Rainbow Six Siege Invitational Grand Final: Evil Geniuses vs PENTA Sports

Evil Geniuses and PENTA Sports came into the Rainbow Six Siege Invitational Grand Final looking to claim the title of world champion. The North American squad of Evil Geniuses looked to defend their title from last year, while the European powerhouse of PENTA Sports was out to prove that they are the very best team in the world. In a grand finals match that fans will not soon forget, one team was able to overcome adversity to claim the world championship. 

Map one of the grand final took place on Club House and saw both teams win one of the first two rounds. Tied 1-1, Evil Geniuses' Nathan "nvK" Valenti pushed his team into a 2-1 lead with a round decidng double kill. The North American squad would not stop there, as Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski would grab four kills in the next round to give Evil Geniuses the 3-1 lead. Each team would win one of the following two rounds to make it 4-2 in Evil Geniuses' favor. Evil Geniuses would close out the 5-2 map victory with a win in round seven, giving them a 1-0 lead in the match. 

Oregon was where our two teams headed for map two. Evil Geniuses would race out to a 2-0 lead, but PENTA would stop the bleeding with a win in round three. PENTA would tie the map at 2-2 with a win in round four, as they would hold off a strong push from Evil Geniuses' in the closing seconds. A win for both teams in the following two rounds had the map tied at 3-3. PENTA would grab a 4-3 lead in round seven, but Evil Geniuses would secure the next round to tie the map at 4-4 and force overtime. A strong defensive hold from Evil Geniuses would push them to a 5-4 lead, but Niclas "Pengu" Mouritzen would not let his team go down easily. A impressive double kill by Pengu to end the round tied the map at 5-5. Ultimately, Evil Geniuses were able to secure a win in round 11 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Kafe Dostoyevsky played host to the third map of the grand final and saw PENTA Sports facing elimination. A strong retake of the bombsite would give PENTA a 1-0 lead, but the next round saw Ammar "Necrox" Albanna grab four kills to lead Evil Geniuses to tie the map at 1-1. Evil Geniuses would grab another win in round 2 to take a 2-1 lead. Not wanting to get too far behind, PENTA would grab two straight round wins to grab a 4-2 lead. The next round would go Evil Geniuses way, but PENTA was able to put the nail in the coffin and win round 8, thus giving them them the 5-3 map victory. 

The next map of the grand final saw both teams battling it out on Bank. Both teams would grab a round to begin the map to force a 1-1 tie. Canadian would put on a MVP performance in the next round, as he eliminated four of PENTA's players to secure a 2-1 lead for Evil Geniuses. In response, PENTA would rattle off four straight round wins to take the map 5-2 and tie the match at 2-2. A match deciding map five would determine the world champion.

Coastline was map five of the grand final. Evil Geniuses would win round one to take a 1-0 lead. PENTA would respond with a win in round two to tie the map at 1-1. Seeing their chance to put an end to the grand final, PENTA would win their fourth straight map in a row to take a commanding 4-1 lead. However, the defending champions would not go down without a fight. Playing to a much higher level than the previous five rounds, Evil Geniuses were able to win three straight to force a 4-4 tie and overtime. Penta would strike first in overtime to take a 5-4 lead. Round 10 would see Pengu in a one versus two situation with the championship on the line. Calm and collected, the talented player was able to eliminate both of Evil Geniuses' players and secure the 6-4 map victory for his team. This gave PENTA Sports the 3-2 match victory and title of world champions. 

With the win, PENTA Sports achieve victory at the second ever Rainbow Six Siege Invitational and cemented themselves as the best team in the world. The loss denied Evil Geniuses their second straight championship. With a grand final of this magnitude, it is safe to say that Rainbow Six Siege has a very strong future in the esports industry. 

Interested in how both teams' got to the grand final? Check out our recap for the first and second semifinal matches.