Image: Ubisoft/Joao Ferreira
In what will likely be one of the most one-sided series of the day, w7m esports demolished Black Dragons in two quick maps on Theme Park and Villa.
When asked about if the team expected such an unbalanced match, Diego “Kheyze” Zanello’s responded with a quick and clear “yes” in a written interview with SiegeGG after the game.
Despite a decent start to the game for Black Dragons , w7m esports faced little resistance just a few rounds later as they grew into the match. The Stage 1, 2, and 3 BR6 champions crushed Black Dragons 7-2 on Theme Park, a map they had never played this year, and later 7-3 on Villa.
Kheyze revealed that the team had been saving the map throughout the year, saying that the team “was waiting for the right moment, and that moment was today”.
That right moment gave rise to a brilliant team performance from them, where Gustavo “HerdsZ” Herdina gored the Black Dragons with a SiegeGG Rating of 1.54. Surprisingly, Kheyze, who had been leading the team with jaw-dropping group stage performances that saw him stand head-and-shoulders clear of any other player, had a quiet game.
However, despite being the worst w7m player by SiegeGG Rating, Kheyze was unbothered and simply said that his play style is nullified by the way Black Dragons play.
“I don’t have much to say, sometimes it happens, especially against BD, my game against them doesn’t fit,” he explained.
Despite that, w7m esports were in fearsome form against Black Dragons, which will be a worrying sign for Team Liquid. Should Kheyze find his stride again tomorrow in the semi-final against them, any victory will be brutal and bloody.
The 2-0 quarter-final win also meant that w7m now have an 18-game unbeaten streak; a jaw-dropping figure, especially considering that seven of those games were at this Major itself. The last time w7m lost was against MIBR -- all the way on Sep. 25.
Having such a positive record and a record-breaking Six Major group stage has filled the team with confidence.
“We are feeling very happy, because it’s not a normal thing to see,” wrote Kheyze.
Such confidence is important to have, especially for a rookie team like w7m esports that is still relatively new to this level of competition. Just a year ago, they had been fighting to avoid relegation. Now, after three Six Major appearances (of which only two were in person), and two semi-finals, they are looking like they have the skill to win the whole thing. The only thing they will need, it seems, is the strength to not wilt in the face of the attacks of players like André "nesk" Oliveira, Luccas "Paluh" Molina, and Gabriel "AsK" Santos.
They already got a taste of a similar battery in the team’s first actual international experience at the Berlin Major, as Kheyze revealed that taught the team to “enter with a more relaxed mind”.
Julio “JULIO” Giacomelli’s addition has been hugely impactful in that aspect, but the other players have also been soaking up and deploying the lessons learnt by the experience as well. Those lessons have now turned them into a nigh-unstoppable machine.
At one point, w7m had been criticised for their lack of results in BO3 matches. No one can say that any more.