Image via João F. / Ubisoft
Following the Sweden Major, teams are back to competing in their own regions. This week we saw the South American and the Brasileirão Finals. While the firsts are already well over, Brazil’s will conclude on Saturday, Dec. 4 in São Paulo.
Brasileirão - Experience prevails over youth, NiP finds redemption over FaZe Clan
Saturday saw the youth of Brazil, Team oNe and FURIA Esports, facing off two of the most experienced rosters in the region, MIBR and Ninjas in Pyjamas. Spoiler: It did not go well for the youngsters.
Team oNe unexpectedly bit the dust against sixth-placed MIBR following two close maps in Chalet (5-7) and Bank (7-8). The golden squad seems to be far off its best form, and MIBR knew how to perfectly take advantage from that.
MIBR’s duo of Felipe “FelipoX” De Lucia and Enzo “Rappz” Aziz carried the team to the semi-finals, as they registered a combined total of 53 kills in two maps. With SiegeGG ratings of 1.35 and 1.28 respectively, both players were pivotal in their team’s success.
However, the team’s progression in the tournament was quickly stopped by one of Brazil’s giants, Team Liquid. This match was special for the blue cavalry as it was a replay of last year’s BR6 Grand Final, which MIBR won 3-0.
The match saw 11 clutches, six of them going to Liquid’s end. In fact, the two first maps were decided by clutches: Villa was won by Liquid following a Paulo “psk1” Augusto 1v3 clutch, while Faallz clutched the very last round in Bank to keep MIBR alive.
Liquid’s core of Luccas “Paluh” Molina, André “nesk” Oliveira and psk1, made up for the two newest additions in the team, Gabriel “AsK” Santos and Pablo “resetz” Oliveira, who are playing in their very first regional finals.
Nevertheless, it was Paluh who led the charge as the Brazilian's performance was another one for the books, as he registered 45 kills throughout the three maps played.
On the other side of the bracket, Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated FURIA Esports following a very one-sided series (7-1, 7-3). That win saw NiP qualify for BR6’s semi-finals, which meant that the team would face FaZe Clan two weeks after losing to them at the Sweden Major Grand Final.
The Sweden Major champions started things off with the right foot after an 8-7 win in Oregon, where an ace by the Sweden Major MVP Jaime “Cyber” Ramos was eventually the difference between both teams on map one.
However, NiP was about to rain on FaZe Clan’s parade as the match experienced a quick U-turn. The ninjas won the following two maps in comfortable fashion as they found redemption just a few days after their last international loss.
This will be Ninjas in Pyjamas first Grand Final appearance in the Brasileirão. The team’s core of Gustavo “Psycho” Rigal, João “Kamikaze” Gomes and Julio “JULIO” Giacomelli played in 2018’s Grand Final, although that was under Black Dragons. Since then, they have been trying to make it to the Grand Final with NiP, however they have always been beaten in the semi-finals. Curiously, they fell to Team Liquid in last year’s edition.
Meanwhile, Team Liquid have reached the last three Brasileirão Grand Finals, winning 2019’s edition and losing last year’s.
The Grand Final match will have a crowd and will be played in São Paulo on Dec. 4th.
Campeonato Sudamericano - 9z and Malvinas both fall in semi-finals, Furious Gaming becomes champion
Between November 25th and the 26th, the Campeonato Sudamericano Finals took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Against the odds, Newstar and Furious Gaming threw Malvinas and 9z Team for a loop after winning their series by 2-1. While the fan-favorites Malvinas Gaming fell against the Chilean side Newstar, Furious Gaming defeated the purple squad of 9z Team.
Although no one was expecting Newstar to beat Malvinas Gaming, 9z Team’s clash against Furious Gaming was more unpredictable. It’s worth noting that Furious were the best team of the third split. However, due to LATAM tournaments not resetting their standings, they could not play at the Copa Elite Six Stage 3.
Furious Gaming would eventually win the Grand Finals, following a 3-0 win against Newstar. Valentín “WeTz” Lima was the best player at the Grand Finals, as he produced 37 kills in just three maps.