Image: Ubisoft/Kirill Bashkirov
Currently in 16th place in the Global Standings with 720 SI Points, FURIA Esports will not be able to defend their position against teams such as Soniqs and SANDBOX Gaming, who have qualified to the Jönköping Major and will likely overtake FURIA. As such, FURIA could well miss out on the Six Invitational 2023.
While the Koreans of SANDBOX have a tough group – Team Liquid, TSM, and Heroic – and are favorites to finish in fourth place, Soniqs’ group isn’t as tough for them. If they make it to the quarter-finals, as they are likely to do, they will overtake FURIA and leave only three Brazilian teams among the top 16 by SI Points.
All Brazilian eyes will thus be on the Black Dragons players, because although FURIA’s Luiz Thiago “handy” Ferreira and his teammates are not in Sweden… his brother in fact is.
Handy’s brother, Black Dragons’ Felipe “nade” Ferreira, could give FURIA a hand with some fireworks against Soniqs, and stop their march into the playoffs.
The North Americans are favourites, but neither fourth nor third place will work for their Top 16 hopes, as that would leave them with the same amount of points as the Brazilians but behind in terms of the tie-breakers. The first, according to Ubisoft’s 2022 season rulebook, would be the head-to-head record.
However, that cannot be applied here, as FURIA Esports and Soniqs have never met throughout the 2022 season. That brings us to the next tiebreaker rule, which is the Total Major Points -- the sum of the points obtained by a team at the current season’s Majors.
After having competed at two of the three Six Majors of the year and having made it to the quarterfinals of the Berlin Major, FURIA Esports have the most SI Points obtained at international tournaments this year and would thus progress. Black Dragons, then, could well stop the Soniqs’ advance.
They have the chance to help their entire region by defeating the Soniqs, which could be the first step to sending four Brazilian rosters to SI through the Global Standings. A fifth team will likely join the four later on, after the conclusion of the regional qualifier.
With that in mind, Black Dragons’ results will be watched followed by many, with Team Liquid also able to have an impact with their results against SANDBOX Gaming.
In a group made up of CYCLOPS athlete gaming, a highly-aggressive team with plenty of experience at international competitions, MNM Gaming, a team that has electrified the EUL with their youth, and Black Dragons, an exciting Brazilian team led by handy’s brother nade, Soniqs are the favorites in a group. But that also means the pressure will be on them to deliver.
You can read more on the team’s stages in our interviews ahead of the Jönköping Major:
- CYCLOPS athlete gaming: CAG well aware they “have to fight hard” for first playoff appearance despite favourable group group and favourable meta
- MNM Gaming: “We almost never give up, and we always think that we can win”: neLo on the MNM mentality that got them to the Major
- Black Dragons: “Now we are more like a unit”: Peres happy with Black Dragons’ improvements throughout 2022 ahead of Major
- Soniqs: “The stars almost aligned for us”: Soniqs delighted with remarkable transfer window that sent them to Jönköping Major
Will MNM Gaming’s players be awake for their early morning clashes? Is nade going to help his brother’s team against Soniqs? Will CAG finally make it to the playoffs of an international tournament after so many frustrating failures?
Don’t forget to tune in starting tomorrow, Nov. 21, as the Jönköping Major will begin and sort out the answers in the first three days.