DarkZero Esports wins Six Charlotte Major

American org DarkZero have become the fifth team to win a Rainbow Six Siege Major after beating fellow North American side Astralis in a thrilling final in Charlotte.

DarkZero improved on their previous best finish of a quarterfinals appearance at the Six Mexico Major in 2021. Meanwhile, Astralis reached the Grand Final in their debut appearance on the international stage.

DarkZero are Six Major champions

Coming into the the Six Major, expectations were low for DarkZero. As the third seed from North America, and drawn into a group alongside G2 and European champions Heroic, DarkZero were not the team NA fans were looking to for a Major champion. However, DarkZero immediately began to defy expectations, dropping just one match in the group stage.

That set up a quarterfinal against Team oNe, a formidable Brazilian side despite them having qualified for the knockouts with a losing record. DarkZero would drop the first map convincing but proceeded to dominate from there on out, pulling off the reverse sweep in the best-of-three.

But then came their biggest challenge yet — Team Liquid. The Brazilian champions were the betting favourites for the event at 6-1 and were eager to make their maiden Grand Final at a Major. Once again, Dark Zero fell behind early, losing the first map 7-1. But the North American side stayed resilient and battled back to claim their second reverse sweep of the knockouts.

The Grand Final would be an all-American affair as DarkZero took Astralis. Astralis had enetered the tournament as North American champions, with their young roster having secured the NAL title in just their second attempt, having joined the league in late 2021.

The match went the distance, with Astralis taking map one on a tiebreak round before DarkZero were able to rattle off consectutive wins on maps two and three. However, Astralis were able to find some momentum, taking a win on map four, ironically a map picked by DarkZero, to force a map five.

DarkZero dominated the decider on Bank, racing out to a 5-0 lead and eventually took the title with a 7-3 victory. Nick “njr” Rapier was named Grand Final MVP, while Roberto “Panbazou” Feliciano took home Tournament MVP honours.

Teams will return to their home regions and began preparations for the next stage of regional play ahead of the Six August Major.

Header: Ubisoft