After visa disaster at Charlotte Major, w7m esports seek to lay down the law in person at Berlin Major

_{Image via w7m}

Based on their 2021 results, the expectation that w7m esports would do much in 2022 may have seemed laughable. Most of the people expected them to be in the relegation fight once more, but the team had other plans.

After picking up Joao “jv92” Vitor and Gabriel “volpz” Fernandes, the team was transformed. A perfect start to the season extended to the whole first stage, with the team’s only loss coming against INTZ in the very final game of the split. 

Not only did the team become the first to win eight games in a row but it also set the record for most points in a single stage -- 24. Despite losing twice to Team Liquid in the Copa Elite Six, w7m esports became the region’s main hope in Charlotte.

Unfortunately for them, May’s Major was marked by visa issues for all the Brazilian teams except Team Liquid, which prevented w7m esports from entering the country. While they eventually were able to play, it was from Mexico City instead of from the event venue in person.

Despite playing on high latency, w7m esports defeated G2 Esports twice and DarkZero Esports once – becoming the only team in the competition to defeat the eventual champions. Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t enough for them to get to the playoffs and they exited the Major without a proper demonstration of their skills against international opposition.

Stage 2 was slightly worse for w7m, but good enough to mark the second-best split by a Brazilian team, this time with 22 points. As of now, the overall standings in Brazil show a difference of 14 points between them and the second-placed roster, Team Liquid. On top of that, w7m esports’ overall round difference is +59, almost six times better than Liquid.

In Brazil, Diego “Kheyze” Zanello registered an abnormal SiegeGG rating of 1.41 while also leading the entry stats with a record of 18-7 (+11), which makes him the best player of the stage. 

Meanwhile, Gleidson “GdNN1” Nunes ended the stage with 12 plants to his name, which was the second-highest amount across any region this stage behind Seth “supr” Hoffman’s 13.

Considering all of this, w7m should be one of the tournament favourites despite their international inexperience. Their momentum is great, the results are there, and, this might be the best team of the season by individual statistics.

On top of that, w7m have significant experience in BO3 games thanks to LATAM’s Copa Elite Six in Stages 1 and 2. But that experience is of loss, despite their dominance throughout the BR6 season. Excluding their matches against Mexican and South American teams, w7m have lost four of the seven BO3 games they played against Team Liquid, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and FaZe Clan.

In terms of maps, w7m’s strength seems to lie on Chalet. The Brazilians have played it seven times this stage, having won five and lost two. This comes after they failed to win it a single time in three attempts in Stage 1.

Their most-banned map has been Skyscraper, with w7m banning it a total of 30 times so far this season. Another map the squad has been reluctant to play is Bank, though they played it two times in Copa Elite Six -- losing the first attempt against Ninjas in Pyjamas and winning the second against FURIA Esports.

In Berlin, w7m esports will face Oxygen Esports, Wolves Esports, and Gaimin Gladiators in their group. The group looks incredibly packed, with the champions of Europe and Brazil meeting in the same group alongside Oxygen, who were as the first team to clinch a Berlin Major spot, and Gaimin Gladiators, who are quickly-rising dark horses.

Catch w7m on the international stage again at the Berlin Major, which will run from Aug. 15 to 21, and read up on everything you need to know about the event.