It’s the Rainbow Six Siege UK Ireland Nationals (UKIN) finals this weekend, and four of the best teams in the region will be going head to head.
Today, Cowana will face NaVi in the first semi-final, while MNM Gaming go up against WYLDE in the second semi-final.
After this, the upper final and lower bracket will take place, with the grand final getting underway tomorrow (Sunday March 14th).
With the hype building and the action approaching, Esports News UK spoke to two semi-finalists – MNM’s Aku ‘Fonkers’ Seppä (pictured left) and WYLDE’s Roland ‘STRiKE’ Szabó (right). Here’s what they had to say.
Fonkers: ‘I’d like to play Cowana in the finals since the rivalry has been going on for so long between us’
What are your thoughts going into the finals? What’s the mood like with your team?
The mood is great going into the finals, there isn’t a better send-off for Nathan [‘Nafe’ Sharp] than winning UKIN once again. #ForTheFlame
How would you reflect on your team’s performance in the UKIN so far this season?
Our performance wasn’t as good as last season since we found out Nathan would be leaving us in the middle of the season, which affected a lot of things like IGLing and preparing for games.
How do you expect the match-up to go versus your opponents, and is there anything about them you’re particularly mindful of going into the game?
I expect us to win against all the opponents coming our way, obviously I would like to play Cowana in the finals since the rivalry has been going on for so long between us.
Is there anything else you’d like to add? Perhaps your general thoughts on the current state of the game or any shoutouts?
Nothing special, the game is looking great in the upcoming season with nerfs coming to [in-game operator] Melusi.
STRiKE: ‘WYLDE are a force that’s getting stronger and deserve respect, otherwise you will get into trouble!’
What are your thoughts going into the finals?
Pride. WYLDE has achieved so much. Team communication has improved a lot. We all know where and what we should do in different circumstances. That’s down to hard work, commitment and the support of an ambitious organisation.
What’s the mood like with your team?
Confident. WYLDE is built on belief and courage. We worked to be here, we fought to be here and want to give it our all.
How would you reflect on your team’s performance in the UKIN so far this season?
This year was about building a foundation. The performance of the team has not surprised us but our focus is to create something special.
We had a couple of tough games that are making us stronger. Remember – it’s our first season with a team only created three months ago.
How do you expect the match-up to go versus your opponents, and is there anything about them you’re particularly mindful of going into the game?
We respect each of the teams that we’ll come up against but we’ve prepared in the right way and are ready for the challenge.
Is there anything else you’d like to add? Perhaps your general thoughts on the current state of the game or any shoutouts?
I want to prove to everybody that the win against MNM was not only luck. We want to show that WYLDE are a force that’s getting stronger and deserve respect, otherwise you will get into trouble!
On the state of the game, I love the game and I am very excited about the upcoming and future updates.
The Rainbow Six UKIN finals stream gets underway from 1.30pm GMT today (March 13th) on the Rainbow Six Twitch channel
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
