From competing with one of the less experienced squads in the competitive circuit to having to replace a game-changing player in the middle of the season, Black Dragons’ first international qualification in two years was achieved after defeating the current world champions, FURIA Esports.
Black Dragons’ first steps towards Year 9 were made before the start of the Six Invitational 2024 when the team unveiled the additions of the rookies Gustavo “Guto” Vieira and João “Nuxxga” Weiss, who joined Gabriel “AsK” Santos and Roberto “Loira” Camargo. Eventually, João “Florio” Vitor completed the squad.
When Black Dragons’ roster for Year 9 was fully unveiled, the former Team Liquid IGL AsK inevitably stood out among the rest of the players in the squad: the Brazilian would lead a roster with three rookies and Roberto “Loira” Camargo, who had only played a couple of months in Brazil’s top-flight.
After having featured in two Six Invitationals and two Six Majors, the 22-year-old took the leadership of the roster alongside the former paiN Gaming player and current Black Dragons coach Giuliano “ghost1” Domingos.
“I could pass some experiences and knowledge to them, explaining the feelings that we would feel throughout the matches; alongside the work of ghost1, despite never having played internationally, we improved the mental of the team ahead of the start of the season,” AsK explained in a written interview with SiegeGG.
Black Dragons’ first split of the season went better than anyone had expected as the team finished the group stage in third place with 18 points, only two points behind w7m esports and seven behind the Six Invitational 2024 grand finalists, FaZe Clan.
Despite Black Dragons’ performances in Brazil’s group stage, an unexpected defeat against the eventual Manchester-bound side E1 Sports saw Black Dragons dropping to the Last Chance Qualifier. Eventually, a defeat against Fluxo meant they would miss out on Manchester.
“I think we reached a point of ecstasy, we were doing so well that we ended up forgetting about the most basic details, so we certainly learned about the importance of the most basic things,” AsK admitted.
Regardless of how the first stage ended, Black Dragons knew the sky was the limit for them. After learning their lesson in the first stage, the team was ready to steal the show ahead of the second split – and they would start with the Esports World Cup.
Unfortunately, the team had to face an unexpected challenge shortly before the qualifiers: G2 Esports knocked on Black Dragons’ door as the European powerhouse wanted to sign Loira. In June 2024, the 19-year-old joined the samurai.
“Loira’s departure affected a lot our team as our playstyle changed drastically, we went through a difficult period of adaptation but we knew about our potential,” AsK explained.
Parting ways with a player inevitably means the addition of someone new. Although it can always go for the better, a new face can unbalance a roster and force deep changes to be made. Plain and simple, tweaking what was already working to fit a new player can kill the progression of a roster.
The Brazilians decided to replace Loira with Victor “Hornetao” Lopes, who had played for Black Dragons from November 2019 to March 2021. Following his first stay in Black Dragons, Hornetao continued his professional career under INTZ, Magic Squad, and Keyd Stars.
“Choosing Hornetao was brought up by Loira himself; added to some aspects that ghost1 mentioned, Hornetao had to be the chosen one,” AsK revealed.
Black Dragons’ first tournament after Loira’s departure was Brazil’s Esports World Cup qualifiers, which started two weeks after Hornetao was announced as the Brazilian’s replacement.
Surprisingly, the team not only made it to the closed qualifier but also defeated FURIA Esports in the Upper Bracket quarterfinals. However, the excitement of beating the world champions quickly vanished as defeats against w7m esports and Team Liquid saw Black Dragons missing out on the Esports World Cup.
“It was a time where we went through a mix of feelings, frustration, and hope as we saw our potential after defeating FURIA, but in the next two matches we didn’t even show 10% of it,” AsK admitted.
Following the conclusion of the off-season, where Black Dragons finished among the best six sides in the Super Copa do Brasil, the team looked extremely weak compared to the roster’s performance in Stage 1. By the time the group stage concluded, Black Dragons was in tenth place with only one point and a round difference of -31 – the worst stage by any top-flight team in Brazil.
“We lost our essence but our will of wanting to revert the situation showed up as a quality that this team has, battling against any adversity quickly and effectively,” AsK explained.
Fortunately for the roster, after surviving Brazil’s Open Qualifiers, Black Dragons got their momentum back in the region’s Last Chance Qualifiers. After victories against E1 Sports and Keyd Stars, the team was one victory away against FURIA Esports from qualifying for the BLAST R6 Major Montreal. “We only thought about destroying them, it’s always a motivation to play against a roster you look up to.”
Black Dragons started the series on the right foot with a 7-4 victory on Bank. Surprisingly, the team that had only obtained one point during the group stage was one map away from knocking out the world champions of the BLAST R6 Major Montreal race.
Although Black Dragons had the upper hand on Nighthaven Labs for most of the match, Hornetao ended up forcing the overtime with a 1v1 clutch on round twelve. One round later, AsK and his teammates put themselves one round away from qualifying for Montreal. Unfortunately for them, FURIA Esports completed an outstanding comeback that ended in a 1v3 clutch by Gustavo “HerdsZ” Herdina.
“It was a very sad moment for some people as we saw our dream fading away from our hands for some time, but we knew we were better than them from a tactical and mental point of view. Our actions were having a bigger impact on the match that was being played, so we did what we had trained,” AsK admitted.
The nail-bitting defeat on Nighthaven Labs was followed by another 7-4 win, this time on Skyscraper. Against all of the odds, Black Dragons qualified for Montreal. “It’s very special to me because I am going back to where I played my last international competition, so going there with my friends it’s very gratifying.”
In Montreal, Black Dragons will play against CL4L in their first play-in clash. If they win against the North American roster, the Brazilians will play against Loira’s current team, G2 Esports.
“A match against Loira would certainly be special for everything we went through together, unfortunately he will be our enemy for some time and he will have to deal with the guy that taught him how to play,” AsK concluded.
Black Dragons’ debut at the BLAST R6 Major Montreal will take place on November 7 at 6 PM UCT time as they will play against CL4L. The Brazilians' second match will be played on November 8 as they will play against G2 Esports or CAG Osaka.