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Here's everything you need to know about what happened in the Brazil League 2024 Stage 1 Group Stage!
FaZe Clan still unbeaten
From start to finish, FaZe Clan led the Brazil League 2024 Stage 1 standings. The Six Invitational 2024 finalists looked like the most consistent team in the division where the team didn't rely on individual performances to get the desired results.
While the team won all of their games, the roster had to put in blood, sweat, and tears to complete this outstanding unbeaten run. The red and black squad nearly lost the streak against Black Dragons and MIBR, who they beat by 8-7 and 8-6, respectively.
With seven regulation victories and two overtime wins, FaZe Clan's first leg has gone down to the history books as the best stage ever completed by a Brazilian roster, as they got one point more than w7m esports' did in the first split of the Brasileirão 2022.
Fluxo is everyone's punching bag
The Brazilian gaming powerhouse Fluxo joined the Rainbow Six Siege esports scene with an ambitious project that included the Six Sweden Major champion Leonardo "Astro" Luis, the two-time Six Invitational Top 4 Enzo "Rappz" Mazzo and Luca "LuKid" Ribero, and the young prospects Vitor "Hash" Tessari and Vitor "Mitrix" Mitri.
Despite the names in the lineup, Fluxo's debut in Brazil's top-flight was disappointing to say the least. The newcomers finished at the bottom of the standings with one point after pushing the current world champions FURIA Esports to overtime in their fourth match of the split.
Overall, Fluxo registered the worst round difference in the league (35-64 for a total of -29) and finished eight points behind the ninth-placed Ninjas in Pyjamas.
Ninjas in Pyjamas and Liquid miss out on playoffs
While Fluxo was the league's biggest flop, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team Liquid come close in second. The Six Invitational 2024-bounds missed out on the Brazil League 2024 Stage 1 Playoffs after finishing outside the division's Top 6.
Curiously enough, both rosters met in the first match of the season as Ninjas in Pyjamas won the series against the Blue Cavalry by 7-5 on Skyscraper. After that, the Shinobis could only win two of their upcoming eight matches as they defeated Fluxo and Black Dragons.
Meanwhile, Team Liquid's roster has been evolving throughout the stage. The roster's poor start to the split, which saw them getting four regulation defeats in their first four matches, was followed by narrow victories against FURIA Esports, Keyd Stars, and MIBR.
While they headed to the final game of the season two points away from the league's Top 6, the team's 5-7 defeat against FaZe Clan saw the Blue Cavalry falling two points short the sixth place.
It's worth noting that there's a huge difference between finishing in eighth or in ninth place in the Brazil League as only the Top 8 are given SI Points. Therefore, despite being only separated by one point, Team Liquid have obtained 65 SI Points while Ninjas in Pyjamas will finish the stage emptyhanded unless they qualify for the BLAST R6 Major Manchester through the Open Qualifiers.
Brazil's future is in good hands
While everyone's eyes were on FURIA Esports, FaZe Clan, and the underwhelming performances of Team Liquid and Ninjas in Pyjamas, the talents of the region were captivating the Brazilian's hearts.
W7m esports and Black Dragons were the only rosters capable of keeping up with FaZe Clan's pace as they finished in second and third place, respectively. However, while fans could have expected a positive run from the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta finalists-majority, Black Dragons are the real surprise here.
Black Dragons' lineup is the least experienced roster in the league, with three rookies in João "Florio" Vitor, João "Nuxxga" Weiss, Gustavo "Guto" Vieira, and Roberto "Loira" Camargo, who made his top-flight debut in last season's second stage. The team's leader is the former Team Liquid player Gabriel "AsK" Santos.
With SiegeGG ratings of 1.23 and 1.15, Loira and Guto can be found among the best six players in the league. Meanwhile, the two best ratings are the ones by Gabriel "volpz" Fernandes (1.28) and Gabriel "Hatez" Kobuszewski (1.27).
Plain and simple, the region's thriving prospects are the main reason why highly experienced rosters like Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Liquid, and Fluxo have missed out on the region's Top 6. With so many hungry, talented, and mechanically gifted players in the league, the smallest of the mistakes can cost a team making the playoffs.