DarkZero, Virtus.pro Secure First Swiss Stage Spots at BLAST R6 Major Osaka
The reigning Major champions and the CIS squad won their play-in upper-bracket finals on the opening day of the $600,000 event.
DarkZero Esports and Virtus.pro became the first two teams to qualify for the Swiss stage of the BLAST R6 Major Osaka on Friday by winning their play-in upper-bracket finals.
The $600,000 Rainbow Six Siege Major runs from Nov. 6 to 15 at ATC Hall in Osaka, with the 16-team Swiss stage beginning Nov. 8 and playoffs scheduled for Nov. 13 to 15.
DarkZero, the reigning Major champions who entered through the play-in after a fourth-place North America League Stage 2 finish, defeated LOS 2-0 with 7-3 victories on both Nighthaven Labs and Bank.
Earlier in the day, DarkZero opened its campaign with a 7-3 win over TYLOO on Clubhouse.
LOS had beaten All Gamers 7-3 on Clubhouse before falling to DarkZero.
Virtus.pro secured its spot with a 2-1 victory over Weibo Gaming, recovering from a 7-8 overtime loss on Chalet to win 7-5 on Fortress and 7-0 on Bank.
The CIS squad had begun its day with a 7-1 win over KINGZERO on Lair.
Weibo Gaming had beaten Dplus KIA 7-3 on Bank before its loss to Virtus.pro.
For DarkZero, Ethan "Nuers" James was the team's best player with a SiegeGG rating of 1.35.
He has been closely followed by the Americans' IGL Alec "Fultz" Fultz, with a SiegeGG rating of 1.29.
Leonardo "Kyno" Figueiredo, who was their best player against LOS, currently averages a SiegeGG rating of 1.19.
Six teams remain in the lower bracket fighting for the final two Swiss stage berths: LOS, Weibo Gaming, TYLOO, All Gamers, Dplus KIA and KINGZERO.
Lower-bracket play begins on Saturday, with the first match scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 7, featuring Dplus KIA versus KINGZERO.
Redington Cybersport reported in November that the final Rainbow Six Siege Major of 2026 would feature 20 teams competing for a $600,000 prize pool and Six Invitational points.
