Element One: Breaking down the new Rainbow Six Tier 2 tournament

Element One is the new official online Tier 2 Rainbow Six Siege tournament in North America. Presented by Ubisoft and run by Nerd Street, Element One will showcase the best up-and-coming Rainbow Six teams and players in the region this summer. Up to 64 teams will compete in the initial open qualifiers as they vie to join the eight invited teams in the later stages of the tournament. More information about the rules and regulations of Element One can be found in the tournament’s public document. Below is a brief primer on the teams, schedule and format.

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Invited teams

• Arial Arise
• Carry the Boats
• Ex Lycus LFO
• Wildcard Aces
• Karn & Co.
• GameRogue
• Gang Gang Gaming
• Spacestation Academy

Qualified teams

These eight teams will be determined via the Alpha Stage qualifiers.

Schedule and format

Alpha Stage (June 16-25)

Image credit: Nerd Street / Ubisoft

Element One kicks off on Friday (June 16) with the first of two qualifiers and continues through Sunday (June 18). The second qualifier will take place the following weekend (June 23-25).

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The qualifiers stage of the tournament is known as Alpha Stage and each qualifier will consist of a 32-team open qualifier feeding into an eight-team closed qualifier. While the open qualifiers will follow a Swiss System format, the closed qualifier will be a single-elimination bracket. Ultimately, the top four teams from each closed qualifier will move on to the next stage.

Beta Stage (July 5-21)

Image credit: Nerd Street / Ubisoft

The Beta Stage of Element One will involve the eight invited teams and the eight teams qualified from the Alpha Stage. The 16-team Beta Stage will play out in a Swiss System format with teams needing to win three matchups to advance and those losing three matchups being eliminated. A team’s first two or three matchups will be single games, but advancement and elimination matches will be best-of-three. The eight teams that win three matchups will advance to the next stage.

Gamma Stage (July 25-28)

The Gamma Stage will be an eight-team single elimination bracket. The quarterfinals and semifinals are best-of-three matches, while the grand final will be best-of-five.

Lead image credit: Nerd Street / Ubisoft