How South America became a top region in CSGO
While CSGO is a game that is centred around European excellence, South America made a lot of waves in the scene with the rise of their teams.
How South America became a top region in CSGO
While CSGO is a game that is centred around European excellence, South America made a lot of waves in the scene with the rise of their teams. Veteran viewers of CSGO already had a good glimpse into the scene in 2016 but the region has become a regular fixture in the pro scene.
When talking about Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, teams like Ninjas in Pyjamas and Astralis always stand out as the squads that are known as legends. 2016 was a unique year for esports as CSGO was surprised with the rise of South American CS.
This was started by the Luminosity Gaming squad which was one of the biggest underdog stories not just in CSGO but the entirety of esports. Alongside the legendary 2018 run from Dota 2 team OG, the Brazilian squad led by Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo shocked the world by winning MLG Major Columbus in 2016. Let us dive deeper into the story of the SA squad that went from underdogs to the best team in the world who'll bring the region to the top.
The rise of Brazilian Counter-Strike
The lineup of FalleN, Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga, Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David, Lincoln ‘fnx’ Lau and Epitácio ‘TACO’ de Melo debuted in DreamHack Open Winter 2015 with limited fanfare. FalleN, cold and fer were with the team for four months at that point but fnx and TACO were fresh faces to big events.
They surprised the rest of the field by pulling off big upsets as they made the finals. Take note that they beat Team SoloMid in the semifinals which as you know is the squad that turned into Astralis a few months later.
LG had a great run in the event as they almost beat Fnatic in the final but the Swedes pulled off their usual methodical style by beating the upstart Brazilians. Most fans thought that it was a one-off for the SA squad as it might have been a lucky run with the entrance of their new players. However, they proved that it was not a fluke in the following year.
2016: Brazil’s year
CS had an amazing year in 2016 and this was headlined by the rise of FalleN and his crew. Coldzera cemented himself as the best player in the world with his performances over the whole year. He played a rifler for most of the time but he shined in the double AWP set up with FalleN. This was done before but not to the extent that it was a main strategy for a team.
This was evident in their MLG Columbus run when they pulled off a comeback from 13-5 down to win Mirage and then the entire series against Team Liquid. In the Mirage match, cold pulled off the best highlight in CSGO history when he hit a jumping AWP shot that killed two people. It kickstarted the comeback and Liquid never recovered. His Asiimov AWP became an iconic weapon and was at the top of players’ best free csgo skins.
The lineup would then leave LG for another org in SK Gaming and they would not stop their rise to the top of the CSGO scene. The biggest event of the year was coming up with ESL One: Cologne 2016 with SK coming in as one of the favourites.
However, people regarded Fnatic as the number one option heading into the event as they were in top form. They were the defending champions at this event as they won in Cologne back in 2015. The Swedes only had one roster change since the 2015 iteration but Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer Gustafsson and the rest of the team was ready to prove that they were the top team.
Cologne 2016 was a unique event as the favourites did not go to the finals as there was another underdog run in the bracket but it was not SK. The Brazilians were now one of the favourites to win the tournament but Liquid once again set up a series against SK.
SK would go on to dominate Liquid in the finals to win their second straight Major. They were the first team to win two Majors in a row as Fnatic won their two titles on separate occasions. It is proof that 2016 was SK’s year. SK was insane and coldzera cemented himself as the best player in the world over his prime rival s1mple.
The importance of FalleN to the SA scene
While SK had the best year out of anyone else in CSGO, there was something brewing in their home country as Tempo Storm was gaining momentum. FalleN was actually the man who established this team before he went to LG in 2015.
Players like Ricardo ‘boltz’ Prass was the star player of the team and he led them to qualify for some big events during the year. IEM Katowice 2016 was the brightest spot here as they managed to beat French giants EnVyUs. They would go on to finish fifth-sixth alongside Virtus.Pro just a few spots behind FalleN’s LG who placed 2nd.
Because of the rise of both his squad and TS, FalleN was confident that the SA scene was moving forward.
He said, ‘I'm not talking only about Brazil. Argentina, Chile, a lot of countries that right now are forgotten in CS:GO. So if this game wants to be global, we need it to go to South America as soon as possible’.
FalleN is highly regarded in SA as the ‘Godfather of CS’ in the region. It is true that he is one of the most prolific players in the region but his impact should not be understated. He built this scene from the ground up starting from CS 1.6 and he continues to help players until today. The AWPer might not be on an SA team now, but you can still see his fingerprints on a lot of SA players' career.
The unlikely story of Immortals in 2017
The year 2017 was another big year as SK was still a powerful team in the scene but there was another underdog story that stole the hearts of many fans. This happened at PGL Major Kraków 2017 when Brazilian lineup Immortals made the Major final. This was very surprising as IMT was not a top team in CSGO as they were mostly known for their League of Legends team.
Even in the group stage, they were not the team that was seen to make it deep into the playoff bracket as they were tied for sixth. However, in the bracket stage, they pulled off big wins as they beat BIG and perennial contenders Virtus.Pro to make it into the finals.
They lost to Gambit Esports in the final who were in the midst of a stellar underdog run as well. This was the CIS region’s time to shine as they secured their first Major trophy with legendary captain Danylo ‘Zeus’ Teslenko leading the way.
IMT never really took off after that but an SA team making it to a Major final is insane to think about when you see that the SK lineup was not involved. The SK squad were bested early in the quarterfinals by Astralis which ended their run at the top of the scene.
Will SA reach the same heights again?
In the few years since 2016, SA is still seen as a top region in the scene. However, they had to make way for the Astralis era as the Danes won everything there is to win in the CSGO pro scene. It was meant to be for them to do that as they were already a top team in the past but when they got Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander, everything just clicked which led to three Major wins.
The former SK squad turned into the Made in Brazil (MiBR) squad but that experiment did not end well as they failed to place well in many events as a squad. They have parted ways with their players moving away from SA led by coldzera going to Europe to play for FaZe Clan. Cold and the rest of FaZe is still a good option for betting, as they can still win you coveted free CSGO skins but teams like OG are on the rise in Europe.
FalleN is not with an SA squad now as he is playing for Liquid in the NA region. However, there are still some SA teams that can be called top squads with FURIA leading the way. This is where you can see the fingerprints from the SK Gaming squad as they were big influences for every one of the players who are now ranked in the top 10 teams in the world.
There are still many possible outcomes where SA teams can rise to the top. As FalleN’s squad proved, all you need is the chance to compete and the right mix of players to become the best team in the world. SA has a large crop of players and it is inevitable that we are going to get another top squad from the region that may even exceed the efforts of FalleN and his squad.
It is only a matter of time.
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Words: Pocholo Magsino
