Visitors play Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege, a video game published by Ubisoft, on October 28, 2015 at the Paris Game Week, a trade fair for video games in Paris. Paris Game week will run from October 28 until November 1, 2015. AFP PHOTO / PATRICK KOVARIK (Photo credit should read PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images)
Eight of the best Rainbow Six Siege Pro League teams in the world descended upon Milan, Italy to decide which of them would be hailed as the Season IX champion. In a match that led Team Empire to ultimate victory, much drama occurred along the way.
Quarterfinals action got rolling on Saturday, May 18 with four teams seeing their weekend end in disappointment.
Fnatic 2, NORA-Rengo 0
APAC superpowers faced each other on the biggest stage of Season IX in this first quarterfinal match. Fnatic took the first map, Border, led by Virtue’s 21 kills. Clubhouse was the next map, and despite NORA-Rengo jumping out to an early lead, Fnatic claimed another victory to advance to the semifinals.
Team Empire 2, Dark Zero 0
EU champion Team Empire came into this match as the favorite and didn’t disappoint. After NA runner-up Dark Zero caused some frustration for Team Empire early on the first map, Bank, Team Empire dispatched Dark Zero easily on Oregon to claim the second semifinals spot.
FaZe Clan 2, LeStream Esport 0
LATAM champion FaZe Clan represented its region well in the third quarterfinal, narrowly winning Bank in overtime then again edging EU runner-up LeStream Esport on Oregon to advance to the semis.
Evil Geniuses 2, Immortals 0
NA champion Evil Geniuses ousted LATAM runner-up Immortals by claiming Oregon then giving fans another overtime map on Coastline, which it prevailed in as well to complete the semifinals bracket.
Sunday’s action would not only feature two semifinal matches, but after a brief respite and debut of some new content for the game, the final match as well.
Team Empire 2, Fnatic 1
The semifinals delivered on a promise of intense action, as for the first time on the weekend all three scheduled maps were required to decide a winner. Virtue and Team Empire continued their strong run on Consulate 7-4. After Fnatic fought back to take Border, Clubhouse was the deciding map that put Team Empire in the final.
Evil Geniuses 2, FaZe Clan 0
Evil Geniuses made the first move toward ensuring there would be no APAC or LATAM teams in the final by winning Clubhouse. Border made another appearance as a deciding map, as Evil Geniuses prevailed on that map as well to set up a finals showdown between the NA and EU champions in the Season IX final.
Team Empire 2, Evil Geniuses 1
After a live reveal of all the details of Operation Phantom Sight to the crowd in Milan and the rest of the world’s players plus announcements about August’s Six Major in Raleigh, N.C. and the November Season X Grand Final in Tokoname, Japan, the final match of Season IX got started.
Evil Geniuses started out hot, claiming Bank 7-5. They seemed on the verge of claiming the championship on Oregon, going up 6-4, but Team Empire stormed back to force overtime and win the map 8-6. Having forced a third and decisive map, Team Empire rode that momentum to win Clubhouse 7-3 and become the Season IX champion.
As Season X begins, Team Empire will begin its quest to defend its title. With Operation Phantom Sight, a renovated Kafe and a target on its back, it will be a new experience for the Season IX champions.