Asia-Pacific League 2021 - Playoffs - Stage 1: Kira E-Sports pull off a shocking victory against CYCLOPS Athlete Gaming in the Rainbow Six Siege tournament

With the Six May 2021 Major canceled, Asia-Pacific (APAC) League 2021 Stage 1 playoff is being treated as the de facto major by the Rainbow Six Siege community.

Under normal circumstances, each year, the Rainbow six community witnesses four major Rainbow Six Siege tournaments. The four major tournaments are:

• Six Invitational
• Six May Major
• Six August Major
• Six November Major

Due to the worldwide pandemic this year, the Six May 2021 Major got canceled, and in that time, the Six Invitational will be played out. Due to that reason, the APAC League is placed on the same pedestal as that of a major. As a result, the competition has grown fiercer.

All the participating teams played their regional open and eventually closed qualifiers to secure a position in this tournament. The eight participants of this tournament are:

• CYCLOPS athlete gaming (CAG)
• GUTS Gaming
• Fnatic
• Knights
• Chiefs Esports Club
• Seventh Heaven
• MercenarieZ
• Kira E-Sports

In a surprising turn of events, the giants of the Japanese region, CAG was defeated by Kira E-Sports, a fairly new team in the Rainbow Six Siege esports scene.

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The victory of Kira E-Sports over CAG in the Rainbow Six Siege tournament

Anybody who has invested some time in the Rainbow 6 Siege esports scene knows very well who CAG is. The current gaming giant of the Japanese region was founded in June of 2018 with the acquisition of Monster Parent Kyon. Since then, they have won 13 league titles, including their most recent victory in the Japan Nationals 2020 - Season 3.

As for Kira E-Sports, the team is freshly formed and has no notable achievement under their banner. They recently went into the Rainbow Six Siege Pro League APAC qualifiers and came out victorious. Not only did they qualify for the major tournament, but they are the first-ever Indian esports team to ever qualify for any major tournament in Rainbow Six Siege.

8 day old Team formation, 2 days of practice, and qualifying for the Playoffs.Its been a wild ride.Congratulations to @MercenarieZbd 3X crowned Champions of the region.Gotta work on our bottle necksTill next time 🍻

— KIRA esports | #FearKIRA (@kira_esport) April 18, 2021

For such a new roster to qualify for a major tournament is a dream come true. But going into the tournament, they had a tough battle to weather as their first game was up against gaming giant CYCLOPS athlete gaming.

Heading into Play-Offs, our squad is facing @CYCLOPS_OSAKA . 👊🔥Make sure to show some love to our squad,We will keep you updated.Sadly, our games are going to be off-stream.Team Kira -@AtharvR6 @r4ttl3r_r6s @InviGamer @RatzR6 @hbk_amar @leoxard_r6 Slayer#FearKira pic.twitter.com/vTInWKClBI

— KIRA esports | #FearKIRA (@kira_esport) April 23, 2021

CAG being fan-favorites, was expected to clean sweep KIRA. However, the match didn’t go as planned by the community. The underdogs gave it a hell of a fight, took the match to overtime and eventually dragged the match to a victory in their favor with an 8-7 scoreline.

KIRA Takes down @CYCLOPS_OSAKA in a tough overtime match and is promoted to the upper bracket.With the score 8-7.To see how our boys performed , check out the official @R6esports Youtube channel.

— KIRA esports | #FearKIRA (@kira_esport) April 23, 2021

Not only did this mark a huge achievement for Kira's new squad, but it spells a new part of history where an Indian esports team took down CAG in a major tournament of Rainbow Six Siege.