Banner image: Ubisoft / @KonKolMichal
In 2021, w7m esports were one of Brazil's two punching bags. For most of the season, the team could do little to improve upon its place at the bottom of the league table. Eventually, the players grabbed the bull by the horns just in time to avoid relegation by two points, thanks to two regulation wins on the final two play days of competition.
A year and three months have passed since the thrilling weekend that would eventually change it all. After the conclusion of the Six Jönköping Major, w7m esports ended the season as the highest-scoring team in the Global Standings with 1,240 SI Points. Moreover, alongside Wolves Esports, w7m esports were the only team to play at every Six Major in 2022.
Felipe "Abreu" da Silva hit the bullseye when signing tier-two talents Joao "Jv92" Vitor and Gabriel "volpz" Fernandes, who would be key drivers in this turnaround. Precisely, volpz was the best player by SiegeGG Rating in the first Brasileirao stage of the year, with a SiegeGG Rating of 1.22. In third place, not far behind, was Diego "Kheyze" Zanello with a SiegeGG Rating of 1.20.
"We just called two kids who were new and skilled to attend the Six Majors and the Six Invitational," Kheyze explained in a SiegeGG interview ahead of the Six Invitational 2023.
Jv92 and volpz's impact was so deep in the team and its play style that w7m ended the first stage with 24 points -- the same total they reached during the whole 2021 season. It is also the highest score ever in a single stage, as the team also set a new Brasileirao record for consecutive victories with eight matches won.
Stage 1's first place was followed by a second-place finish in the Copa Elite Six, as the team fell twice against Team Liquid. Later on, the team struggled at the Six Charlotte Major, but only because they were not able to travel to the United States due to visa issues. Ubisoft's solution was to send them to Mexico, where they played against their opposition while having incredibly high latency.
"It was the worst championship that I played in, literally, it was impossible to play," Kheyze recalled.
Despite the complications, w7m esports finished in third place of their group with seven points, as they were the only team in the competition to defeat the eventual champions DarkZero Esports.
Stage 2, like Stage 1, went smoothly for the bulls. This time, though, they set the record for the second-highest points in Brasileirao's history.
However, while the team's online record was 14-1-1-1, so far, the bulls had already lost four games in BO3 competitions.
"We know how to play in all formats, from BO1 to BO5, but it's not easy," Kheyze explained of that initial BO3 weakness.
At the Berlin Major, the bulls went 5-0-1-0 against Wolves Esports, Oxygen Esports, and Gaimin Gladiators, who had finished in first, first, and second place in their regions, respectively. Despite that, w7m struggled to beat Elevate in the quarter-finals, and fell against FaZe Clan in the semi-finals.
Following the conclusion of Stage 2, the team decided to make a seismic change to the lineup, parting ways with their IGL. Gleidson "GdNN1" Nunes. GdNN1 had been the region's best support player that stage, but even he was -- in w7m's eyes -- not a match for former world champion Julio "JULIO" Giacomelli.
"He helped a lot bringing experience and skill, when he is in the game the old man is very difficult to stop," laughed Kheyze about the signing.
Julio's adaptation to the team was successful and, finally, w7m esports won the Copa Elite Six in Stage 3. After defeating Malvinas Gaming, Black Dragons, and Team Liquid twice, the bulls had quickly become one of the favorites to win the Six Jönköping Major.
W7m esports started off on the right foot in Sweden, topping their group flawlessly with six regulation victories -- including two wins against eventual champions Team BDS. Disappointingly, after defeating Black Dragons in the quarter-finals, they once again lost to local opposition in the semi-finals; this time Team Liquid.
"In Jönköping, the game was on our hands, we threw a lot of rounds," Kheyze lamented.
One week later, w7m fell to Liquid once again, as both teams met in the Brasileirao's grand final. This time, Liquid won 3-1.
"The team was very tired, both physically and mentally," said Kheyze.
Now, heading into the Six Invitational 2023, the team wants to take the hammer home after a season where they dominated their region while also being the most consistent team internationally.
"In the case we don't win the Six Invitational, we want to win an important trophy, but mainly we want to keep the consistency we had in 2022, playing in every competition," Kheyze said, concluding his thoughts on the 2023 that lay ahead.
W7m are closing out their 2022 season with 65 points in the Brasileirao, 17 more than second-placed Team Liquid, three international appearances, and two Six Major semi-finals appearances.
Now, the bulls have the chance to cap that record-breaking season off by doing well in their first Six Invitational -- or even winning it.