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Rainbow Six Siege has gotten a lot of attention because of its unique take on the competitive first-person shooter genre. The steep learning curve Siege provides makes it one of the hardest FPS games to master.
The Rainbow Six Siege esports industry has exploded, with many competitions taking place across the globe throughout the year. The APAC is one such region, and in order to qualify, players from various countries must compete against teams from other countries in the region.
MercenarieZ is one of Bangladesh's largest esports organizations, with one of the best Rainbow Six Siege teams in Asia. Amlan “M4DM4N” Roy of Sportskeeda Esports interviews Babus Salam Turjo, manager of the MercenarieZ Rainbow Six team, after winning the South Asian nationals' Closing Qualifiers 2021.
The following is an excerpt from their conversation.
Babus Salam Turjo, manager of the MercenarieZ Rainbow Six Siege team, discusses the game's esports coverage in Asia
Q) How about we start off with a small introductory session? Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself, what role you play in the team, and your journey so far?
Babus: Hello readers! My name is Babus Salam Turjo, and I go by the in-game nickname of TJbab. I am one of the directors of MercenarieZ. I mainly handle PR and Media for MercenarieZ, and I’m also the manager for our Rainbow Six Siege team.
I started off with MercenarieZ as a Battlefield player back in 2015 and since then, I have slowly become an integral part of the team. I also do shoutcasting for multiple FPS games like Rainbow Six Siege, PUBG, Valorant, etc in Indian and Bangladeshi tournaments.
Q) A huge congratulations to the team on winning the Rainbow Six Closed Qualifiers. How was the team feeling before and after facing KIRA Esports at the Rainbow Six Closed Qualifiers? With the recent victory, do you think the team is ready to face the giants of NA and EU altogether?
Babus: Thank you. Our Siege team is always confident in defeating any opponent in this region, especially because we have previously defeated KIRA, and this time was no exception. However, KIRA has made a lot of positive changes to their roster and we did lose to them in the upper brackets.
Though that did not stop us and the team morale was high before going into the grand finals. After the win, the entire team felt ecstatic. Being a four-time back-to-back SA Nationals champion is no small feat, especially considering no team has ever beaten us.
I’d say we still have a long way to go before we can beat the giant Siege teams in NA and EU, mainly because of the lack of support staff. However, we are confident that our players are capable of engaging in fights against any team they face.
Q) Being the manager of the team, let’s talk about the team dynamics. How has the team has worked together as one? What were some of the challenges the team faced throughout MercenarieZ’s entire journey?
Babus: The entire team is more like a family. We have our ups and downs but at the end of the day, we are all working towards the same goal, retaining our top spot in this region. Though, I’d say there were some challenges we faced in the early days of this roster back in early 2020.
When this region was introduced into the pro circuit, we had to drop three of our key players due to age restrictions. The team nearly fell apart back then, but we bounced back by picking up Saketh "Ninjafreak" Sasanakota, Umar "M4KER" Rana, and Jamal "DOC7ER" Khan. After that, it was full speed ahead for us and it has been a wonderful journey so far.
Q) MercenarieZ is mostly known for its Rainbow Six Siege lineup. However, Rainbow Six Siege is an unconventional esports game in Asia. Do you think it has the potential to create a big name in this region just as the rest of the world? Other than Siege, how are other esports game teams performing under MercenarieZ?
Babus: Rainbow Six Siege fills the gap between MOBA and FPS like no other game can. Yes, it is an unconventional esports game, but there is surely a good number of players playing it. Also, every day new players are picking up the game and joining its esports scene.
Rainbow Six Siege has already created a big name in this region, especially after official support from Ubisoft and I believe it can only get bigger. We just need more tournaments and incentives for the players and organizations to participate in this game’s esports.
As for other game teams in MercenarieZ, we recently acquired a League Of Legends Wild Rift roster which is also winning a lot of tournaments. It's not just that. We also have the best FIFA player in Bangladesh. We also did a brief stint with a Valorant roster, but we had to drop it because we were not getting the expected results. However, we’re eagerly waiting for the right opportunity to get into the Valorant esports scene as soon as we can.
Q) In an earlier interview with Hasib “HasibWantsPeace” Arman, he confessed his desire to attend an international Major to represent his country. What are your comments on this? How far is the team from making this a reality?
Babus: Hasib and I share the same dream. We have already made a name for MercenarieZ in our region, but we always wanted to go bigger. And the perfect way for that would be attending an international Major.
We almost did it last year if we had won the first major, but alas it wasn't to be. We have the best R6 roster in the region but there is still room for improvement. We’re actively looking for support staff who can make our team better and beat both the APAC North & South teams to make it to the Majors.
