Banner Image: Ubisoft / @ericananmalay
With the North America League 2024 Stage 1 kicking off in less than 24 hours, we have prepared a brief guide with everything you need to know about the competition:
Format
The North America League 2024 will start with a ten-team round-robin group stage with BO1 matches. The best eight teams will move to a modified GSL playoff, where the best three will qualify for the BLAST R6 Major Manchester. Meanwhile, the five remaining teams will move to the Last Chance Qualifiers. At the same time, the two bottom teams from the group stage will drop to the Open Qualifier.
Dates
The North America League will kick off on Mar. 14 and will end on Apr. 13. The dates for the Last Chance Qualifiers haven't been unveiled yet.
Prize Pool and SI Points
The North America League 2024 Stage 1 prize pool will be USD$200,000. Although we still don't know how the money will be divided, the Six Invitational Points will be distributed as follows:
- 1st: 100 SI Points
- 2nd: 95 SI Points
- 3rd: 90 SI Points
- 4th: 85 SI Points
- 5th: 80 SI Points
- 6th: 75 SI Points
- 7th: 70 SI Points
- 8th: 65 SI Points
Teams
The North America League Stage 1 will have ten teams. Here's a brief look at each one of them:
M80
M80's new super team was unveiled earlier this week as the green organization added Ben "CTZN" McMillan, Gabriel "cameram4n" Hespanhol, and Adam "nudl" Hryceniak to the only two pieces left from the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta, William "Spoit" Löfstedt and Léo "Kyno" Figueiredo.
Moreover, M80 decided to tweak Matheus "Budega" Figueiredo's role in the team as he became the roster's new Strategic Coach. Meanwhile, Igor "Vivas" Vivas was named the team's new Head Coach.
Last season, M80 were one of the most consistent sides in the American region as they won Stage 1 and finished in second place in Stage 2. However, the lack of positive results at international tournaments pushed the organization to make changes to the squad.
Soniqs
Soniqs' Top 6 finish at the Six Invitational 2024 was followed by the departure of Ben "CTZN" McMillan from the roster. Alongside the British exit, the team also announced the decision to bench Pablo "Gryxr" Rebeil, who had joined the organization in Feb. 2021.
To fill the gaps left, Soniqs decided to bring in the Six Invitational 2022 champion and former Emilio "Geometrics" Léynez teammate at TSM, Bryan "Merc" Wrzek. Additionally, the team signed the former Wildcard Gaming player Atom.
DarkZero Esports
Although DarkZero Esports didn't make any roster change following the conclusion of the Six Invitational 2024, Jason "Beaulo" Doty and Nathan "Nafe" Sharp will feature in the North America League for the first time since they joined the purple squad.
DarkZero Esports are one of the favorites to qualify for the BLAST R6 Major Manchester following their performance in Brazil, where they finished among the best six sides at the Six Invitational 2024 despite having made deep roster changes slightly before the start of the tournament.
Spacestation Gaming
Spacestation Gaming's only roster change was the signing of David "iconic" Ifidon to replace Matthew "Hotancold" Stevens, which ultimately means the astronauts have four of the five players who competed for Astralis at the Six Invitational 2023.
The team also added the former Geekay Esports head coach Alonso "ALO" Díez as the roster's new Strategic Coach. Last season, the Spanish coached the MENA League roster at the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta and the Six Invitational 2024.
Oxygen Esports
Oxygen Esports signed the former M80 and XSET duo of Lucas "DiasLucas" Dias and Arthur "GMZ" Oliveira as they will reunite with Evan "Yoggah" Nelson. The trio of players competed in multiple international events for XSET and recently played at the Six Invitational 2024 after the American was loaned to M80.
Meanwhile, Ethan "Nuers" James and Mitch "Dream" Malson are the only two players remaining from the Oxygen Esports roster that finished in third place at the Six Invitational 2023.
Wildcard Gaming
Wildcard Gaming parted ways with its Rainbow Six Siege roster for the 2023 season to sign Evan "Kanzen" Bushore, Nathanial "Rampy" Duvall, Brady "Spiker" Lukens, and Franklyn "VertcL" Andrés.
The former Spacestation Gaming player Dylan "Bosco" Bosco completes the roster as he makes a return after leaving the astronaut organization in Mar. 2023. This ultimately means that Bosco and Rampy will play together for the first time since both players left Spacestation Gaming.
Wildcard Gaming's staff team includes the former Mirage members Matthew "meepeY" Sharples and Justin "Justin" Ponce.
Beastcoast
Following the team's disappointing results collected throughout Year 8, the organization decided to create a new project from scratch.
The team includes three players who parted ways with their previous squads recently in Gaven "Gavenni" Black (DarkZero Esports), Shaun "Gunnar" Pottorff (Soniqs), and Matthew "Hotancold" Stevens (Spacestation Gaming). The former M80 player Zachary "SpiriTz" Dionne and the ELEMENT TWO champion Ayden "dfuzr" Gabari complete the roster.
Luminosity Gaming
Luminosity Gaming head to the North America League 2024 with three new players: Kile "Wifi" Galati, Julian "Kixhro" Velázquez, and Hat.
The first two will make their professional debuts after playing for Karn & Co, with whom they won ELEMENT ONE and finished in second place in ELEMENT TWO. Meanwhile, Hat competed in the North America League 2023 for Beastcoast.
Mirage
Mirage's situation in the league remains unknown as the organization has yet to unveil its roster for the North America League 2024.
Recently, the situation between Mirage and the former players and staff who haven't been paid yet has gotten out of hand on social media. Despite all of the comments made, the team should feature in the league as they will play against M80 in their first match of the season.
LOS
Despite apparently having a rock-solid project in Brazil, the orange organization decided to move to the North America League. Led by Thiago "xS3xyCake" Reis, LOS want to take over North America's top flight.
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