The Gamepolis video game event in Malaga has returned this 2022 after a couple of years inactive due to the scourge of COVID-19. It was held the weekend of July 22-24 and was full of things to see and do.
My partner Frankie has told you about his experience. Now, I’ll tell you how mine went, a much more specific one: the semifinals and finals of the competition R6SpainNationals from Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft).
Gamepolis 2022: I have vibrated again with Rainbow Six Siege
I didn’t plan to go to gamepolis 2022but the appointment became inescapable when the official account announced that the semifinals and finals of R6SpainNationals (Spanish league that faces the best teams) of Rainbow Six Siege would be held in said event.
I bought two tickets: Saturday and Sunday, semifinals and final respectively. I’m not ashamed to say that I went to the event almost exclusively to see Rainbow Six Siege and that the rest was a hobby between games. There were no new games to try except for the indie zone.
On Saturday, July 23, I arrived an hour before the first semifinal match, which faced Herakles Gaming Y Rebels Gaming, ESports team of professional soccer player David de Gea. I was really excited because the last live game I saw was during the Madrid Games Week 2019 (Movistar Riders Vs Team Queso).
I took the opportunity to buy a delicious potato omelette sandwich and a soft drink, and I prepared to get a good seat. Believe it or not, I sat in the same chair all weekend.
Semi-Final Match 1: Rebels Gaming and Heracles Gaming
The match between Rebels Gaming and Heracles Gaming was really exciting. Although at first it seemed that Heracles had the upper hand, Rebels turned around and showed their true colors by winning 2-0 on the maps Oregon (7-2) and Bank (8-6).
The last round of the Bank map had more than half the crowd (including one of your own) getting up to throw their hands on their heads: Heracles lost due to lack of time to deactivate the sedax. After eliminating all the Rebels players, the team watched as the map slipped out of their hands during the last 20 seconds.
WHAT A CRAZY MAP!
finally victory of @RebelsGaming 2 – 0 against @Heracles_Gaming and the rebels go to the GRAND FINAL #R6SpainNationals
– Rainbow Six Spain (@Rainbow6ES) July 23, 2022
That’s how it is Rainbow Six Siege and that’s why their competitive (and more face-to-face) matches are so exciting: everything happens in a matter of a few seconds. If you blink, you miss it… literally.
Second semifinal match: Team Queso Vs Principality
The second semifinal match pitted the teams Team Cheese vs. Principality. This time it was a tighter match, reaching the 3 chosen maps, namely: Cafe Dostoyevsky (5-7), Bank (7-1) and Club (7-5).
Team Queso did not forgive Principality at Banco after Café and from then on it was non-stop. Club was close, but the end was more inevitable as the rounds passed. While this match wasn’t quite as exciting as the previous one (except for a couple of Cheese C4s), it did offer plenty of spectacle.
WILL THIS BE THE PLAY OF THE FINAL?!
💣 TRIPLE CHOF by @dan1loR6 #R6SpainNationals
– Rainbow Six Spain (@Rainbow6ES) July 23, 2022
These two matches featured the finalists: Rebels Gaming Y Team Cheese. After walking around Gamepolis, I went home to process the madness I had just seen. There is nothing like it.
R6SpainNationals Final: Rebels Gaming Vs Team Queso
On July 24, the final of R6SpainNationals at Gamepolis 2022. It was a very, very exciting experience. Once again, I arrived in time to have a pizza and a soda for lunch while I waited for the game to start.
Rebels Gaming and Team Queso put on an unparalleled show on three maps that gave Rebels victory: Theme park (8-6), Oregon (7-5) and town (7-3). There was no quarter at any time by both teams. It was not until the last rounds that Team Queso gave in to the enormous pressure from Rebels. Of course, they fought until the end.
HE HAS DONE IT AGAIN! 🤖🤖🤖
HE HAS DONE IT AGAIN! 🤖🤖🤖
HE HAS DONE IT AGAIN! 🤖🤖🤖
CLUTCH 1vs4 of @kuribohR6 AND MATCH POINT!
📺 #R6SpainNationals pic.twitter.com/9WiOq81zRz
– Rainbow Six Spain (@Rainbow6ES) July 24, 2022
The final had many incredible moments, but none like the one you can see just above: Kuriboh of Rebels Gaming scored a 1vs4 to break a 6-6 and fill Team Queso’s morale with lead. He got the ENTIRE crowd (including a server) to get up from the chair, put our hands on our heads and scream with pure emotion. Kuriboh was intractable.
A special mention to the casting team and presenters, and a little more special to the incredible work of alex polo. You can hear him in the clip above, where he borrows some phrases from the great Ibai Llanos.
Let no one take away your enthusiasm for the events and their competitive matches
COVID-19 made streaming (direct) the perfect medium to continue enjoying events and the competitive section of video games. we have learned to enjoy from a distance because there was simply no other.
Now, although the danger of COVID has not disappeared, the events have returned and with them the face-to-face competitive matches. I have remembered what it feels like… and that I did not go with any team. I just wanted to enjoy the highest level of Rainbow Six Siege.
There is no color and I do not accept debate: watching the semifinals and the final of R6SpainNationals from my house, sitting in my room with the fan next to me and an ice cream would have been comfortable, but I would never have lived it so intensely.
Photograph by @Kirill_vision (Twitter)
I am not revealing anything new. The same thing happens in stadiums. The excitement and euphoria are contagious. You can feel a halo of pleasant tension. Everything helps to create an environment in which many strangers come together under the same passion. You forget how uncomfortable plastic chairs are.
Are you there. You can see the players react at all times, not just when the cameras are focused on them. You can even see much more nuance about the match by looking at each other’s reactions and interactions.
And all this happens in a small space, because the Rainbow Six Siege stage in Gamepolis didn’t take up much and it was not complicated to fill the chairs. In fact, quite a few were missing during matches. I don’t want to imagine what a semi-final and final would be like in a stadium, a cinema or a theater.
What I mean by all this, if I haven’t already made it clear, is: don’t let anyone take away your enthusiasm for attending competitive events and matches in person. It doesn’t matter what they tell you: a live show from your home will never be as exciting as living the passion together with people who enjoy the same things as you. Am WISHING watch more Rainbow Six Siege matches in person. Ubisoft, give me more!