Banner image: Ubisoft / Kirill B.
The first week of the Brasileirão 2022 is now history. First weekend, first lesson: don’t sleep on anyone. With six tickets to the Copa Elite Six Stage 1 on the line, every unexpected slip-up could be a Copa do Brasil sentence. We probably have seen some, but only time will tell.
This is everything that happened this weekend in Brazil.
Youth takes over Brazil
With eight top-flight debutants, one of Brasileirão's main attractions is in its future. Various teams decided to reinforce their respective lineups with the additions of Série B hidden gems, prospects that have been climbing their way to the main competition for years.
Five of the league’s nine debutant incorporations are among the lineups of Team oNe and w7m esports, rosters that had a brilliant start to the season. While Lorenzo “Lagonis” Volpi’s new roster defeated INTZ and his former teammates in 00 Nation, w7m took down the Sweden Major champions FaZe Clan and FURIA Esports.
More precisely, the debutant Gabriel “volpz” Fernandes carried his team to victory over FURIA Esports in a match where all his teammates scored SiegeGG ratings of 0.84 or below. Regarding Team oNe, the former SuperNova duo Leonardo “d4sh” Lopes and João “Dotz” Miranda seem to have adapted well to the league, with the latter being the team’s most valuable player in their victory over 00 Nation.
If Brazil wasn’t in good enough shape after the influx of young talent throughout the last season, there are now more names to follow. Although it is just the first week of competition and it may be too soon to make speculations, these young players have already caught some of the viewers’ eyes.
Tumultuous beginning for Ninjas in Pyjamas
On paper, Ninjas in Pyjamas’ start to the season looked extremely challenging. The former Six Invitational 2021 champions would start the season with a replay of the BR6 Grand Final against Team Liquid, a match that would be followed with a clash against MIBR, who made it to the Six Invitational 2022 top four.
Ninjas in Pyjamas not only failed the test but were absolutely demolished by their opposition. Team Liquid went 6-0 on attack on Chalet just before closing the game with a 7-1 victory. On Sunday, the Sweden Major finalists were defeated by 4-7 on Kafe, a map known to be one of NiP’s best.
These two results put the ninjas momentarily down at the bottom of the standings, a situation that the team must nip in the bud before it gets any worse.
It is worth noting that Ninjas in Pyjamas finished the third stage of last year’s Brasileirão in ninth place, but qualified for the Copa Elite Six due to the competition’s format. Now, with this being the first stage and with the format changes the league has gone through, NiP must get back on track.
00 Nation homeless (for now)
With the Norwegian team joining Brazil’s Siege scene, the country now has three European organizations in the league. However, the roster coached by Arthur “TchubZ” Figueira hasn’t had the best of the debuts.
The former Team oNe core now completed by ex-Team Liquid player Thiago “xS3xyCake” Reis and ex-Black Dragons member Vinícius “live” Monteiro had a rough start to the season with an overtime loss against the roster’s former team. Saturday’s loss was followed by an abrupt defeat against FaZe Clan as 00 Nation lost four of its six defenses.
In what was one of the most anticipated matches of the day, the tenth best player of Year 6 Lucas “soulz1” Schinke stepped up for FaZe Clan with the highest rating of his team and two clutches.
However, 00 Nation first week’s results have to be ridden carefully. First, the team’s adaptation to the new signings might need some more time. Second and most important, the team’s gaming house isn’t ready yet. So while all the teams were playing together, 00 Nation’s players had to compete from their respective homes.
Looking at the standings, Ninjas in Pyjamas’ being at the bottom of these is what has upsetted the viewership the most. They will have a shot at redemption against 00 Nation on Saturday, and against INTZ on Sunday.
Despite temporarily being out of the top six, FURIA Esports progress is there. Thiago “Handy” sá Ferreira has had a promising debut alongside his Liga Six 2020 partner in crime Diogo “Fntzy” Lima, who is now known to be not just the region’s brightest prospect but also the present of the country. This is surely a duo worth looking forward to from now on.
Next week will see various interesting storylines, with the most interesting one being in the 00 Nation against FURIA clash as former coaching partners and current friends TchubZ and Marton “Twister” Mello will face each other once again off the server.
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