The Empire is Crumbling as EU R6PL Heads Into Final Week

Season IX of the Rainbow Six Pro League is truly getting to be a game of inches as we close in on the final week of the regular season. Teams are still fighting for a ticket to Milan -- where the best teams from around the world will compete for global Rainbow 6 glory in the playoffs -- and those near the bottom of the stack continue to try and climb out of relegations or demotion spots. 

Week 13 of the European Rainbow Six Pro League saw some pretty intense battles between top-tier teams and some surprises near the basement. Check out last week's Power Rankings for a quick catch-up. 

Here are your Rainbow Six Pro League (EU) Power Rankings after Week 13.

1st - It feels weird to bump a team that is officially out of playoff contention to the top spot in the power rankings, but it also feels so right. There isn’t a whole lot we wouldn’t give G2 Esports credit for right now. Last week, this G2 team pulled out a draw against the top-seeded Team Empire, and this week they absolutely came out clutch against Chaos, who is another team to be mighty feared in the European region. G2 get to close out their Season IX against a NaVi team that is pretty low on the standings, and we just can’t wait to see what they bring to their region next season.

2nd - The LeStream Esport team really needed something flashy this week to avoid falling further down the power rankings, and that’s exactly what they did. In Week 13, LeStream demolished the 1st Place Team Empire on Club House in dominant fashion. Being that these two teams will most likely be the squads representing the EU region in the Milan playoffs, it was clear that one is playing superior Rainbow Six once they both got into the match. Look out for LeStream come postseason tournaments, because they are playing lights out right now.

3rd - There’s a chance that Team Empire will lose their spot atop the standings come the end of Week 14. They’re playing well below their expected grade, and are only one win up on 2nd Place LeStream Esport. Last week, Empire couldn’t beat G2 Esports, and the week prior to that they looked embarrassing against Penta Sports. Mathematically, there’s no way that Team Empire do not go out to Milan for the playoffs, but it sure doesn’t look like this is the team that could win it all for the EU region. If you’ve got Empire stocks, it may be time to sell.

4th - Chaos continues to be a Rainbow Six Seige team that impress. Coming off of a huge win against LeStream Esport last week -- seriously, they destroyed the 2nd Place team -- Chaos came into Week 13 with a huge amount of momentum behing them, but ultimately dropped the ball a tad against a very scary G2 Esports squad. Maybe they underestimated how well G2 is playing right now, or perhaps they’ve begun to check-out early for the season. Either way, we still believe that Chaos is an elite team in this region and we hope they come in strong for the final week of Season IX.

5th - Penta Sports dropped down to 5th Place in the Power Rankings off the back of a stellar performance against a lowly Team Secret squad. The rest of the league is leaping over them, and they tend to only look crazy strong against teams that probably deserve to be in relegation spots come the end of the year. Week 13 saw Penta Sports win a potentially losable head-to-head against a 6th Place Mousesports team that they just shouldn’t have much competition with. Here’s to hoping that Penta can crush in Week 14 and show the world why they are technically 3rd Place in the league.

6th - The Natus Vincere team climbed out of the basement last week on our Power Rankings list, and they continue to climb even more so in Week 14. With their European Rainbow Six Pro League life on the line, NaVi managed to beat 3-points out of the low-tier Team Secret, shrinking the gap between them and Mousesports to one win. Luckily for NaVi, the Mouz team they want to tie is playing a Team Empire that has a lot to prove right now, and they themselves are playing a G2 Esports that has a relatively good chance of trolling in their final week.

7th - We want to love Mousesports. Truly. They’ve managed to climb out of a relegation spot last week, and yet this week they lost a match they could have won if they had just held on to their momentum. The Soft defense of Mouz cost them three points against a mostly underwhelming Penta Sports team. With the loss, Mouz sees their lead over 7th Place NaVi slip from 6-points to 3, and they have only one game left this season against the top-ranked team in the league. NaVi owns the head-to-head history in Season IX against Mousesports, which means they have to win in Week 14, or NaVi has to lose.

8th - Unfortunately for fans of the fairly storied franchise, everyone is continuously unimpressed with Team Secret on the bigger Rainbow Six stage. In 13 games so far this season, Team Secret is a depressing 3-0-10 with a negative 27 map differential. Sure, they are only 1-point away from 7th Place, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot with NaVi on a mini-tear, and Team Secret playing a crazy strong looking Chaos squad in the final week of the regular season. Hopefully, they can put up a bit of a fight and head towards the door with their pride intact.

Match of the Week

G2 Esports vs Chaos

Next week we will see a wrap on the Season IX regular play stage, we already know that LeStream and Empire will represent the EU region in Milan during the playoffs, but who will be fighting for their spot in the league come the offseason? We will have to wait until Week 14 hits the zip line.