Six Invitational 2022, where champions fall and underdogs triumph

The months of regional leagues, the Mexico Major, the Sweden Major, all lead down to the Six Invitational 2022. With a juicy $3,000,000 prize pool, the participants also look formidable. In fact, we got ourselves quite the selection of notable champions and runner-ups from the past Six Invitationals.

My spider-sense is tingling, and I have a hunch the Six Invitational 2022 (SI 2022) might not pan out as we expected.

Underdogs reign at Six Invitational 2022

DAMWON Gaming is the Korean team that has garnered a massive following after their multiple overthrowing occasions. Over at the SI 2022, they have once again shocked the crowd by defeating MIBR, Oxygen Esports, and especially Team oNe eSports, the Sweden Major 2021 champs.

Securing their spot for the Playoffs in merely two days, they surely have put themselves on every opponent’s hitlist. However, observing DAMWON’s careful and sly tactics, it seems like they can certainly walk their talk and be among the top finishers.

Considering DAMWON’s best achievement is fourth place at the Sweden Major, anything less probably won’t suffice the Korean overlords.

Rising from the ashes of their fall, Team Empire is kicking off their SI 2022 run with a roar. Team Empire is a team that hasn’t been in the spotlight since the Mexico Major 2021 and Six Invitational 2019, in which they earned runner-up victories.

It’s clear that Empire is aching to finish what it failed to, becoming a Six Invitational Champion itself. If there’s a seasoned team that one wants to root for, Team Empire takes the cake for their line-up has remained together since 2018.

Team Liquid is one team that can relate to Team Empire, which is being a Six Invitational pushover. The Six Invitational 2021 runner-up was one match short of winning a million dollars and bragging rights as SI2021 champs.

Fortunately, Liquid still kept their heads high and vows to claim their deserving champion’s title. They have overcome the SI2020 champion, Spacestation Gaming, and Sweden Major 2021 runner-up, Rogue. Hence, it will be quite soon before they secure their playoffs slot.

Champions struggle at the SI 2022

In other news, the glorified champions aren’t doing too well to stay afloat in the SI 2022. A great example is Ninjas in Pyjamas, the defending champions from the last Six Invitational. The stakes are on for NiP to ensure they qualify for Playoffs. After all, they are the SI 2022 champions, so being eliminated in groups would be embarrassing. It’s definitely not the group stage run that NiP hoped for, but at least they secured a win from MNM Gaming.

That said, MNM Gaming and SANDBOX Gaming are at equal footing on the scoreboard as NiP too. Thus, a potential tiebreaker wouldn’t be out of the ordinary if NiP doesn’t win more matches.

Moving on to oNe eSports, with their push to become the unbeatable candidate in SI 2022 falling off instantly. Although without a SI win before, oNe was hailed a top dog in the current season for having the most Global Points. The Mexico Major 2021 champion now looks like a fluke as they narrowly defeated Natus Vincere.

Finally, Spacestation Gaming is still staying afloat. Given that Group B doesn’t have the most formidable opponents, SSG should be able to make it past groups, albeit not first seeds.

There is still plenty to play for at the Six Invitational 2022. If you are looking for R6 betting, I would advise waiting for the bracket stage to get a clearer picture of how teams match up.