“If you don’t enjoy pressure, you are in the wrong job”: Even-keeled Team oNe defeats Liquid, advances to grand final

^{Banner image: Ubisoft/Eric Anamalay}

Team oNe dominated its Brazilian counterpart Team Liquid in a 2-1 victory today, with a 7-0 throttling on the decider map, Consulate. 

Team oNe’s underdog story keeps growing larger and larger. It needed a precise 7-2 or better against CAG in the group stage to keep its playoff hopes alive. It notched the precise 7-2 scoreline, bulldozed CAG in the tiebreaker map, and pummeled a COVID-19 addled DarkZero team in the quarterfinals to set up the match with Liquid. 

What’s the secret for oNe? According to coach Arthur “TchubZ” Figueira, a hard work ethic and an open invitation for all kinds of pressure. “I have the five most hard-working players in the world,” said TchubZ in a Ubisoft-organized press conference. “I have an analyst who works side by side with me. That’s our secret. We had thirteen hours to sleep, or study Liquid. I didn’t sleep, and my analyst is sleeping right now, he didn’t sleep a thing.”

Early on, Liquid looked like it was set to take the match with a quick 2-0. The SI 2021 finalist won Oregon 7-5, but was surprised by an early Team oNe lead on Coastline. ONe held onto their early lead, and then completely blitzed Liquid 7-0 on Consulate.

No matter what happens, whether they throw rounds or go down a map, TchubZ says his players don’t feel the pressure of the moment and remember to have fun. “Pressure is a privilege,” he said. “...If you feel the pressure of the Major final, you are privileged to be in the Major final.”

“If you don’t enjoy pressure, you are in the wrong job.”

This moment feels like a changing of the guard in Brazil, but Karl “Alem4o” Zarth says his team might not be there yet. Sure, oNe is the final remaining team from the LATAM region, but there’s still the BR6 results to consider.

“At the Invitational we had two months with this team. Now we have five. The top teams in Brazil are together for two years, like NiP, Liquid, MiBR,” said Alem4o when asked if this was the moment when they became the best in Brazil, or if there is more work to do. 

“It’s just [a matter of] time for us to pass them,” Alem4o continued. “I think we already did maybe, we’ll have to see in BR6. The fact that we are the only team here, maybe, is the answer for that.”

Team oNe will face off against the victory of the BDS Esport vs. Team Empire semifinal tomorrow, Aug. 22. If they win, it will be the LATAM region’s second victory in a row in tier one “Rainbow Six Siege” competitions.