In a rematch of the two rosters that battled in the Rainbow Six Siege Invitational Grand Final last year, Evil Geniuses looked to make their way to their second straight grand final, while Rogue looked for revenge against their North American rival. In a extremely close match that either team could have won, fans were treated to a semifinal match that they will not soon forget. Here is how all of the action went down.
Only one spot left in the Grand Finals, will @BroCanadian and @EvilGeniuses have the chance to claim their hammer back? Will @GoingRogueGG step up and advance to the Finals? Live now!https://t.co/q7A3z2vvlE
— Rainbow Six Siege (@Rainbow6Game) February 17, 2018
Special thanks to our friends from @LenovoLegion pic.twitter.com/P07i5KyXLL
Map one of the semifinal match took place on Kafe Dostoyevsky. Rogue's agressive playstyle in the first round was too much for Evil Geniuses to handle, and Rogue was able to win the round and take the 1-0 lead. Round two saw Evil Geniuses execute a strong defense on the bombsite to take the round and tie the map at 1-1. Round three would see Rogue race out to a strong player advantage by getting the first three kills. Evil Geniuses would not be able to rebound from the early losses and allowed Rogue to take a 2-1 lead. Evil Geniuses would get two quick kills to attain the early player advantage in the next round and force a 2-2 tie. The fifth round would not see Evil Geniuses take their first lead of the map, as Rogue would wipe out the members of Evil Geniuses in quick fashion to grab the 3-2 lead. Oliver "Slashug" Spencer was the star for Rogue in round six, as two impressive one shot kills would lead his team to grab a 4-2 lead. Ammar "Necrox" Albanna would not let Rogue get the map deciding win in round seven, as his three kills would propel Evil Geniuses to the round win and reduce Rogue's lead to 4-3. A very slow beginning round eight would end in a flurry, as Rogue would win the necessary gunfights to take the round and secure the 5-3 map win. All Rogue needed was one more map win to punch their ticket to tomorrow's grand final.
.@GoingRogueGG was victorious on Kafe, but @EvilGeniuses remain focused. #SixInvitational pic.twitter.com/76q4ZzmoCx
— ESL Rainbow Six (@ESLRainbowSix) February 17, 2018
Club House played host to the second map of the semifinal match. Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski grabbing two kills, and Rogue's mistake of not checking the tops floors with a drone would lead Evil Geniuses to a round one win and a 1-0 lead. Rogue would answer back in round two and tie the match at 1-1. Nathan "nvK" Valenti would be the hero for Evil Geniuses in round three, as his three kills would be the difference in his team's win and helped them grab a 2-1 lead. Round four would be no different for nvK, as the talented player would kill three more Rogue players to secure the round and the 3-1 map lead for his team. Continuing their dominant play on Club House, Evil Geniuses would win round five and grab a commanding 4-1 lead over Rogue. The veteran North American roster would not let Evil Geniuses win the map easily by staging a massive comeback. Winning three straight rounds, Rogue was able to tie the map at 4-4 and force overtime. Each team would grab a round to begin overtime to force a map deciding round 11. Evil Geniuses were able to stop the bleeding and win round 11 to take the map 6-5.
The defending champions, @EvilGeniuses, are hanging by a thread in the semifinal. It all comes down to the third map, Consulate. #SixInvitational pic.twitter.com/CnH1t4PuXN
— ESL Rainbow Six (@ESLRainbowSix) February 17, 2018
Our semifinal match would head to Consulant to decide its winner. Evil Geniuses were able to overcome an impressive double kill from Rogue's Bryan "Byran" Agema to win the round and take a 1-0 lead. Round two would see more of the same from Evil Geniuses, as the defending world champions were able to win and increase their lead to 2-0. Rogue would bounce back in round three to decrease Evil Geniuses' lead to 2-1, despite a valiant effort by nvK in the closing seconds. Excellent sharpshooting with Blackbeard from Austin "Yung" Trexler would be the driving force of Evil Geniuses' round four win. It began to look bleak for Rogue, as Evil Geniuses would go on to win round five and give themselves the 4-1 lead. Unfortunately, Evil Geniuses would begin to fold like the map before and would go on to lose two straight maps. Rogue was looking for another miracelous comeback, but it was not meant to be. Evil Geniuses would buckle down in round eight and win, thus giving them the 5-3 map victory. This map win would give Evil Geniuses a 2-1 match victory over Rogue.
With the win, Evil Geniuses will now have the chance to defend their title from last year against PENTA Sports. The loss eliminates Rogue from the invitational and denies them the chance to play for the title that escaped them last year. Now the matchup for the Rainbow Six Siege Invitational Grand Final is set, as Evil Geniuses will be facing off against PENTA Sports tomorrow at 2:30 PM EST on their offcial Twitch channel.
Interested to learn how PENTA Sports made their way into tomorrow's grand final? Check out our recap of their match against the Black Dragons.
