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Almost five months after Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated LOS oNe to qualify for the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen, the action is back in the Brazil League. While the competition's big rosters haven't changed the transfer window, the arrival of three new organizations has refreshed the tournament's look.
Here's everything you need to know about the Brazil League 2023 Stage 2, which will kick off later today!
Format
The Brazil League 2023 Stage 2 is split into two phases. First, the ten teams in the competition go through a group stage. The best three teams of each group move to the playoffs, where the best three will qualify for the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta.
Group Stage
The ten teams in the competition are first divided into two groups of five rosters. Each group follows a round-robin format. Every match is BO1.
The top-seeded team of each group advances to the playoff's semi-finals. The second and third-seeded teams move to the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, the fourth and fifth-seeded rosters fall to the Open Qualifiers Playoffs.
Playoffs
Every match in the playoffs follows a BO3 format. The quarter-final losers will face off in a game to decide the league's fifth seed. While the winners of the semi-finals move to the grand final, the losers meet in a match to determine Brazil's third seed.
Three of the region's four spots to compete in the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta are given in this stage of the competition. The best two teams in the league qualify for the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta Phase 2, while the league's third-seed and the Last Chance Qualifiers winner qualify for the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta Phase 1.
Prize Pool
The Brazil League 2023 Stage 2 has a prize pool of R$930,000 (around US$187,000). These are divided as follows:
- 1st: R$200,000 (US$40,283.95)
- 2nd: R$140,000 (US$28,198.77)
- 3rd: R$120,000 (US$24,170.37)
- 4th: R$100,000 (US$20,141.98)
- 5th: R$80,000 (US$16,113.58)
- 6th: R$70,000 (US$14,099.38)
- 7th: R$60,000 (US$12,085.19)
- 8th: R$50,000 (US$10,070.99)
On top of that, the best three teams in the competition are awarded SI Points:
- 1st: 150 SI Points
- 2nd: 130 SI Points
- 3rd: 115 SI Points
Teams
The Brazil League 2023 Stage 2 has ten teams, which have been divided into two groups of five. Here's everything you need to know about each of the competitors in the league!
Group A
FaZe Clan
FaZe Clan's semi-final finish in the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen was a solid statement following the arrival of Thiago "Handyy" Sá and Eduardo "KDS" Chiste.
Since the team appearance in Denmark, FaZe Clan have remained inactive as they haven't participated in any off-season tournament together as a roster. Individually, some of the team's members participated in the Varzea's Cup.
This will be FaZe Clan's first competition in over three years without Matheus "Ramalho" Gonçalves as he gave the green light to his move to G2 Esports.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Slowly but steadily, Ninjas in Pyjamas are getting back their spirits. After missing out on the Six Invitational 2023, the green and black roster finished as one of the best eight teams in the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen.
Nine days after their defeat against Soniqs in Denmark, the Brazilians defeated Team Liquid by 3-2 in the Gamers Without Borders South America Grand Final to qualify for the Gamers8 2023. Although they couldn't advance to the playoffs, the Brazilians brought home an extra US$125,000 and more experience to use throughout Stage 2.
LOS oNe
LOS oNe kicked off the year brightly with an impressive performance at the Six Invitational 2023. Unfortunately for the Brazilians, the team was one map away from qualifying for the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen as they lost to Ninjas in Pyjamas in the Last Chance Qualifiers.
After the team's result in Stage 1, LOS oNe signed the former FaZe Clan and MIBR player Gabriel "cameram4n" Hespanhol to replace Renato "rhZ" Luiz, who moved to the analyst position.
Black Dragons
Despite missing out on the Six Invitational 2023, Black Dragons' Year 7 was a great success. The Brazilians qualified for their first international competition since 2018, right before Ninjas in Pyjamas picked up their most iconic roster to date.
After completing Stage 1 without SI Points, Black Dragons made two changes as the team parted ways with Guilherme "Bassetto" Bassetto and Ronaldo "ion" Osawa. Instead, the Brazilian organization picked up the former Team Liquid IGL Gabriel "AsK" Santos and the tier two talent Loira.
Curiously enough, both AsK and Loira played together for Guerreiros da FPL in the off-season tournament Varzea's Cup.
Miners.gg
Miners.gg is one of the three new organizations in the Brazil League after picking up TropiCaos' spot.
The Brazilian organization decided to keep TropiCaos' chore in Juliano "Levy" Andrade, Caio "Neskin" Szazi, and Willian "Stk" da Costa. The roster was completed with the arrival of Bassetto and the former Ninjas in Pyjamas coach Dyjair "Mity" Soares, who makes a return as a player.
Bassetto's first official match for Miners.gg will be against his former teammates in Black Dragons. One week later, the Brazilians will face off versus Mity's former teammates in Ninjas in Pyjamas.
Group B
w7m esports
The Bulls return to Brazil as international champions after winning the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen. It was the first title win for w7m esports since reaching every Six Major semi-finals since the Six Berlin Major.
After an off-season with no action, the Bulls will make a re-appearance as they will kick off their Stage 2 run against MIBR on Sep. 10. However, everyone is already thinking about their match against Team Liquid on Sep. 16, which will be a replay of the BLAST R6 Major Copenhagen grand final.
Although w7m esports are the favorites to win the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta, nobody has ever won two Six Majors in a row. Could the Bulls become the first team to do so?
Team Liquid
It's not been easy for Team Liquid since Nov. 2022. Since then, the Blue Cavalry has lost two Six Major grand finals, against Team BDS in Jönköping, Sweden, and w7m esports in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The third time could be the charm. Team Liquid will start Stage 2 by welcoming the new organizations to the Brazil League, as the league champions will face Keyd Stars and E1 Sports in the first weekend of competition.
Team Liquid's match against E1 Sports will be a special one as the Blue Cavalry will play versus their former teammate Thiago "xS3xyCake" Reis.
MIBR
Despite sharing Group B with Team Liquid and w7m esports, MIBR could have the final word against them.
In July 2023, MIBR signed the former FURIA Esports duo of Diogo "Fntzy" Lima and Rennan "R4re" Vitor. With these changes, the Brazilians expect to improve their Stage 1 result and qualify for the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta and the Six Invitational 2024.
Keyd Stars
Keyd Stars returns to Brazil's top-flight after picking up Magic Stars' former roster. The purple organization decided to keep Victor "Hornetao" Lopes, Gabriel "Hatez" Kobuszewski, and Kaik "Gomess" Sousa. The roster was completed with the arrival of the former FURIA Esport players Victor "Daffodil" Pedron and Thiago "LENDA" Torres.
The last time Keyd Stars played in Brazil's Rainbow Six Siege top-flight was in May 2017 as the team was one map away from qualifying for the PL Y2S1 Finals.
E1 Sports
E1 Sports completes Group B after picking up LFO's roster. This means that the Brazil League 2023 Stage 2 won't have any organization-less squad.
The roster is a combination of highly experienced players who have been in countless international competitions. Leonardo "Astro" Luis and xS3xyCake are the most popular players in the squad after representing FaZe Clan and Team Liquid in various seasons.
Luca "LuKid" Sereno and Enzo "Rappz" Aziz have been reunited in E1 Sports after playing together in MIBR until Dec. 2022. Finally, Dodez, who was part of MIBR for six weeks, completes the roster.