Can BDS Secure Back-To-Back Major Trophies?
BDS Esport are the creme de la creme of European Siege. As it stands right now, the Frenchmen are undoubtedly the best five-man roster on this continent and have occupied this position ever since August.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Towards the end of 2019, BDS managed to qualify for the Rainbow Six Pro League via Challenger League and leading up to the Six Invitational, they won two matches, tied one and narrowly lost to G2. At the Six Invitational 2020, they finished in fourth place, narrowly losing out to the Ninjas in Pyjamas, who wound up making it all the way to the Grand Finals. All of this looked great for BDS. So, following their impressive placement and considering that the remaining European teams had already dropped out in the Lower Bracket Round 1, fans increasingly expected them to become the next big European super-team.
Then they started losing. BDS were struck down by Chaos, Na’Vi, Rogue, forZe and Vitality. They ended up dead last in PL Season 11, making for an abysmal conclusion to the Spring circuit of events. Something was definitely off - and they determined this to be Morgan "rxwd" Pacy. While he did finish towards the bottom of the player rankings during that season, there was much more to this than just raw performance issues. The team just didn’t click, which translated into motivational problems. They already packed some of the best talent in the league by far. For instance, Stéphane “Shaiiko” Lebleu is (and was back then) considered to be on par with the greatest players in the world. What they needed wasn’t as much a fire-power upgrade as it was a colleague who would fit right in with their approach to the game.
Click to enlargeBRID REVITALISES BDS ESPORT
They found this in Loïc "BriD" Chongthep. The former Vitality player made his way to BDS during the off-time between Pro League and the newly announced European League. When EUL finally commenced, BDS were in different shape. All the way from the very bottom, the Frenchmen suddenly finished in second place, tied for points with Rogue. Not only that, when the Major came around, they suddenly stunned Rogue, Virtus.Pro, and G2 to win the entire event, setting themselves on top of the European competition.
But in an online event, there’s always a bit of luck and randomness involved. With all the impressiveness of their reverse-sweep during the Grand Finals, there was still no guarantee that BDS would actually retain this performance level heading into EUL Stage 2. But they did, starting off strong and only losing one upset match against Natus Vincere. Shaiiko and Olivier “Renshiro” Vandroux have secured the two highest ratings for Stage 2. BriD and Bryan “Elemzje” Tebessi have made the Top 10, and even Adrien "RaFaLe" Rutik has garnered a positive rating for his support efforts. No other team is even close to having such a stack of highly efficient players.
It’s safe to say now that BDS can now comfortably contend with the top brass of European competition. They have proven so throughout a Major and two stages of online competition. Ever since August, they have consistently put up a phenomenal show. The few times they have actually lost to another team don’t really muddy the picture, as they’ve never lost two matches in a row. Now that G2 and Rogue are out of the picture, there’s hardly anyone left to make a claim for the trophy other than BDS.
BDS AT THE SIX NOVEMBER 2020 MAJOR
So what will the upcoming November EU Major bring? We’ve seen Virtus.pro deliver some amazing upsets. Most importantly, Tempra and Empire owe at least part of their Major qualification to G2 and Secret, who would have made it to the event in their place, if only they hadn’t choked on the last play-day of the season. With enough preparation, Virtus.pro might just be able to take these rosters down, but will that be enough for a victory over BDS? It depends on whether the Frenchmen show up in good form, which they hardly ever fail to do. So Virtus.pro are looking at a defeat in their first match already, which will put them in a tough position against either Empire or Tempra. While VP have quite a bit of upset potential, so do these teams. If the last play-day of EUL has proven anything, it’s that these two teams know when to perform. Additionally, they have absolutely nothing to prove here.
There is no shame in losing to any of these teams, considering that they weren’t even considered Major prospects until the last few days of the season. This will likely alleviate a lot of pressure from the players and put BDS in a tough spot. They’re the ones who need to win this event if they want to retain their position at the top. But if the last half of this year is anything to go by, they have certainly got the power and the mental fortitude to secure yet another Major trophy.
Images via SiegeGG
