“Going through these high-pressure situations was really good for us”: Igoorctg on w7m evolution throughout the stage, rookies' evolution and experiences

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From narrowly avoiding relegation last year to topping the Brasileirão standings in the first split of the BR6 2022 season with record-breaking numbers, Brazil’s newest sensations w7m esports grabbed the bull by its horns and brought two top-flight debutants to the squad.

It was a big gamble that, so far, has paid off – both João “Jv92” Vitor and Gabriel “volpz” Fernandes have perfectly adapted to the league, with volpz becoming the highest-rated player of the regular phase.

“The adaptation of Série B players to the top-flight is now better if we compare it to the past, they know they must practice many new things, they are aware of the difference in experience,” explained the team’s coach Igor “igoorctg” dos Santos.

Igoorctg admitted the rookies’ mindset was ideal, as the players were eager to learn as much as possible from the game. “They wanted to learn from the players with the most experience, their work and their adaptation has also been really good.”

With eight victories and just one maximum overtime loss, w7m esports finished with the highest number of points recorded in a BR6 stage by any team before. “I didn’t expect that. No one did. We didn’t look at the numbers, it was playing game after game after game.”

One of the team’s best traits this season has been the players’ performances on defense, playing a very aggressive style of play which secured them a really high percentage of entry kills. The team won 35 out of 48 defensive rounds, a number that would look even higher if the team didn’t concede six defensive rounds on Villa against INTZ.

“There was no specific preparation for them. In those cases I think it was more about the attacking repick and how teams read us,” Igoorctg said about the team’s reputation on defense.

Such momentum was extended to the Copa Elite Six, where rapidly w7m esports defeated Furious Gaming and FURIA Esports to clinch a Charlotte Major spot. Out of all the teams faced this season, Team Liquid has been the only roster to beat the bulls by a clear margin – and not just once but twice.

In SiegeGG's interview with Luccas “Paluh” Molina, the Brazilian admitted that one of the keys behind w7m’s success was the amount of time the team had to prepare before the stage, as they “didn’t play any tournaments and weren’t showing anything”. Eventually, teams will learn how to read the team’s aggressive playstyle – with Liquid’s victories on the CES being a possible example of that.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean w7m esports projection is about to go down the drain in the upcoming weeks. With new tournaments, new experiences come along, and the team will surely learn from them.

“The Copa Elite Six was a very rich experience because we didn’t have BO3 experience as a team, the players had a some difficult moments especially on the first map against the team of Pechito [Furious Gaming] where we lost the first five rounds, but going through these high-pressure situations is really good for us.”

“The first game against Team Liquid was possibly our worst as a team, we lost the series because Team Liquid have a very good map pool, they are a very good team.”

Regarding the team’s map pool, w7m esports has banned Bank in every match this season, with their match against Black Dragons being the only exception to the rule. The roster has also been reluctant to play Skyscraper and Theme Park. 

It is now up to w7m esports to keep adapting, evolving, and trying to perform the best way possible. 

Unluckily for the roster, w7m esports will have to compete in the Charlotte Major from Mexico. All Team oNe, FURIA Esports, and w7m itself couldn’t secure US visas in time, forcing the rosters to flight to Mexico to compete in this month’s tournament.

The team’s debut in the competition will come on May 16.