After joining the Rainbow Six Siege esports scene in Sep. 2019, Talon Esports qualified for its first international competition after winning the South Korea League Last Chance Qualifiers.
Historically, Talon Esports has been the third-best team in South Korea, only behind DPlus and SANDBOX Gaming. Until now, their biggest honors were regional, as they won the Korean Open Autumn in 2021 and 2022. After years of trying, the team will play abroad as they will compete in Atlanta in less than two weeks.
"I am so proud and happy that we got the ticket to an international competition, the team and the organization congratulated us," explained Hong "Misa" Sang-Yeong in a written interview for SiegeGG.
The South Korean player, who joined in Jun. 2022, is the only member left in the team who joined before the start of the year.
In Mar. 2023, Talon Esports announced the return of Im "saeyeora" Seung-Hwan and the arrival of the former DPlus player, Koo "RoyBoy" Min-Seong, as they joined to replace Kim "Demic" Dae-Yeong and Lee "Soldier" Si-Hyeon, who signed with SANDBOX Gaming and DPlus, respectively.
Five months later, Talon Esports welcomed the former PANTHERA duo of Jeong "Rider" Hyun-Seok and Kim "JLT" Sang-Woo. After making so many roster changes, Stage 2 was a big challenge.
According to Mira, although the five-month off-season was "hard," the team benefited from it. "We had a lot of time to practice after the roster changes," the South Korean admitted.
Heading to Stage 2, the roster had a rough start to the split as they lost against SANDBOX Gaming. However, the victories against BlossoM and Before and After saw Talon Esports climbing up to second place.
In the South Korea League Stage 2 Deciders, Talon Esports' hopes of qualifying for the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta through the playoffs faded away after losing to DPlus by 7-4 and 7-3. Later on, the team lost to Beyond Stratos Gaming in the match for third place.
When asked about the difference between Talon Esports and the rest of the top rosters in South Korea, Mira believes the lack of experience is the main differential factor. "What we experienced and felt in the SKL was the difference in experience, I think our team will do better after going to the international competition (Atlanta)."
Finally, Talon Esports qualified for the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta after defeating LAVEGA Esports and BlossoM.
In Atlanta, Talon Esports will start from Group B, possibly the best group they could have been drawn into. Although the Brazilian roster of LOS is the favorite to take the first seed, the rest of the teams in the group are from APAC — including CYCLOPS athlete gaming and Bleed Esports.
"We have had a lot of scrims with the two Asian teams, so we know each other so well that it will be helpful in that regard," Misa explained.
On top of that, Misa admitted that RoyBoy's international experience "is very precious" and could "play a big role" in the team's appearance in Atlanta.
At the same time, Talon Esports are still in the race for a Six Invitational 2024 ticket. Although the South Koreans need a Top 8 finish to have a chance to qualify, Misa feels positive about it. "I think we can qualify no matter what."
However, Misa is well aware of South Korea's limitations. "It has become a meta that doesn't fit Korea since it was completely changed to TDM meta," the player concluded.
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