Over the weekend the final EU Challenger League qualifier concluded, thus finalising the Season 10 participants. We now have the eight teams competing in the league, and at first glance, this is one of the most stacked Challenger seasons ever.
Some of the biggest teams in Rainbow Six are competing in the upcoming Challenger Season. Team Secret and forZe recently competed in the Six Major Raleigh. Both of these teams ended up finishing 3rd/4th in the tournament, which is incredible given the status of the teams in the Challenger League. What makes this even more exciting is that Team Secret had a poor Season 10. The community naturally slept on them, but they quickly learned the hard way. Meanwhile, forZe wasn’t even in Challenger League when they qualified for the Raleigh Major through the EU Regional Qualifier. Because of these recent results and the contest surrounding them, Secret and forZe are immediately elevating the contest to probably the most stacked Challenger Season to date.
Moving on, the ex Na’Vi roster, OrgLess, are joining the fray. Like Team Secret, this core roster had an amazing Season 8 – even attending the LAN finals in Rio last November. However, they had a poor Season 9 and fell into auto-relegation to the Season 10 Challenger League. This team has since been quiet, but recently won the GSA German tournament. Their time away from competition still shows they are relevant in some capacity and it will be great to see them back on form.
The two returning Challenger League teams are the Benelux squad, TrustGaming and the former Finnish GoSkilla roster, KKona KKopteri. These two teams made a good run alongside the Season 9 Challenger League teams, MnM Gaming (now Na’VI) and Team Vitality. Both of these rosters made it to Season 10 Pro League, and are both sat 3rd and 4th in the mid-season break. This is a sign of how much potential both TrustGaming and KKona KKopteri hold. With the aforementioned teams competing alongside them, they’ll have a great opportunity to grow and challenge themselves at the top level of play.
BDA, GameWard and Salamander are the less well-known teams in the League. However, their ability to wade through though the competition is a sign they belong here. These three teams will most likely struggle given the strength already listed. Despite the clear struggles already presenting themselves, there are also many positives to be found in facing powerful rivals. This is one of the best opportunities open to amateur teams as they will be able to lean from the very best in Europe.
Normally the EU Challenger League doesn’t receive much attention from the competitive fanbase. I expect that to change given the level of power and potential in EU rosters this season.
Season 10 of the EU Challenger League is scheduled to begin in September. No official date has been set so far. Keep checking by the ESL Rainbow Six page for more information on scheduling and broadcasts.
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Featured Image by: Team forZe Twitter
