ALPHA Team qualified for the BLAST R6 Major Montreal after defeating Team Cruelty twice on the final day of the LATAM League 2024 Stage 2 playoffs.
The South American lineup sent the Mexican-majority roster to the Lower Bracket grand final after an 8-6 victory on Consulate. Both teams faced off again in the region's grand final after Team Cruelty defeated Six Karma in the Lower Bracket grand final.
After a Team Cruelty 7-2 victory on Kafe Dostoyevsky, ALPHA Team leveled the series with a 7-2 win, this time on Clubhouse. Eventually, the South American lineup defeated the purple roster with an 8-6 win on Chalet.
Ahead of tonight's action, Team Cruelty's players were the favorites to take the region's first seed after finishing the group stage with a 10-0-0-0 record and a round difference of +45. Considering that the Mexican-majority lineup had also qualified for Manchester and Riyadh, an upset wasn't on the cards.
While ALPHA Team's players and fans will be pleased to be back to a BLAST R6 Major one year after the roster's performance in Atlanta, this result will likely eventually kill LATAM's hopes of qualifying for the Six Invitational 2025.
If Team Cruelty had clinched the region's spot to compete in Montreal, the Mexican lineup would currently be in 13th place of the Global Standings with 290 SI Points — only ten points below the triple-tie in 10th place between Bleed Esports, PSG Talon, and Gaimin Gladiators.
Instead, ALPHA's win today means LATAM needs them to reach Montreal's Top 8 to qualify for the Six Invitational 2025 through the Global Standings without relying on other teams' results. Although upsets can always happen, a LATAM side has never survived to the first phase of a Major.