DreamHack Valencia is finally over, and boy what an exciting tournament it was! We saw some of the best performances of the year and can’t wait to share them with you, so without further ado let’s jump right into our DreamHack Valencia Siege recap!

DreamHack Valencia Siege Day 1: Let Freedom Ring

A day after the US celebrated its independence, the American teams were firing on all cylinders with Rogue, Team SoloMid, and Team Reciprocity all pulling off strong wins to start out their tournament campaigns.

Of particular note was TSM, currently ranked 30th in the world, who shocked many taking down number 15 on the current world rankings Team oNe. The match was an absolute stomp, with TSM winning the match 2-0 and holding Team oNe to only six round wins over the entire series. Considering their recent struggles in the Pro League, the win definitely comes as an unexpected but pleasant surprise and could indicate the team finally finding their footing.

Team Reciprocity also had a good performance in their first series of the tournament, taking down Trust Gaming 2-0. The team took the first map, Villa, cleanly without giving up a single round, though almost was forced into a tiebreaker on Club House after going down 4-5 before making a three-round surge to take the series.

Finally, Rogue, the only NA team not in Group C, took a close but exciting win over Na’Vi in the Group B opener, going 2-1 in the series. The first two maps were incredibly close, with Rogue winning Consulate 7-5 before dropping game two on Villa 4-7. The tied score forced the teams into a deciding map on Kafe where Rogue, after going 3-3 in the first half, brought down the hammer and took four straight rounds on defense to win the map and series.

Day 2: Group Stage Continued

Day two was elimination day, and boy did it show in the day’s match-ups for Group B.

Group B’s Winner’s Match was an absolute upset on the day, as Rogue, currently ranked 12 in the world, took down world rank number three team Looking for Org (LFO) in a shocking 2-0 match that saw them take Consulate 7-4 and Clubhouse 8-6 in OT. LFO would eventually find their way into the playoffs, but not before going all the way against Na’Vi, who handily took out Giants in the Elimination Match. The series between LFO and Na’Vi saw the now-orgless stars of Europe earn a close OT win on Consulate, going 8-6, before surprisingly losing Kafe 5-7, forcing a deciding match on Clubhouse that pushed both teams to their limit, with LFO finally triumphing in OT in a nail-biting 8-7 scoreline.

WHAT. WAS. THAT?

Incredible @Kripps!!#DHVLC19 pic.twitter.com/TD2YXXatvo

— DreamHack Rainbow Six Siege (@DreamHackR6) July 6, 2019

Group A, on the other hand, was an absolute rout, with Chaos taking PENTA 2-0 in the winner’s match and holding the old Europeans to only 7 round wins across two maps. The elimination match would see Team MCES take Japanese team Father’s back down a peg with a 2-1 win that saw them hold FB to only 9 round wins across three maps, seven of which were in their Border win to start the series out.

The hype wouldn’t last long, however, as MCES fell to PENTA 0-2 on Border and Coastline. The team put up a good fight in the first map, forcing PENTA into an 8-6 OT win, before coming crashing down hard in the second map that saw PENTA take the win 7-3, advancing to the playoffs.

Group C continued this trend with TSM taking a close but secure win against Team Reciprocity 2-0 with a 14-9 round record against the boys in orange. While Trust Gaming won a close series 2-1 against Team oNe, they were no match for Reciprocity, who swept them 2-0 and held Trust to only four round wins across Border and Bank. What a sad way to end your tournament run.

Speaking of sad endings, Group D saw that in its Decider Match rematch between Team Velocity and Cloud9, who played against each other on day one. After their loss against FaZe clan in the Winner’s Match 1-2, which saw the yellow bees fail to take a single round on the third map of Consulate, Vitality looked like they needed to let off some steam, pummeling Elimination Match winner Cloud9 2-0 and also holding them to only four rounds across both maps. Cloud9 had a lot of hope on their shoulders to make it out of the group stage, but sadly it was not to be.

Day 2: And Then There Was One

The playoffs got quickly underway following the group stage with Chaos taking on Vitality in the first match-up of the Quarterfinals. Both teams were off to a strong start on Clubhouse in game one, which saw Chaos win 8-7 in OT, before Vitality made a statement in game two, winning Villa 7-0. The hype for a trip for the Frenchmen to the semis was not to be, however, as Chaos bounced back to smack Vitality 7-4 on Border, taking the series 2-1.

While the two European teams duked it out, Rogue and Reciprocity represented America well as they battled it out for the right to face them in the semis, with Reciprocity throwing down the gloves in a 7-2 win on Coastline to open the match up. Rogue wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, and fought their way back into it with a 7-5 win on Kafe, forcing a deciding map on Clubhouse. There the two teams fought tooth and nail, but it was Rogue who came away with the victory in OT, winning the map 8-6 and the match 2-1.

On the other side of the brack, TSM continued to impress everyone watching as they took their Group C foe LFO down 8-7 in OT on Consulate to start their series off. Beaulo continued to make a name for himself as a rising North American star during the map, and it looked like TSM might actually be able to make a deep run at the semis in their first international appearance. This wasn’t to be, however, as LFO came roaring back in maps two and three, taking Kafe 7-4 and Clubhouse 7-5 for a 2-1 series win over TSM.

The last match of the day was also probably the closest, as FaZe Clan took PENTA to three games before finally overcoming them 2-1. Their first map of Border saw them easily stomp PENTA 7-3 before their opponents fired back on Kafe 7-4 to hold them off. This forced a rather exciting map three on Villa that pushed both teams to the brink, though it was FaZe to come out on top 8-6 in OT.

With Quarterfinals over, only one NA team remained to keep the region’s hopes and dreams alive.

DreamHack Valencia Siege Day 3: America the Beautiful

Day three got underway with the semifinal matchup between Chaos and Rogue at 2 am PDT, a match that sat on a knife edge. Both teams refused to give in, and after a back and forth on Kafe we saw both teams take four wins on Defense and two wins on Offense, forcing an OT that saw Rogue just barely eke out a victory in the last round 8-7, with the final round coming down to a 1v1 between Rogue’s Easilyy and Chaos’ Vitoline. The teams would continue to fight tooth and nail into the last map before Rogue finally secured the win 8-6 in OT on Consulate.

The other semi was quite the opposite storyline, as LFO destroyed FaZe 2-0 on Kafe and Consulate, winning the maps 7-2 and 7-1 respectively. After such a dominating performance against one of the world’s top teams, many thought LFO were shoe-ins for the title, especially after Rogue’s struggle against Chaos.

This idea was only further reinforced after FaZe took Chaos down 2-0 in the 3rd Place Match, a series that saw an 8-6 OT win in game one on Border for FaZe before stomping all over Chaos 7-3 on Consulate. WIth a much more comfortable win over a team Rogue struggled with by a FaZe that was manhandled by LFO, things were looking grim for America’s last hope.

It wasn’t to be, however, as Rogue came out of the gates roaring, taking down LFO 7-4 on Bank in game one of the Grand Final before playing a defensive nail-biter against them on Kafe. In the end, Rogue took home the top prize, beating LFO in an exciting 8-7 OT to win their first tournament since the US Nationals last December, and earning their ticket to the Raleigh Major.

? CHAMPIONS ?

Congratulations on winning DreamHack Valencia 2019 @Rogue @VertcL_ @AaronJBD @Ecl9pse @SlashugR6 @EasilyyR6 @RangerGG! ?#GoRogue #DHVLC19 pic.twitter.com/mpKalU5Hrv

— DreamHack Rainbow Six Siege (@DreamHackR6) July 7, 2019

Is this the start of a new era for Rogue? Is North America finally ready to take its place as a contender on the world stage? Only time will tell, but it’s only getting more and more exciting as we get closer to the Raleigh Major in a little over a months time.

For more Rainbow Six: Siege news and updates stay tuned for our weekly recaps and more!