Six Invitational 2023 grand-final preview: Youth bolstered by veterans as JULIO and w7m take on Fabian and G2

_{Banner image: Ubisoft / @capturedbycyga}

Today, the Six Invitational 2023 will come to an end. After almost two weeks of competition, only G2 Esports and w7m esports remain. Who's going to lift the hammer?

Following victories against Team BDS, M80, KOI, and Oxygen Esports, w7m esports reached the Six Invitational 2023 grand-final through the upper bracket. It will be the Brazilians' first international grand final and the team's first BO5 series since their 1-3 loss against Team Liquid at the Brasileirão 2022 Finals.

In the spotlight for the bulls is Julio "JULIO" Giacomelli. Today's appearance will be his third in a Six Invitational grand-final, as he lost the first in 2020 and won the second in 2021.

That first was a 2-3 loss against Spacestation Gaming, though his Ninjas in Pyjamas roster only lost two maps. One year later, in Paris, France, the Brazilians redeemed themselves with a victory against Team Liquid.

Now, representing w7m esports, JULIO will have the chance to add a second hammer to his trophy cabinet. This time, however, he won't be accompanied by teammates who relly on experience, but a roster known for its consistency.

With two rookies, Joao "Jv92" Vitor and Gabriel "volpz" Fernandes, the bulls have dominated in Brazil while also getting outstanding results at international competitions -- they had semi-final finishes at both the Six Berlin Major and the Six Jönköping Major.

A victory for JULIO would make him the first Brazilian with two hammers and one of the only players to have won the Six Invitational twice. If that's the case, he will join a list that only has six names; Dylan "Bosco" Bosco and Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski for North America, and Daniel "Goga" Mazorra, Joonas "jNszki" Savolainen, Niclas "Pengu" Mourtizen, and Fabian "Fabian" Hällsten for Europe.

On the other hand, Fabian "Fabian" Hällsten could become today the first person to win the Six Invitational both as a player and as a coach. The Swede won it for PENTA Sports in 2018 and G2 Esports in 2019, while also being named one of the EVPs of the latter. Now, Fabian is one series away from winning a third hammer.

A G2 Esports' victory would also make Karl "Alem4o" Zarth and Jake "Virtue" Grannan the first imports to win an international championship.

G2 have had an incredible run through the lower bracket, having been sent there by Wolves Esports in the first round of the upper bracket. With backs against the wall since, G2 beat FaZe Clan 2-1, DarkZero Esports 2-0, M80 2-0, Wolves 2-1, Astralis 2-0, and Oxygen Esports 2-0 to make it to the grand-final.

The winning run also meant Fabian extended his personal win streak against North Americans to 17-0. However, he is now up against JULIO, who ended his team's run in the semi-final of the ESL Pro League Season 6 Finals and also the last time Fabian was at a Six Invitational -- in 2020.

Fabian's record against JULIO is not all poor, however, as he knocked out the Brazilian on the way to the world championship title at the Six Invitational 2018.

Both G2 and w7m had faced off in the group stage, too, where w7m won in a close 2-1 series that had an 8-7 decider map. With the grand-final now a BO5, having a map pick advantage for w7m, and unlimited overtime, it is possible we see similar scorelines again.

Meanwhile, Benjamin "Benjamaster" Dereli will likely break André "NESKWGA" Oliveira's record of 289 kills in a single edition of the Six Invitational as he currently has 271 kills -- the highest number of any player here. Jack "Doki" Robertson could also surpass that tally as he heads into today's match with 269 kills.

Looking at w7m esports' numbers, Diego "Kheyze" Zanello stands out. The Brazilian player has not hit his BR6 form, where he was largely among the top five players. This time, Gabriel "HerdsZ" Herdina has been the team's best player, with a SiegeGG Rating of 1.19 and a kill-per-round average of 0.92.

JULIO's numbers also stand out as a support player. He heads into the final match of the competition with 26 defuser plants in only 20 maps played, which put him behind Loïc "BriD" Chongthep (26) and Mitch "Dream" Malson (33).

Currently, BriD holds the record for most plants performed in a Six Invitational, as he got 34 in 2021's edition -- even though he only played 18 maps -- after he averaged almost two plants per map.