This week saw the conclusion of the Rainbow Six Europe League stage 1 regular season and the start of the playoffs that will determine which EU teams will represent the region at the Manchester Major.
The week started with a match up against Team Secret in the team’s final game of stage 1. Any form of win would see Wolves finish the stage in second place behind Team BDS and progress directly to the semi-finals of the playoffs.
However, the same could be said for Team Secret’s ambitions as they too had a second place finish up for grabs.
Both teams entered the server ready to slog it out in what many people predicted to be a very close contest.
Wolves started on the defence on Skyscraper and won the opening two rounds. However, the half finished 4-2 with Team Secret managing to get themselves two all important attacking rounds.
Once the second half began it appeared to be one way traffic as Team Secret seemed to have the answer to all of Wolves’ attacking questions and shut them down time and time again.
Winning just one of their attacking rounds, Wolves went on to lose 5-7 and with it slipped down to fourth place for the stage.
While this could be seen as a disappointment it is also worth noting the slow start the team had at the beginning of the stage and a fourth place finish, above the likes of Virtus Pro and G2, is nothing to be sniffed at. The most important thing is they qualified for the playoffs and their goal of making it to the Manchester Major was very much still on the cards.
The next day the playoffs began and with it a match up against Fnatic in a best of three series.
It was billed as a close contest between two teams who have both had a slow start but shown some promise as the stage progressed. The first map was anything but this as Fnatic stomped to a 7-0 victory on Wolves’ map pick leaving the pack somewhat stunned.
There was no time to assess what had gone wrong as before they knew it the second map was underway. As this map progressed the pack started to grow more and more into the game with each Fnatic mistake. They took their opportunities in clinical fashion and managed to claim the victory 7-4.
The deciding map was what it all came down to. One team would progress to play against Team BDS in the playoffs semi final and the other would be knocked down into the last chance qualifiers.
Watching Wolves on map three you would be forgiven for thinking that 7-0 defeat earlier was a hallucination. The pack played with confidence, aggression and teamwork that reminded the R6 community that nobody should write them off, no matter the situation.
Wolves secured a 7-4 victory with relative ease and seemed to be having some fun in the process. Their reward - a place in the playoffs semi final against fellow French rivals Team BDS.
This match is due to be played on Monday 22 April when one of the two teams will book their spot for Manchester. It is not over for the losing team though as they will have one more opportunity to claim the third spot in the third-place final.
It will be a tough game against an opposition Wolves are yet to beat but that streak has to come to an end at some point right? Why not now?
