Image via Ubisoft/@itsmeerror
After winning two of the three stages of the Liga Six 2020, the orgless roster of Kids Team led by former Ninjas in Pyjamas player Wagner “wag” Alfaro was technically qualified for the Brazilian Challenger League.
However, Kids Team had four underage players. They already expected to not be able to advance, as Liga Six allowed over sixteen-year-old players to compete, a rule that didn’t apply in further competitions.
The members of the team followed different paths. While wag signed with the Brasileirão side Santos e-Sports, the rest of the players couldn’t do anything else but wait.
Almost two years later, all of Kids Team’s underage talents are now in Brazil’s top flight. This stage’s sensations Felipe “nade” Sá and Thiago “Handy” Ferreira, last season’s rookie of the year Diogo “Fntzy” Lima, and current Team Liquid member Pablo “resetz” Oliveira are all leaving their mark on BR6.
Later on, another one of this stage’s eight debutants, Pedro “PpWs” Sabino, joined the team – although his stay was a brief one. With him on the list, five former members of Kids Team have debuted within the last year, with resetz debuting in last year’s Stage 2.
With Fntzy and resetz having already proven themselves during the last season, it is now the debutants’ turn. So far, so good, as both nade and handyy are among the best ten rated players in the Brasileirão, with PpWs in eleventh after his impressive display against MIBR on Sunday.
“We played Liga Six to win money, gain experience, and visibility,” explained Black Dragons player nade in a brief interview with SiegeGG.
Kids Team was born back in 2020, when current FURIA Esports’ player Fntzy was encouraged by Leonardo “Astro” Luiz to make his own team. “Astro was a friend of Fntzy and told him to build a team to train. It was then when we built a team. At the beginning, it was me, Fntzy, resetz, Razah, and awakenz, Handy and PpWs joined later.”
Nowadays, nade is statistically the player who has impressed the most. The Black Dragons member has the third-best SiegeGG rating in the league, the best KOST, and an impressive entry statistic of 12-1 (+11) while maining Sledge and Kaid. All of that after a year without playing any tournaments of any size. “I didn’t expect such a great start, I thought I would need some time to adapt again, I was one year without playing competitively.”
On Friday, nade’s Black Dragons and Fntzy’s and Handy’s FURIA Esports are facing off in a decisive game. With only three matches remaining, every point counts to qualify for this stage’s Copa Elite Six – LATAM’s door to May’s Major. “I feel very motivated to play against them, I hope we have a good game,” concluded nade.
Black Dragons and FURIA Esports will play on Apr. 15 at 1 pm BR [+3 UTC] in what will be the first match of the day.