The final week of Six Masters is upon us — kind of. The regular season wraps up on Thursday, with playoffs to kick off in July. Six teams are still in the running, and this week’s super week will decide who makes the cut, and who will be sent home early.
Only one team has mathematically locked themselves in for playoffs, and that’s Wildcard. Based on results, you’d look at locking in SiNister and Okami, but until it’s confirmed, there’s an outside chance things could turn upside down.
On the other end of the ladder, LFO have started to stumble. After a fast start, the open qualifier hotshots are looking like they are running out of gas right at the finish line. Kanga is already locked into the wooden spoon, and is still yet to even win a map.
This leaves another three teams who are looking to gun for the top four, and perhaps shake up the standings. The Knights and Elevate have always been up there, but Ferox is emerging as a dark horse with the potential to perhaps scrape into the top four.
So, who will be playing for a chance to be crowned Six Masters champions? We will see after this week. With six games on the docket, this Predictions piece is going to be a long one. Thankfully, I have the handy analysis of the Six Masters expert panel to lean on, whose names you can find below.
- James “Devmarta” Stewart: Caster
- Michael “Guzz” Gurrie: Caster
- Brandon “Raven” Langiano: Caster
- Alex “Skye” McCallum: Observer
- Jess “Jess” Bolden: Analyst
While this piece will be an overview of our general predictions for the week, we will also have our own tips running alongside these. Be sure to check out Snowball’s Twitter tomorrow for the full rundown.
Kanga vs. LFO
Prediction: 1-1 Draw
Our Six Masters panel tipped a Kanga draw last week, and we were so close to getting it right. Just one more round on Coastline would have sealed the deal. Alas, Kanga’s map win continues to elude them.
They have one more chance against Open Qualifier team LFO, and this is arguably their best shot yet. LFO currently sit in seventh, and while they started off hot, they are losing steam fast. They took their first 0-2 loss against SiNister in Week 6, and it wasn’t really close.
It looked like a shadow of the team that still remains the only one to have taken a map off ladder leaders Wildcard. Could the Six Masters opposition finally be catching on to their trademark aggression and sneaky Nokk strats? Maybe.
Kanga with Novaix has looked like a different roster — one that might have snatched a map win earlier in the season. They’ll have one last chance to prove themselves against LFO, and according to our experts, they won’t be ending this season completely pantsed.
Elevate vs. Okami
Prediction: Elevate 2–0
Okami sits pretty with a 7-3 record and two series to play in the final week of Six Masters. The only doubt that can be raised though is the strength of the opposition they’re playing — Pro League runners-up Elevate, and current Six Masters leaders Wildcard.
Elevate have been struggling to find form in the latter half of the season. Dropping four maps to both the Knights and Wildcard in the last two weeks have left them on the precipice of missing out on playoffs. They need a 2-0 sweep to make it.
Both teams have had wildly varying form though. The highs of Elevate are undeniable. When Redd, GodLgn, and the rest of the gang are on fire, you wonder if they could once again climb to the top of ANZ Siege. The same goes for Okami, who has always lingered around the top, but never secured the title of “The Best” for themselves — mostly due to their inconsistency.
Our experts have tipped an Elevate 2-0. While this won’t be Okami’s final chance to make it to the playoffs, it is Elevate’s, and you can bet they’ll come out swinging.
Ferox vs. SiNister
Prediction: SiNister 2–0
Ferox and SiNister are arguably the two in-form teams in Six Masters right now, outside of Wildcard of course. Ferox have started to find their feet, and might have had a push along with their series against Kanga. On the other side, SiNister have won 5 of their last 6 maps.
SiNister are trying to cement themselves as the definitive number two team behind Wildcard though, and a final 2-0 sweep against Ferox will be the way to do so. Vinnie is coming off hot from his second MVP performance of Six Masters, and the SiNister showing up in Week 7 is leaps and bounds better than the one that fell to Wildcard in Week 1.
Ferox won’t go down without a fight though. They’ve been on and off across most of Six Masters, but when they’re on, they’re a real top four threat. Warden, Shade, and Todd bring the experience the team needs in spades, allowing their younger fraggers to try their hearts out.
However, their strategies might fall flat against the ever-innovative SiNister. Whether it’s the Monty, or some other cheese SiNister has lined up, Ferox probably won’t have enough to tow it over the line in what should be a relatively close series.
Wildcard vs. Knights
Prediction: Wildcard 2–0
Wildcard, barring a massive capitulation later in the week against Okami, has a chance to secure first seed for Six Masters playoffs against the Knights. With a 9-1 record, if they can push to 11 map wins against the Knights, they’re basically secured that coveted first place.
The Knights will be looking to dig in with all their might though. With only one match this week, they have to make it count. They sit on the cusp of playoffs, currently fourth with a 6-6 record, but with two maps in hand compared to four for some teams.
Wildcard have shown some weakness this season after dropping a map to LFO. However, they’ve steered the ship straight in recent weeks, and have just been a wrecking ball smashing through everyone in their path to Six Masters glory.
Our experts predict that this will be the end of the line for Knights. The firepower difference between the two teams is too large to overcome. A 0-2 loss here knocks them out of playoffs contention in 99% of scenarios. If they can cheat death with a map win though, there’s still a chance — albeit an unlikely one.
Wildcard vs. Okami
Prediction: Wildcard 2–0
Now, we are getting into the make-up matches for Week 5. Be sure to adjust your Twitch streams on Thursday for some more Rainbow Six, because Six Masters is running long this week. Why wouldn’t you too, when one of the games of the season is happening?
If the Okami 0-2 loss that was tipped for their series against Elevate came true, yet another 0-2 against Wildcard would spell the end of their Six Masters campaign in most scenarios. It’s shaping up to be that 8-6 is the breaking point for the top four, and 7-7 will likely not cut it.
Wildcard are still dancing hot, even more so after taking down Elevate in relatively convincing fashion last week. However, history between these two rosters tells a different story. Okami, then TBD, took Wildcard down 7-3 6-6 during Pro League Season 11.
Have things changed since then? Yes — Pat and Gio are more acclimatized to the Wildcard style of play, and they’ll likely not make the same mistakes twice. However, Diesel did name Okami as one of their biggest threats, so maybe there’s something we’re missing with our 2-0 Wildcard prediction.
Ferox vs. LFO
Prediction: Split between Ferox 2–0 and 1–1 draw
The regular season will end with what could possibly be a playoffs-defining fight, or a dead rubber. We won’t know until the end, really. Ferox and LFO both have pride to play for, but if results swing their way, there’s still playoff hopes for both of them.
It will only take one 2-0 sweep against Kanga to bring LFO back to a 6-6 record. Then, all they’ll need against Ferox is a 2-0 yet again to potentially sneak into the playoffs with a 8-6 record. The same coin falls Ferox’s way though. Sitting at 5-5, if they can break even with SiNister on Wednesday and back it up against LFO 24 hours later, they might slide into the top four.
Looking at both teams’ recent performances though, and it paints a slightly one-sided picture. Ferox have managed to take maps off all the teams LFO has — bar Wildcard — and are starting to find their stride. LFO, with Kanga still to play, are starting to fall off the pace.
I feel like the results of this series will be heavily tied to who is still in the playoffs race. Our panel is split between a Ferox 2-0 and a 1-1 draw — with the latter being the worst possible outcome for both teams — but whoever is still in with a chance of playoffs at this point will probably have the hunger to take it out.
Six Masters Week 7 will kick off on Tuesday June 9 at 7pm AEST when Kanga takes on LFO. You can catch the action live on the official Rainbow 6 Twitch channel.
Be sure to follow Snowball Esports on Twitter for all your Six Masters content throughout the season, including tips, analysis, and interviews.
