a lot of both EU and UK fans. When we
set to rebuild the roster all the way back in November, Tyrant was seen as a bit of a “dream” player in my
view. He has an incredible amount of experience, I personally have competed against him in tournaments
dating all the way back to 2016 on console, he was I believe the 4th highest rated player at SI 2023 (fact
check me please!), and so on. It was after the Malta qualifier that we learned he would be available due to
circumstances with both his last organisation & an unnamed team, so we immediately got him in for a trial for
a few weeks and we haven’t looked back! He is a player that I don’t believe has reached his potential, or even
explored a lot of avenues that can improve him, make him consistent, make him appreciate his level etc, and
so as a coach that is incredibly exciting.
Jeggz had a really solid rookie year in EUL and was more or less an immediate pick up for us. He is
somebody that we had interest in pre-Stage 2 of 2023 due to his flexibility, personality, and ultimately his raw
ability. I do not believe that he has been part of a team yet that works in the way that ours does, and we are
seeing every single day his personality and confidence increasing as a result of that.
Jeggz and Tyrant offer us very different profiles, and I think that is important, Jeggz can very much be seen as
a “young gun” which we have shown we can work wonders with, and Tyrant provides us an utter wealth of
international experience, that is the kind of mix that we were after. As much as we don’t like to dwell much on
the past anymore, we have learned some incredibly valuable lessons in our time together, and I’d like to think
we have put together something based on those lessons. There is a tonne of experience, fresh ideas, different
perspectives - even an Australian - so we are all having to raise our levels to prove to each other that we are
good enough to be here and to win things, and I think that is amazing. We had this exact type of thing in the
past when we had time to put rosters together and I think it is pushing us to where we want to be.
18

19

First of all, congratulations! Tyrant, inside of professional play, we've only ever seen you under the your
previous roster that qualified their way to EUL through Challenger League. How are you finding things in the
new team and setup? How different is it to your last team & organisation?
Being at FNATIC is very different from my last roster. When it comes to gameplay, I feel I’m more free and I am not
stuck down in one role or position. This gives me the flexibility to help more of my teammates and flex up my playstyle.
I have been watching these guys for a while and I knew they had a specific playstyle, but now I’m actually in the team
it’s interesting to see such a clear and considered approach to play.
What do you believe as a player you can bring to this team?
One of my strengths is that I am a very flexible player. I can be that midground player, with my two entries and two
supports around me and I think that’s really valuable.
Something I really enjoy is that there is no fear with this team. They’re not scared to die / lose a round, they’re willing to
try things, experiment and it feels like a healthy environment to play in. I think my playstyle fits this roster well.I am here
to complete what was already a very good roster.
As one of EUL's top free agents this window, what appealed to you about FNATIC?
I have watched my teammates that are ex-Rogue in EUL and even watched them play the Berlin Major they won. When
they reached out, I had to hear what they were looking for in a player. They were looking for a mid-ground, flex player
and felt I was the perfect fit for the role. When I learned of the rest of the roster, they’re all incredibly good, mechanical
players on an individual level and in a team it’s another level. I feel I could trust any one of the players to win a 1 vs 5
round if they needed to.
20

Keep an eye out for these
teams Around the world with Titan
Keyd Stars
Six Karma
Bliss
BRAZIL
Talon
LATAM
OCEANIA
Scarz
KOREA
Falcons
Shaheens
JAPAN
Elevate
MENA
S. ASIA SE. ASIA
21

Esports Global updates
2024
Rulebook
2024 see’s a few tweaks to the global rulebook. Most are small and minor changes with immaterial impact
however there is 1 change in particular that has started a lot of conversation, particularly within APAC siege:
During 2023. ASIA, OCE, MENA and LATAM only qualified to Phase 1 of the major as they were seen
effectively as developing regions. For 2024 this has been changed so that the region with the best international
performance at the last event gets a spot allocated into Phase 2 of a Major instead of Phase 1. This means
that these 4 regions are now effectively in a separate and indirect sub competition.
“OCE will be a Phase 1 spot team in Montreal no matter what,
as the recipients of the Phase 2 spot in Manchester. That spot
will be between Asia, MENA and LATAM.” @TatlFail
Due to their fantastic performance at Six Invitational 2024, Team Bliss earned this reward for the OCE region.
Therefore whichever team qualifies from OCE to the Manchester Major will qualify directly into Phase 2 of the
major, skipping an entire phase.
For the November 2024 Major in Montreal, the team that gets the Phase 2 spot will be determined from
whoever performs the best from ASIA, MENA & LATAM (with OCE being excluded due to receiving the Phase
2 advantage in May 2024 Major).
This system is designed to reward developing regions and allow them to grow within the ecosystem but has
benefits and also drawbacks.
“Spots should be determined by performance metrics
not pass the parcel between 4 regions… This makes
no sense and has gotta change.” @Devmarta
The main criticism has been that regardless of the OCE performance at the May Major 2024, they will be
ineligible to qualify directly to Phase 2 of November Major 2024.
As a very extreme example, OCE could win the May Major whilst ASIA, MENA and LATAM don’t win a single
map, in this scenario OCE still wouldn’t get the Phase 2 spot for the November Major. Thus the “pass the
parcel” effect can happen.
The reality of the situation is that even though that unlikely scenario could play out, the net effect would still be
a positive one for these minor regions. If you take OCE as an example, during 2023 they were restricted to
playing each Major from the very start in Phase 1, now they will played one Major from Phase 2 and one Major
from Phase 1. Even the worst case scenario is a net upgrade.
It is worth noting also, that the Global direction could have gone down another route, for example instead of
rewarding developing regions, they could have rewarded the winning region of each event with an extra Phase
2 spot.
As an example, Brazil having won Six Invitational 2024 could have been awarded an extra Phase 2 spot so
that all Brazilian teams attending May Major 2024 would start from Phase 2. Thus rewarding all regions
international performance.
22

COACH
CORNER
Hi Kenny! Thanks for coming back on Coaches
Corner! SI usually brings about quite big changes
to operators and ultimately the META. So this is
what we’ll explore today.
Firstly then, there’s huge news regarding shields
- how much will this shape up shield usage? Will
we see shields being brought more, less or will it
be situational?
Before the rework a shield operator would be used to
force map control safely with Montagne, or force map
control aggressively with Blitz. The change to
Montagne is a big buff to him, he can now sprint with
his shield up (like old Blitz), but can also still fully
extend to protect himself.
Think of new Montagne as old Montagne and old
Blitz combined. You can now force map control
safely by being fully extended, or force map control
aggressively by sprinting with shield up. At the flip of
a switch Montagne can go from passively staring at
you from a corner of the room, feeding information to
his team, to instantly charging you down. This makes
him strong in the hands of a player who understands
how to play shields, even stronger than before.
“THINK OF NEW MONTAGNE AS
OLD MONTAGNE AND OLD BLITZ
COMBINED”
Yes you can no longer 1 hit melee, but you can shove
people onto their backs (like an Oryx dash), and 2
shoves will kill a player. This means that new
Montagne is the perfect Frankenstein of old shields, he
takes the best parts of both old Montagne and old Blitz,
making him an extremely versatile operator.
However, as a result of this I believe Blitz will heavily
fall out of favour because his “unique” feature of being
able to sprint with his shield up, has now been given to
Montagne too.
Blitz’ only unique feature is the flash, but in my opinion
that’s less desirable than being able fully extend your
shield to protect yourself.
Montagne can do what Blitz does, but Blitz cannot do
what Montagne does. Blitz can only force map control
aggressively, but Montagne can be versatile by
choosing when to force safely (shield extended) or
force aggressively (sprinting and shoving).
23
Therefore, Montagne will see a higher pickrate in the
new Stage, but will still be situational as with any shield
operator in an FPS game.

Secondly there are a lot of sight changes - what
are the big impacts of losing the 1.5x scope and
which operators were most affected from these
changes - will this be material to which operators
become meta?
It’s no secret that the 1.5x scope was objectively the
best scope. It excelled at close range and long
range. However, now there is a choice to be made:
do you go for the 1x and excel at close range but
struggle at longer ranges, or do you go for the ACOG
and excel at long range but struggle at close range.
Defence obviously will be harder hit by these
changes, as the majority of defenders now only have
access to the 1x scope. Underpicked operators like
Pulse, Thorn & Echo were given 1.5x scopes to help
increase pickrates, however, now they only have
access to the 1x. Warden also takes another big hit
having his 1.5x scope removed after also being
made a 1 speed a season or two ago. Defenders that
gained the ACOG are mostly underpicked and
undesirable because their primary gadgets are just
bad (Doc, Rook, Castle, Tachanka) so now there’s at
least a reason to pick them (even though I still don’t
agree with balancing based on scopes).
Aruni & Tubarao DMR’s make sense to have an
ACOG because they’re DMR’s, but I’m on the fence
to whether that is entirely balanced. Overall,
operators on defence will be considered “meta” more
so based on their gadgets now after the removal of
the 1.5x, which heads the game in a good direction.
Attackers obviously get buffed with a majority access
to ACOG, but the choice is still there, as eventually
attackers are going to need to push into the
defenders which is where the ACOG loses its
strength.
I love the fact there is now a “decision” to be made,
rather than there being one universally best sight in
the 1.5x.
Azami is the only operator from the power
defenders being nerfed currently. Do you think
that the current nerf is sufficient and will we see
less Azami in play as a result?
Does it change how Azami will be played also
when available?
Azami’s nerf is a weird one for me to get my head
around. Yes, theoretically it is a nerf. However,
practically I’m not too sure how big of a nerf it really
is.
Attackers already have limited reserve ammo, and
they have to open up multiple barricades. Now, you
can also destroy Kiba barriers with bullets - 999 HP
worth.
That’s roughly a one and a half magazines from most
attacker guns after already using two or three
magazines to open some barricades off of spawn.
DMRs are however the best counter as a result of
their high damage.
On top of that, it’s very easy for the defender to just
swing the attacker shooting an entire magazine into a
Kiba (as by shooting, position is revealed).
Therefore, with both of those points combined I don’t
think this nerf really does anything to Azami’s
pickrate. When available, potentially defenders have
to be smarter about the positioning of their Kiba
barriers so that they don’t just get destroyed off of
spawn.
But for the most part, I don’t think how people will
play Azami will change, she’ll still be used to
reinforce power positions, block lines of sight and
make unplayable positions, now playable.
In my opinion, this nerf only makes Azami minorly
less effective, and her Kibas are still better than 90%
of other defender’s primary gadgets.
24

Finally, Deimos is being added as the newest attacker. Have you seen Deimos be used in scrims? Will
he become a meta operator? What are his key strengths and weaknesses.
In Siege, information is power. Deimos is an information gathering operator, similar to Dokkaebi, but has a way
higher skill gap than Dokk to utilise effectively. Deimos can be used to clear roams, target solo site players, or
track a particular operator that you want to know the position of. His major downside comes from the fact that
you reveal your own position to the defenders when tracking, which is where the high skill ceiling comes from,
because if played incorrectly, you can get yourself killed by using the gadget.
It’s tough to judge currently, but I believe that some teams just won’t play Deimos at all, and some teams will
play Deimos when a particular situation arises, purely because the operator has a very high skill ceiling.
He’s one of those operators that you can really tell when someone is good with it (think of Smoke/Monty etc),
but others can just be okay. Good Deimos players/teams will be deadly and tough to play against, whereas
normal Deimos players/teams won’t have much effect on the rounds.
I’m excited to see this operator being brought into pro play though, I’m a massive fan of “interactive” gadgets
rather than “set and forget” gadgets (think Pulse vs Melusi). Deimos is a highly interactive and versatile
operator that has a lot of creativity and potential for teams to use.
One of the big stories of Six Invitational was the “Defender sided meta” - do you think this will
change? If so how?
The meta shouldn’t shift away from defensive favoured too much. I can argue that defence losing a lot of 1.5x
scopes and not gaining many ACOGs weakens them slightly, but the majority of power defenders are still
untouched going into Stage 1. As I’ve spoken about, I don’t even think Azami’s nerf is really anything major to
lessen her power.
The biggest factor to the meta shifting in my opinion now though, are the ADS time changes. Slowing the
game down yet again means that aggressive plays are discouraged more, which comes as a double edged
sword for both attack and defence. On the one hand, defenders will probably retake/go for aggressive peeks
less because they’ll be punished by the attackers holding angles. On the other hand, eventually attackers are
the ones that have to push into the defenders, and when you’re the one pushing, you’re the one being
punished by a slower ADS time. This may not be a factor at all in practice, but it certainly is a mechanical
change that pro players will have to get used to and adjust their styles accordingly.
I still do believe that we are in the best Siege meta right now, with coming tweaks to Solis & Fenrir and the
removal of 1.5x scopes, we certainly are heading in a great direction for pro play.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Siege Esports is royally back!! Thanks to great marketing from Blast and community work like Up The Siege
from Fresh, interest is high. Let’s carry that hype into Stage 1 and support your favourite teams!
25

Hey Andy thanks for agreeing to do the interview! With the release of Operation Deadly Omen, this
releases Deimos into the game for the first time. Can you explain to the readers who Deimos is and
what his abilities are in the game?
Deimos is the bad guy that killed Harry. I’d love to give you some lore information but I really don’t follow it that
closely, although I am going to change that soon and catch up!
In terms of abilities, Deimos is the ultimate roam clearer. Once an enemy is marked or identified, Deimos can
send out his Deathmark. These small tiny drones which cannot be shot by defenders, quickly find out the
location of Deimos’ chosen defending operator. The unlucky defender is then live pinged constantly, although
only to Deimos. The defender still stands a chance as Deimos is also pinged for them too, although for the
defender the ping is every second and not a live ping like it is for Deimos. Oh and by the way, he gets 3 of
these!
What are his key strengths and areas that he excels in?
He is a tremendous roam clearer. Use a drone to identify and mark a roamer and off go the Deathmarks. He
creates the ultimate 1v1 scenario and with a team around him he will be a roamer's worst nightmare.
What are his weaknesses and counters?
Despite what I’ve said above there are a handful of counters.
Firstly, Mute. If you are standing in the range of a Mute jammer when the Deimos activates the Deathmark it
will give an error message for Deimos and result in him losing one of his Deathmarks. If the Deathmark is
already active and you enter the Mute jammer, it will kill the ping for Deimos for the duration that the defender
is within range of the jammer.
Tubarao is another counter and works almost exactly the same as Mute above. As long as you’re in the range
of the Zoto canister you’re safe.
The other hard counter is Vigil, which is great for Vigil enjoyers! Vigil has found himself slowly drifting away
from the meta of late with the introduction of Solis and the Lesion changes. Vigil can counter the Deathmarks
in two ways. Firstly if Vigil’s ERC-7 cloaking device is active when Deimos starts the Deathmark track, Deimos
will lose a Deathmark. If the Deathmark is active and is pinging Vigil, activating the ERC-7 will hide the ping for
as long as the ERC-7 remains active.
27

Do you think that Deimos will be a viable operator?
Absolutely, I played the test server extensively and
have played the live build after Deadly Omen was
released.
On roam heavy maps like Villa, Lair and Labs he will
arguably become the go to roam clearing operator of
choice for attackers.
What is a top tip you would give to players playing
with Deimos to fully utilise him?
Once a Deathmark has started tracking a defender,
that process lasts around 12 seconds.
Remember above where I said the defender can also
see Deimos location, although the ping isn’t quite as
active. Well, Deimos can actually stop the Deathmark
tracking at any time once active. So you can identify
the location of a defender, organise the cut offs and
close in.
Once the track has been cancelled by Deimos the
defender will no longer get a ping for Deimos’ location
meaning they’re in the dark where the push is coming
from.
If you’re playing in a stack, or even as a 2, start the
track, get the location, organise the cut offs for the
roamer and move in!
Any other additional information you’d like to add?
Now this will be included in an upcoming video you
may find on various social media sites in the coming
weeks. [Up The Siege: FOLLOW ALYTTLETON ON
SOCIAL MEDIA]
Many players are thinking the likes of Buck, Lion and
Grim will synergise well with Deimos, which they
absolutely will.
However, the operator I am thinking that will synergise
well is IQ. The reason being is Deimos needs to have
defenders identified to be able to track them. If you
can’t find the roamer with a drone you’re going to
struggle to identify them. Take IQ to the roof of a map
and start pinging every gadget you can see. ADS,
Wamai magnets, Lesion mines etc etc. This will mean
that player is now identified and can now be tracked by
Deimos.
Of course this will only work for defenders that have
placeable utility that IQ can ping, the likes of Caviera
will still need to identified by a drone.
28

30

My name is Rowan “Xhosa” Steyn. I
was born and raised in Pretoria, South
Africa, and thanks to Tom Clancy’s
Rainbow Six Siege, I am pursuing my
dream of studying in America.
My dad actually deserves a lot of the
credit for getting me into Siege in the
first place, after noticing how many R6-
related YouTube videos I was watching,
he encouraged me to download the
game on our family computer.
I started playing Siege casually in late
2016, playing the game off-and-on and
enjoying the novelty of destruction and
close-quarter combat.
I had a bit of a freak accident at cricket practice, resulting in a broken knuckle
and an extended recovery, where I couldn’t play cricket. I was the stereotypical
sporting kid, not paying much attention in school and almost exclusively focusing
on becoming a professional cricketer, so losing the ability to play for such a long
time in seconds was a complete eye-opener. The Afrikaans-speaking high school
I attended at the time lost all its benefits once the injury happened since I went
there primarily for the cricket program.
I decided it would be best for me to transition to an English-speaking high school
and place more priority on creating a life for myself outside of South Africa.
Unfortunately, almost no English-speaking high schools were interested in
accepting an academically average, Afrikaans-speaking student in the middle of
the academic year. The only viable option was online schooling, and Rainbow
Six Siege started to scratch the competitive itch I was having due to not playing
school cricket anymore.
I was beginning to dive into the competitive side of R6, and with the introduction
of dedicated South African servers in late 2019, It felt like whole a new game
playing on sub-170 ping. The competitive scene in South Africa, albeit small, was
a golden opportunity for me. It was brimming with passionate and talented
players, and I was even blessed enough to experience notable success before
and during COVID-19.
31

The final South African organization I played for, VYBN Esports, was owned by a
South African studying in America on a cycling scholarship. He and his brother
took me under their wing and helped me get into contact with the staff of the
University of Akron’s Esports program. This felt like the perfect opportunity
because not only did this provide me with the means to study in America, but it
also gave me the opportunity to team up with very talented players who have
grown into some of my best friends.
And that brings us to the present day,
where I’m playing a great game with
even better people, all while pursuing
my education and braving these brutal
Ohio winters.
I’ve traded my cricket bat for a mouse
and keyboard, and couldn’t be
happier!
I can’t quantify what Siege means to
me. Without Siege, I wouldn’t have met
some of my lifelong friends, I wouldn’t
be as driven academically and my
general life prospects wouldn’t be as
optimistic.
Of course, there are ups and downs, but without Siege, I wouldn’t be who I am
today. It’s surreal to think how much a video game has influenced my life for the
better, and I will forever be grateful for all of the opportunities created by Siege.
The difference between video games in South Africa compared to video games
in America is very interesting. I started playing Siege on an Intel workstation and
even that is far better than what those around me had access to. Some people
didn’t have the disposable income to afford luxuries such as a personal computer
or a stable internet connection. South Africa is also quite traditional in how we go
about things. Children are expected to entertain themselves with things such as
sports because the previous generations did the same. It’s quite uncommon for
someone from my background to have such supportive and open-minded
parents.
South Africa’s struggling infrastructure also makes it almost impossible to get ten
people into a lobby. For as long as I can remember, we’ve had something called
Loadshedding which is a series of rolling blackouts to try and alleviate the
pressures on our failing power grid. The schedule will differ daily, with each area
having different schedules, and the amount of time we’ll spend without electricity
depends on how overloaded the power grid is. There are periods when we will be
without electricity for more than half the day for multiple concurrent days. The
barriers and limitations associated with gaming in South Africa are humbling and
remind me of how fortunate I am, and to remain grateful for everything that has
and continues to happen because of R6.
32