NSE’s Rainbow 6 Siege tournament is back for its Spring 2021 Championship! With over 70 teams having competed for the title of NSE Winter Champions and even bigger prizes announced for its Spring season, we can’t wait to see both old and new contenders clash for this Season’s illustrious prizes!
With only a week left until sign ups for the Spring season closes, be sure to make sure your University team is taking part as this season has far more at stake than mere pride and petty prizes: The winners of the NSE Spring Championship will qualify for the second season of UKIN Division 2; a perfect opportunity for aspiring players to compete and gain recognition within the UK scene.
Last year’s NSE representatives from Staffordshire University managed to go even further, helping their team secure a top 2 finish in the inaugural season of UKIN Division 2 and progress to the First Division! While the team’s University players stepped away from competitive Siege towards the end of the UKIN2 season to focus on their degrees, the team will continue playing in the First Division under the banner of London Esports.
With the winners of NSE’s Spring Championship destined for UKIN2, let’s take a look back at the Winter Championship to see which teams are most likely to earn that illustrious prize and follow in Staffordshire’s footsteps.
The Grand Final of the NSE Winter Championship saw a rematch between Newcastle’s Neocitadel and Swansea Storm Green as the two teams clashed for the title of NSE Champions. If you missed the nail-biting action then you can check out the vod here.
Despite their decisive 2-0 defeat to Swansea in their previous matchup only a few weeks prior, Newcastle stuck with the same three maps for their rematch: Villa, Clubhouse and Oregon, albeit in a slightly different order. A decision which seemingly cost them as they once again narrowly succumbed 8-6 to Swansea on Villa, the opening map of the Grand Final. However, Newcastle retaliated with an impressive 7-2 stomp on Oregon to equalise the score and send us to the deciding map; Clubhouse.
The NSE Grand Final culminated in a neck and neck fight on Clubhouse as neither team gave the other more than a negligible lead. Despite losing Clubhouse 7-4 in their previous matchup against Swansea, Newcastle successfully pulled off the reverse sweep, winning the last two rounds of regulation time to take the map 7-5 and win the series two maps to one.
“We were shocked. We really didn’t expect to win as Swansea came into that match as the favourites. We never wanted to lose and put everything we had into the game. The pure energy that came from everyone after the Final round was amazing. It genuinely meant so much to us.” - Mr.Joe, Captain of Neocitadel.
The NSE 2020 Winter Championship saw Neocitadel, a team which has traditionally sat towards the bottom of the Championship leaderboards, crowned the NSE Winter Champions while Swansea Storm Green were forced to settle for second. However, there are more than just two teams to the Championship Bracket, so here are the final standings:
| Placement | Team | University |
| 1 | Neocitadel | Newcastle University |
| 2 | Swansea Storm Green | Swansea University |
| 3 | Cardiff Crusaders | Cardiff University |
| 4 | LuffBruh | Loughborough University |
| 5 | Subway Cookies | Staffordshire University |
| 6 | Warwick Wyverns | University of Warwick |
| 7 | Watt Wyverns | Heriot Watt University |
| 8 | DMU Cuties | De Montfort University |
| 9 | Portsmouth Paladins | University of Portsmouth |
| 10 | Leads | University of Leeds |
| 11 | Liverpool Arctic Foxes | University of Liverpool |
| 12 | Sledge Hill | Edge Hill University |
Mr.Joe added “We now know that we can beat the traditionally bigger teams in NSE, like Staffordshire and Swansea. We know what we are capable of and we want to win again. As the captain, I want to see my players prosper and a chance to play in UKIN2 would mean the world to them. Some of the lads have always wanted to push that one step further and now we have that opportunity.”
Newcastle will hope to be able to maintain their stellar form through the Spring Season as they aim their sights towards back-to-back Championship titles and UKIN2 qualification. They’ll have their work cut out for them, though, as several of the other teams will eye up this illustrious opportunity.
SugarHoneyIcedTea, Captain of Swansea Storm Green said “Many of our players were new to competitive Siege in the Winter Season so we were very pleased to have reached 2nd. Newcastle played very aggressively in the Final and we failed to counter that. With our performance from last season we know we have what it takes to be the best and our goal is to win the Spring Season.”
While Swansea narrowly lost out on being crowned the NSE Winter Champions, their aspirations of winning their first title as a roster are far from diminished as they hope to follow in the footsteps of some of their University’s most prominent former players:
SugarHoneyIcedTea also added, “Playing in UKIN2 would be fantastic. Many of our players, including myself, would love to take Siege to a higher competitive level. Swansea has a history of producing brilliant players and support staff, so we would love nothing more than to have the opportunity to see our dreams become a reality.”
While it’s likely that one of last season’s Championship teams will be crowned the Spring Champions and proceed to UKIN2, NSE’s competition has taught us to expect surprises as the opportunity to progress to the National competition will likely make NSE’s 2021 Spring Championship the most fiercely contested tournament to date. Will we see a new contender crowned this Season’s Champions?
Be sure to tune into the University Siege Community’s broadcast at 7PM GMT on the 11th of February for the opening playday of the NSE Spring Championship. If you miss the broadcast then you can check out our weekly roundup articles for highlights, tournaments standings and (mostly incorrect) speculations on who might be crowned the NSE Spring Champions.
FOLLOW NSE
Twitter - Instagram - Facebook
