Banner image: Ubisoft / Joao F.
Gamers Without Borders announced on May 27 the creation of a $1.5 million charity tournament, with the winners being invited to a $2 million tournament held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The tournament will be played from Aug. 4 to 7, with a potential clash with the Stage 2 Major on the horizon.
A set of online qualifiers were played from May 28 to 29, with the two best teams advancing to the closed regional qualifiers, played between Jun. 2 and 5.
Europe - Victus, WYLDE
Although Europe was technically the only region with no top-flight rosters in the bracket, the competition was full of former European League players.
After announcing the incorporation of Eugene “karzheka” Petrishin to reassemble the most prolific roster Team Empire has ever had, the Russians played their first match together since May 2020.
It didn’t finish exactly as the majority expected, as the Russians lost the final game of the bracket against Victus. All the matches in the series saw at least twelve rounds played, with the second map going to round fourteen.
On the other side of the bracket, WYLDE’s roster which includes former LeStream, Giants, and Rogue duo Lukas “korey” Zwingmann and Maurice “AceeZ” Erkelenz took the final spot in the closed qualifier.
To succeed in the qualifier, the GSA roster had to first defeat Team 86, which included former top-flight players Lucas “Hungry” Reich and Aleks “VITO” Lyapun. Reece “ASTRO” Lambert, who has recently won the fight against cancer, was also part of the roster.
WYLDE’s final opposition in the bracket was the UKIN side called mix hehe, a team formed by three former top-flight players in Peter “pacbull” Bull, Jonas “Jonka” Kaczmarzyk, and Adam “Hxsti” Hostisockzi, and the highly experienced tier two players Maksymilian “Mekses” Borkowski, Justin “Zenoxo” Osztafi, and Marc “Jume” Steinmann.
LATAM - Furious Gaming, Escolinha do bubu
In recent times we have seen a great number of tier two Brazilian players not only making their way to the country’s top-flight but also standing out in a competition full of successful and experienced rosters.
Escolinha do bubu, whose name stands for Bubu’s school in honor of XSET’s coach Matheus “Budega” Figueiredo, is Brazil’s newest sensation after defeating FURIA Esports, 00 Nation, and Team oNe.
Meanwhile, the South American championship roster Furious Gaming took the second spot to compete at the closed qualifier after defeating Ninjas in Pyjamas by 2-0 in the final match of the bracket. Just before the team’s victory over the SI 2021 champions, Furious Gaming had to defeat their region rivals Isurus Gaming.
Black Dragons, w7m esports, and INTZ were also part of the competition. Black Dragons fell to SuperNova Team in what was the team’s third loss since May 2021 against the tier two roster. Meanwhile, w7m esports lost against Ninjas in Pyjamas by 7-5. Finally, INTZ lost against N/A ORG.
Team Liquid, MIBR, and FaZe Clan’s absences lead us to think that one of them has been invited to the final event held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while the other two will compete against Escolinha do bubu and Furious Gaming for the remaining two spots.
North America - Leftovers, Gamin Gladiators
In North America, Leftovers was arguably the team who stole the show. Competing in the tournament with former XSET duo Xavier “Filthy” García and Alex “Butterzz” O’Campo competed for Leftovers, the team first defeated the NA Challenger League Stage 1 champions and former roster of Wichita Wolves, ATK. Later on, Leftovers took down the Soniqs and Parabellum Esports.
Meanwhile, Gaimin Gladiators won on the other side of the bracket. The roster included another former XSET member, Christian “Prod” Gauch, former Mirage member Alexandre “QrTz” Moranta, and some of the most experienced tier two players in the region, including Matthew “Jolten” Valoroso and Tyler “Aero” Brunson.
While three former XSET members advanced to the closed qualifier, XSET itself couldn’t. The team’s coach Budega explained that Léo “Kyno” Figueiredo and Evan “Yoggah” Nelson played from Miami, Arthur “GMZ” Vivas was on the mountains, while Igor “Vivas” Vivas was on the beach.
Despite the situation, the team managed to get to their bracket’s final match, where they would lose to Gaimin Gladiators.