The final day of BR Challengers Stage 1 had high stakes for everyone involved. Four teams played this week in Group B and every single one of them could qualify for playoffs.

Check out the other weekly recaps and more at my VCT BR Post Library and here is Week 5 Group A as well.

Vivo Keyd (2-0) Furia
Due to tiebreaker scenarios, Furia is already qualified for playoffs. Despite that, this match mattered a lot to Furia as a win would guarantee them a bye in the playoffs and the opposite side of the bracket from LOUD. Vivo Keyd came into the group stage as favorites, but have struggled in the group of death with map losses to Sharks and Ingaming as well as a series loss to NIP.
Icebox: VK(15-13)FUR
Vivo Keyd picked Icebox and both teams mixed up their comps with the new meta. Mazin brought out the Omen instead of the Viper and both teams picked up the Chamber on players who have not played him on this map before. Quick opened up the first two rounds on Furia’s attack with Headhunter one taps onto his counterpart Chamber in murizzz, however, Vivo Keyd still won the first four rounds. Icebox has been the most attacker sided map in Brazil so far with a 60% attacking round winrate, and Furia clawed their way back into the half allowing Vivo Keyd only two more rounds at the end of the half for a 6-6 scoreline. Furia won their own defensive pistol and proceeded to be very effective on the retake as they took a 12-9 lead, but Vivo Keyd clawed back the final three rounds to force overtime. heat picked up the pace as Vivo Keyd snatched a nail-biting win in the second OT. v1xen was the star of the map with the top marks in kills(30), multikills(8), clutches(1), and ADR(207).
Ascent: FUR(13-11)VK
Furia’s map pick was Ascent, but they got off to a bad start when mwzera got a 4k with a Sheriff from Logs which also included a collateral and a wallbang. VK continued to roll until a Khalil 1v2 clutch stemmed the bleeding in the 5th round. Unlike Icebox, Furia were unable to stabilize their attack, and VK closed the half up 9-3. Furia started out their defensive half well, but mwzera found another 4k on the 4th round eco to give VK double digits. VK proved to be even less effective on their attack than Furia and failed to win any gun rounds until Furia had taken the lead 11-10. Furia capped off their dominant defense with a 13-11 map win to even the series. Ascent was a battle between mwzera and Quick as both put up at least 27 kills and 200 ADR. Quick was 10-3 in duels against heat as the VK superstar continued to play a solid but unspectacular series.
Breeze: VK(13-9)FUR
We saw the murizzz Neon on Breeze once more. Furia snuck away with the defensive pistol with a ninja defuse off the back of three quick Sheriff headshots by Quick. VK were again unable to stop the defuse in the second round as Furia got out to an early lead 3-1. Once VK got their hands on proper rifles, they won seven straight rounds for a first half scoreline of 8-4 in which they were only denied the spike plant in the final round. VK won the second pistol, but Furia turned the tides with a 1v3 marshall clutch by Khalil. Furia evened the score at 9 apiece, but VK got back in the half to close the map 13-9 with the final round being a v1xen ninja defuse in a 1v2. Both teams consistently got the spike plant at pyramids, but the passive post-plant positions (pardon the alliteration) cost them both several defuses on the A site. Despite murizzz going 8-20 on the Neon, his utility provided value at critical situations, and the rest of VK played very well including heat and Jhow going from 196 and 99 ACS respectively on Ascent to 282 and 230 on Breeze.

Both VK and Furia guaranteed themselves a playoff berth with this result. Furia was denied a chance at the 1st seed and a 1st round bye in the playoffs.

NIP (2-0) Ingaming
With VK beating FUR, the potential playoff scenarios for NIP and ING were simplified. Win and you are in, lose and you are out. ING had close losses to FUR and VK as well as a win over Sharks, but came into this match as clear underdogs. After suffering a close loss to FUR to start the group stage, NIP have been on a tear looking like the best team in the group. If they won this game they got the 1st seed and a critical bye in the playoffs.
Breeze: NIP(13-7)ING
The map veto played out in a strange fashion as each team picked their opponent’s best map. NIP picked Breeze which they have only played once this group stage in a loss to Furia. Ingaming’s attack found early success as they ran out to a 5-1 lead. Once NIP achieved a stable economy, they won duels all over the map to storm back with a 7-5 lead at the half. NIP won the second pistol, and ING were unable to stop the onslaught as NIP rolled to a 13-7 finish.
Icebox: NIP(13-6)ING
Ingaming picked into Icebox which was NIP’s map pick in every single series they played in this group stage. NIP quickly showcased their dominant attack where they have only lost 3, 4, and 1 rounds against FUR, SHK, and VK respectively. They cruised to a 9-3 lead although they did require multiple clutches to preserve the momentum. Ingaming managed to win 3 more rounds on their attack, but were too far behind as NIP closed the map 13-6. Four clutches including 1v3s from xand and cauanzin kept any Ingaming comeback at bay. With all of NIP’s players in good form, they had too much firepower for Ingaming to deal with.

Ingaming are eliminated from the playoffs and will have to face regulation matches to secure their spot in the second stage of VCT BR. NIP secured a 1st round bye and will face the winner of TBK vs FUR in the playoffs.

Coming Up
The playoffs are scheduled to start on March 22.
VK vs GLB and the winner faces LOUD.
TBK vs FUR and the winner faces NIP.
March 16-19 is the second open and closed qualifiers for Stage 2.
Botafogo, Renegados, MIBR, and Los Grandes have already qualified for the “final qualifier”, and four more spots are up for grabs.

Definitely

13-0 is a fluke even when teams are outclassed. Vikings as a team are probably tier 3 in Brazil right now, but they would have to be extremely unlucky to not randomly win some rounds.

Haha, I had to do a double take there. I thought for sure Liberty picked Breeze and I couldn't figure out why you had pointed that out. I wrote Icebox but saw Breeze lol.

Week 5 group A recap is now up. Group B coming up tomorrow with a team analysis sometime next week most likely for whatever team doesn't qualify from group B.

[VCT BR Recap] Week 5 GA: Playoff Seeding Set

Here is the first half of the recap for week 5 of the group stage. For recaps of previous weeks or other BR VCT posts check out My Post Library

TBK (2-0) Liberty
This was the only game that mattered in group A. If TBK won, they would secure the second seed from group A into the playoff, GLB would secure the third seed, and Liberty would be eliminated. If Liberty won, there would be a three way tie for two spots. Liberty played extremely well to start the group stage with a dominant win over VKS and an extremely close loss to LOUD, but a close loss to GLB has their backs against the wall. TBK were the upstarts of group A with wins over GLB and VKS, but they also lost to LOUD 26-4. This was the matchup of tactically competent evenly matched teams with huge stakes that Brazil has not had in a while. Additionally, this was the first game in the group stage that was played on patch 4.04.

Liberty picked Breeze, but TBK brought out a wild composition with Omen and Neon. This also marked the first time Liazzi picked up the Kayo for Liberty. Liberty got out to a poor start losing three out of the first four rounds. They won a big eco round in the 5th to equalize the economy, but TBK came back in the next round with an eco of their own. Liberty finally stabilized and won four rounds in a row to close the half 6-6. TBK got off to another hot start on their attacking half and quickly dismantled Liberty’s defense en route to a 13-9 final scoreline capped off by a kon4n ace on the Neon. Matheuizn led the way for TBK with 23 kills to 13 deaths on the Viper as well as a map leading 6 multikills.

It was a bold play for TBK to pick Bind as it was the site of their 0-13 humiliation at the hands of LOUD, but they immediately set out to right past wrongs with a 7-0 start on their defense. The triple initiator setup from Liberty struggled to hold onto any space on their attack, and TBK’s retakes were fast and decisive. Liberty managed to salvage three rounds for a scoreline of 3-9 at the half, and finally won their first pistol round of the series to start the second half. TBK proved to be much more effective on their attack than Liberty fending off retakes on the next four rounds to finish the map 13-4. This map also saw a rare Bind Reyna pick from tuyz.

This result eliminated Liberty from the playoffs and secured spots for GLB and TBK. TBK will play the third seed from group B in the playoffs. In an interesting turn of events, it was Liberty’s consistent double initiator core of shion and krain who struggled in this series. They will have to fend off qualifying teams from Challengers 2 in order to maintain their spot for Stage 2.

LOUD (2-0) Vikings
This was a meaningless game for both teams as LOUD was already guaranteed the 1st seed and Vikings guaranteed the 5th seed. This was equivalent to a high level public scrim where both teams could prepare in the new meta for their next games.

LOUD picked Ascent first where their only composition change was pancada on the Omen instead of the Astra. Back to back 4ks in the 2nd and 3rd round by Vikings kept them in the match on their defensive half, but LOUD calmed down and won the half 8-4. LOUD didn’t drop another round as they closed the map 13-4. It was a clean team effort for LOUD as every player was above 198 ACS and they won the opening duels 15-2. 29/42 of Vikings kills (70%) came from multikills including 4 4ks, but aside from the hero rounds, they failed to find much value.

Vikings went to Icebox which was the only map they managed to win more than 7 rounds on this tournament. In the first pistol, pollo got more kills than he managed in the entire last map with a 3k although LOUD denied the plant and won the round. LOUD played with Vikings throughout the half. The only two round Vikings won were the 3rd round bonus and a late round where LOUD fed guns trying to aggress into a Killjoy ult. Vikings survived some scares in the second half to reach a 4-10 scoreline, but LOUD quickly ended the match with the second 13-4 of the series.

LOUD are the 1st seed of group A and will face the winner of GLB vs the 2nd seed of group B. Vikings will not have the automatic invite to the group stage and will have to win their way through regulation matches.

Coming Up
Tomorrow:
FUR vs VK
ING vs NIP
All four teams can qualify or be eliminated from the playoffs and none of the seedings are set. There is a lot at stake for the final day of this group stage.

I would pick Nozwerr over Krain/shion because he is an IGL and a good duelist flex if he needs to, although both Krain/shion are great pickups. It would be hard to get those players though. There are a lot of options for sentinel such as frz, fuzari, and matheuzin. kon4n has great stats this split, but if I would probably still pick one of krain/shion over him just because they have done more consistenly.

Yeah, I started with teams I watched the most, but now I realized I should be saving the teams that are likely to do good for later as they keep playing. I probably won't get to some of the teams in the group stage, but I will definitely go deeper into teams that qualify for LANs. Before Masters 1, I will do something with the teams that make it.

I am typically of the opinion that banter and BM rarely hurts a team/player unless it extends inside the team. I don't know much about dgzin, but if you are talking about the keznit situation, I don't think that really impacts their ability to perform. Maybe there is more behind the scenes than has been made public in English.

I still think chase has the potential to be their second best player, but he is also the most replaceable role-wise.

Agreed. If he can find his form again, I think GLB could take over from Liberty as the best tier 2 team pushing tier 1.

My team analysis series continues. This week: Gamelanders

TLDR: Gamelanders are not true contenders, but they have some solid pieces that could be upgraded into a competetive roster.

Here is a continuation of my team analysis series. I have previously done these on Sharks, LOUD, and Vivo Keyd. For other posts including the weekly recap series check out my VCT BR Post Library.

As of writing, Gamelanders have played all their games in group A and would really like TBK to beat Liberty to guarantee themselves a playoff berth. Gamelanders came into this split with high expectations. The core of this lineup was the old Stars Horizon which had come on late into the year in 2021, but just didn't have enough circuit points to make the LCQ. The only player they lost was a crucial player in pancada who went to the LOUD superteam. They replaced him with Nyang who was a longstanding Gamelanders player for the old once dominant lineup. Seeded into the far weaker group A, Gamelanders were expected to be at least the second or third best team in this group behind LOUD. However, after a loss to LOUD in week 1 in which they showed some fight, this season has been extremely rough. They lost to the upstart TBK lineup and suffered a map loss to the new Vikings lineup that has been crushed in the other 5 maps they have played this season (without even facing LOUD). A very close series win over Liberty has kept their playoff hopes alive, but this lineup has not looked any better than the old Stars lineup. I actually think that every member of this team could be a solid role player on a contending team, but together they lack the firepower to compete with the tier 1 of Brazil.

Firepower:
dgzin is the only player that could be considered a star player on this team. He is currently sitting only 2 ACS behind heat for the top of the group stages so far. He has finished as his teams top ACS player in every match so far and has had a positive first kill to first death differential in each match. dgzin and aspas were long considered the stars of the tier 2, but unlike aspas, he has yet to get his chance with a stacked roster. Out of the four remaining players, none of fuzari, chase, Nyang, or v1nny are a true second option. Losing pancada was a big blow, and although Nyang has improved his game, he just doesn't replicate the fragging. fuzari has looked pretty solid on the sentinel role while chase has fallen into a slump. All of their players are solid, but having four players that are putting up "4th best player on a top team" numbers means that they all need to be in form in order to compete with the big teams. There is no room for error. I think either v1nny or Nyang need to be swapped for someone who can fill the second star role, but with his massive drop in form, chase could be the player swapped as well.

Defending
Gamelanders are pretty terrible at the defensive sides of games. Other than Vikings who have been stomped by everybody, Gamlanders have by far the worst defender sided round winrate. They have only won 50/110 (45.5%) of rounds on their defense despite playing Split for 3/9 maps where they have a positive win rate on their defense. (Split has a huge 59.6% defensive winrate so far in the Brazil group stages). Despite playing poorly on their attacking side of Split which constitues 1/3 of their maps, they have attacking round winrates comparable to Liberty and TBK. A lot of this stems from their reliance on dgzin to be a hard entry that opens up space for them on the executes. Their team plays well together with decent utility, but on more spread out maps, they are forced to take more isolated duels on the defense. Their teir 1 opponents can locate individual fights and skill diff Gamelanders. Gamelanders have a lot of 3+ multikills so far in the tournament (they have a positive 3+ multikill vs opponent 3+ multikill differential), but when combined with their generally low kill numbers, that is also an indication of how much they are don't trade out properly and win consistent fights.

My player grades
dgzin 8/10: He has put up great individual numbers, and has actually sustained his production against the top teams like LOUD which is an improvement from 2021. Until we see him with a top team, it is hard to tell how well he will have good coordination and teamplay, but he does a lot of individual stuff right now.
fuzari 7/10: He has been quietly good on the sentinel so far and is probably a good 3/4th option on most teams.
Nyang 5/10: His overall numbers are skewed because he beat up a bad Vikings squad, but he has improved from 2021 where he was a clear weak link on the declining Gamelanders. He doesn't replace pancada, but his experience might be useful for this team.
v1nny 4/10: He has not elevated his performance with this new roster, and although he is the IGL, I don't think Gamelanders are a particularly advanced tactical team. They are solid on attack, but I rarely see any inventive plays to take space on the defense.
chase 3/10: His numbers have fallen off hard this tournament. He was supposed to be the second star but has by far the worst numbers on his team. A more aggresive role might suit him better as he has been dissapointing on the supportive initiators.

Overall, I think Gamelanders need an upgrade in order to truly compete against the tier 1 teams in Brazil, but they have a lot of solid players that keep them relevant.

Dang, I am no longer the only copycat of Eutalyx. I have started these for the BR group stages. Weeks 3 and 4 included in this post library

Week 3 and 4 recaps are now up. My new projected schedule is: Week 5 recaps on the weekend and one team analysis post midweek. I have begun some stats posts and tierlists, but I will hold off on most of them for after the playoffs. I might put out a post about how lopsided the attack vs defense sides have been after the group stage is concluded.

[VCT BR] Group A Week 3 Recap: Challengers prevail.

I wrote this as an application for the VLR writers wanted section, but I figured I might as well upload it here even if it is late. For more updated results see Week 4 Group B and Week 4 Group A. I split this in half because the whole week was too long, so this is group B.

Check out the Post Library for more assorted write ups.

TLDR: Week three of Stage 1: Brazil Challengers finished with Sharks becoming the first team eliminated from the playoffs after suffering a loss to Ingaming, and Keyd Stars falling to the rising Brazilian NIP team in a spectacular series that could fill multiple highlight reels.

Ingaming (2-0) Sharks
Both teams entered this week winless and needing this win in order to have a legitimate shot at the playoffs. Sharks were the favorites after taking a map from KS, however, Ingaming had a very close series against the as of yet undefeated Furia. Ingaming showed up to the server to take the win, and Sharks became the first team eliminated from the playoffs entirely.
Sharks picked Haven and won the pistols and second rounds on both halfs. In fact the won all four pistols and second rounds in this series which is in stark contrast to the last two weeks where they lost 7/10 pistols and lost the second round every time they lost the pistol. Ingaming strung together four straight rounds beginning in round 3 and closed the first half with a 7-5 advantage. Ingaming once again won four straight starting with the third round of the second half and traded enough rounds after that to win the map 13-10.
Ingaming picked Breeze and won seven straight after Sharks won the pistol and second round. Sharks never found much of an opening on their attack and were forced to make a comeback from 4-8 on their defense. They won 5/7 rounds to come within one round of Ingaming, but Ingaming closed the map 13-9 in convincing fashion.
Ingaming came into this group as underdogs, but after two straight weeks of good showings, they sit at 1-1 and in a good position to control their own destiny for playoffs. They have two games left against Keyd Stars and NIP, but a single win guarantees them at least three way tiebreaker status for a playoff spot. Sharks came into this season with high expectations after importing two Portuguese players, but will now have to start planning for their next tournaments.

Ninjas in Pyjamas (2-1) Keyd Stars
Keyd Stars have been considered one of the favorites coming off their controversial performance at Champions 2021, however the new NIP lineup has shown the potential to shine. A battle between the EU org and the homegrown favorites went the way of NIP this time as they took down Keyd Stars in the match of the week.
NIP picked Icebox to start the series, but Keyd Stars reached an 8-2 lead early on their attack. NIP managed two rounds to keep the scoreline at 8-4 at the half then put on a show on their own attack. Keyd Stars only managed a single round against the third round bonus as NIP took the map 13-9. Bezn1 showcased his skillset with a 1v3 clutch to sinch the final round. Heat was reportedly still suffering the aftereffects of covid, and was not dominant on Jett.
Bind saw the first ever competitive map where heat played anything other than Jett. The first glimpse of his Chamber looked impressive with a monstrous 314 ACS. NIP took both pistols, but struggled on the buy rounds managing only 4 rounds on each half leading to a comfortable 13-8 for Keyd Stars. This map also saw the return of mwzera to Raze, but the bigger duelist swap was xand playing Skye for NIP instead of Jett where he was only 1-7 in opening duels.
Map three was a Split game for the ages. Keyd Stars picked a unique composition with Chamber, Jett, and Raze which left relatively little utility to take map control other than smokes and duelist aggression. This immediately became apparent as they ended the half at a 2-10 deficit. The second half was much less dominant, however, Keyd Stars strung together two series of 4 straight rounds winning with hero plays in close situations. NIP managed to stem the bleeding and closed the map 13-10 after a nail biting comeback attempt.
Jonn bounced back after some rough games with NIP initially. Despite xand struggling individually with a 5-16 first blood to first kill statline, NIP overcame their toughest challenge yet to put themselves in a position where they are likely to make the playoffs. Bezn1 also had 6 clutches during the series which puts him at 11 over the group stage so far. The only player with more than half of that is his teammate bnj. Keyd Stars now have games against Ingaming and Furia. Losing to Ingaming would almost eliminate Keyd Stars from the playoffs entirely barring a string of other games forcing a tiebreaker.

[VCT BR] Group A Week 3 Recap: Favorites prevail.

I wrote this as an application for the VLR writers wanted section, but I figured I might as well upload it here even if it is late. For more updated results see Week 4 Group B and Week 4 Group A. I split this in half because the whole week was too long, so this is group A.

Check out the Post Library for more assorted write ups.

TLDR: Week three of Stage 1: Brazil Challengers opened with Gamelanders Blue keeping their playoff hopes alive against Vikings, and LOUD putting on a show against the underdogs of TBK.

Gamelanders Blue (2-1) Vikings:
After suffering a loss to TBK Esports, Gamelanders came into this match with mounting pressure to turn their season around in order to make the playoffs. This match secured Gamelanders a much needed tally in the wins column, but the underdog Vikings lineup put up their best showing yet. For people who haven’t kept track of the roster moves in Brazil, this Vikings lineup is a new roster with no players from the 2021 Vikings roster that attended VCT 2021 Masters 2 and Champions.
The first map was Vikings’ pick of Haven which started well for them as they got off to a 3-0 round lead. Gamelanders quickly struck back winning eight of the next nine rounds to close the half. Despite winning the second pistol round as well, Vikings lost the map 13-7 having managed to win only two full buy rounds the entire map. A standout performance came from the long time Gamelanders player Nyang who notched 25 kills against 8 deaths while leading the server with 8 multikills including two huge quadra kills.
Gamelanders looked comfortable on their attack side of Icebox finishing with an 8-4 scoreline, however, Vikings ran the table on their own attack side to finish the map 13-8. Swag crested the server for Vikings with 204 ADR on the supportive Sage. After a very rough debut against Liberty where he only managed 12 kills across the two map series, he shook off the rust to put up 50 kill across this three map series.
The deciding map was Ascent where Gamelanders once again got off to a hot start. They won six consecutive rounds before rounding out the half with another 8-4 lead. This time it was their turn to run the tables on the second half finishing the map 13-4. Gamelanders’ Sova player v1nny managed to record a 100% KAST which means he got a kill, got an assist, survived the round, or was immediately traded by his team every single round.
Vikings looked much better in this series than in their debut against Liberty, but their playoff hopes are now decided by other games in group A even if they win out. Gamelanders now have one game remaining against TBK which is likely to decide the 3rd and final playoff spot from Group A.

LOUD (2-0) TBK Esports
This matchup had a sharp rise in attention due to TBK taking down Gamelanders and LOUD looking vulnerable against Liberty in week 2. The outcome of this series was much less interesting as LOUD steamrolled their way into a guaranteed 1st round bye in the playoffs.
LOUD picked Ascent, and on the first pistol round, it looked like TBK were going to take the fight to LOUD until Sacy pulled off a 1v3 ace clutch with a ghost. LOUD took the momentum and ran to a 7-0 before closing their defensive half with a 10-2 advantage. TBK took the second pistol, but LOUD quickly closed the map 13-4.
The second map was over before it began. TBK picked into Bind which has long been a comfort pick for the Saadhak led Vikings and LOUD lineups. Every member of LOUD had a positive kills to deaths +/- in a 13-0 landslide. The youngster Less led the way with 308 ACS while playing viper.
With this win, LOUD are 3-0 and only have 0-2 Vikings left to play. They have head to head tiebreakers over the other three teams in Group A which guarantees them the 1st seed in this group and a critical bye in the playoffs. TBK showed a lot of promise against Gamelanders but looked outclassed here. They have games remaining against Liberty and Vikings, and one win guarantees them at least three-way tiebreaker status for a playoff spot.

Week four has already happened, so I will skip the "Coming up" section for now. See the week 4 articles linked at the top of the page for details.

These are great reads. I have been trying to use these write ups as a template for my Brazil recaps. (Group B Week 4 Group A Week 4. I am assuming the inserted clips and large text are employee-only options (understandable).

Bump

I am not sure about the 2nd/3rd seed from group A. GLB and TBK have had games where they weren't competitive. I think those teams and Liberty can compete against the group B teams, but it would be difficult to go on a winning streak in playoffs.

Agreed, so many people just love to antagonize people.

I'm assuming this is just bait, but Rik is probably one of the best coaches in BR. Liberty are one of the most balanced and tactically advanced teams despite lacking firepower. They are still good even after swapping IGLs.

Whoops, I had a couple typos and an unfinished paragraph. Good catches.

VCT Brazil Stage 1 Week 4 Group A:

Here is the second half of the Week 4 recap. Here is the Group B recap from yesterday as well.

Gamelanders (2-0) Liberty
A win by Liberty in this match would almost certainly guarantee them playoffs as they would win almost any tiebreaker scenario. Gamelanders came into this match with their backs against the wall after losing to TBK and surviving an upstart Vikings squad. With Gamelanders and Liberty trending in opposite directions throughout this group stage, a change in form or tactics was required to cause an upset.
The defensive bastion of Split was chosen as the first map by Gamelanders, and Liberty showed the defensive part with a dominant defensive first half in which they never once were forced onto an eco-round. A couple close rounds by Gamelanders including a Fuzari 1v1 clutch against krain to end the half kept GLB in the game heading into their own defensive half down 4-8. Despite Gamelanders looking dominant with guns on their defense, Liberty won some crucial low buy rounds in the 1st , 2nd, 3rd and 6th rounds of the second half to inch their way to map point and prevent Gamelanders from running away with the momentum. Nevertheless, Liberty continued to be ineffective on their full buy rounds on the attack, and Gamelanders forced overtime off the backs of a 1v2 clutch by dgzin at the end of regulation. Gamelanders continued to be slightly more effective on full buy attacking rounds, winning an attack and the map in the second overtime. This was the first time krain and dgzin played Chamber, and both were very effective on the defense. It was the supportive players for Gamelanders combining for 6 multikills of at least 3 kills that solidified their hold on Split.
Icebox was Liberty’s pick, but over the course of VCT Brazil stage 1, Icebox has been almost as attacker sided as Split has been defender sided. Gamelanders started out on the attack and looked unstoppable, dying only 11 times in the first 8 rounds. Liberty found an eco win off the backs of a 3k Sheriff play by Glym, and they managed to salvage a 3-9 scoreline at the half, but Gamelanders won the pistol and second round of their defensive half to reach 11 rounds. A 3k Sheriff round by Liazzi turned the momentum, and Liberty rattled off 4 straight rounds including a 1v2 ace clutch by Liazzi. After Gamelanders reached map point, Liberty ran off another 4 straight rounds to come within one round at 11-12. The unconventional spike plant on B site which cost Liberty their attacking pistol once again cost them as Gamelanders were able to place an easy Sage wall to defuse and secure the 13-11 map and match victory. Dgzin dropped 30 kills, 357 ACS, and as many 3ks (4) as all of Liberty had in the map.
After obliterating Vikings and giving LOUD their only real challenge in the group stage, Liberty looked to secure playoff contention in this match, but they will now have to beat TBK in week 5 to have a chance. Gamelanders have no more games to play and sit at 2-2.

TBK (2-0) Vikings
Similar to the last game, this matchup had serious playoff implications. Vikings at 0-2 needed this win to stay alive, and TBK at 1-1 would be require other games to go their way if they lost.
TBK picked Split, and unlike last series, they actually had a competent attack. They won the first four rounds and led the half 9-3 winning the most attacking rounds on Split out of any team in VCT Brazil so far. (The only other team to win at least 7 rounds was LOUD against GLB). Vikings managed to claw back on their own attack with four straight wins of their own, but once TBK had guns, they closed the map 13-7. Kon4n and tuyz led the way with 22 kills apiece for TBK.
Ascent was Vikings’ map pick, but it went worse than Split. They started on the attack, and only managed to win two rounds with one of those being against the 3rd round bonus. The second half didn’t go much better as Vikings once again only won against the 3rd round bonus en route to a 13-3 loss.Vikings looked completely out of the match, and they only compiled 7 multikills (2+ kills) against TBK’s 21. Tuyz dominated with 351 ACS and and ace as TBK coasted to the win.
TBK are now at 2-1 and only need a win over Liberty next week to secure a playoff spot. If they lose that game, there will be a three way tie in which they are in serious jeopardy of losing a three way tiebreaker. Vikings are now eliminated from the playoffs and have one final game against LOUD which has zero consequence.

Coming Up
Next week, TBK play LIB and VKS play LOUD
LOUD are guaranteed the 1st seed and VKS are eliminated
If TBK beat LIB, LOUD will be 1st seed, TBK 2nd seed, and GLB 3rd seed.
If LIB beat TBK, LOUD will be 1st seed, and there will be a 3 way tiebreaker.
The round differential sits at: GLB -3, TBK +1, LIB +3.

Should be just a few minutes

Thanks for all the support

1

Thanks!

I did actually. Probably wont happen, but writing these is fun anyways.

I will get group A out today hopefully.

Hopefully this helps with other people like me who like to keep track of the BR scene but don't speak Portuguese.

Yeah, as far as I was aware, Vivo is their sponsor similar to "Young" Sharks from last year. I still don't know if their official team name changed or if they just call themselves VK to appease their sponsors. They are still listed as Keyd Stars in many places.

Weekly recap series now started, and week 4 group B is the first up.

:D

[VCT BR Week 4 Group B Recap] Challengers Rise to the Occasion.

TLDR: There were some great games in group B today with KS squeaking by against ING and Sharks knocking down Furia.

I have started this series after writing a news post for Week 3 for the VLR writers wanted application. Even if I don't get the job, I will try to keep this series going. I will still try to put out a weekly opinion piece as well. I have also begun some stats posts, but I will probably save those for after the group stage is completed.
Here is my BR Post Library if you wan't to learn about my takes on the BR scene

Keyd Stars (2-1) Ingaming
Keyd Stars came into this match after suffering a loss to NIP that broke their streak of wins in Brazil. A loss to Ingaming would have effectively eliminated them from playoff contention barring an extremely unlikely string of games causing a three way tiebreaker. Ingaming came into the match with some unexpected hope after beating Sharks and making them the first team eliminated from playoff contention. Ingaming put up a great fight, but were unable to close the match in the end.
Keyd Stars picked Icebox despite losing it to NIP last week. They once again failed to perform on their defensive half, losing 7 rounds in a row en route to a 4-8 disadvantage at the half. They brought the game back to 7-8, but Ingaming proved to be more effective on the retakes closing the map 13-9. BRNWOWZK1 and heat lit up the scoreboard with 42 kills between them, but the combined 5 clutches from RglMeister and flainzz ended up being the difference. Keyd Stars won 3/3 eco rounds but just 2/9 of their full buy rounds in the map.
Ingaming picked Breeze where they beat Sharks last week, but for the second time this series, the home team lost the first half in dramatic fashion. Ingaming lost the pistol, and were consistently unable to hold onto the A site as Keyd Stars ran away with a 9-3 lead. Keyd Stars once again struggled with their defense as Ingaming brought the game all they way back to 11-11 with only two rounds separating them from the series win. However, Keyd Stars won the last two rounds fairly cleanly to force a map three. Murizzz’s Neon was the talk of the town after the picks, but he managed only 1 first kill to 5 first deaths while mwzera had consistent production for KS including a 1v2 clutch in a postplant on A where a shockdart sniped RglMeister in his Viper’s Pit.
Map 3 was Ascent which Keyd Stars have only played once since last August. It was a bad omen that they started on the defense where they have played poorly all series. They won the first two rounds, but once again had no answers for Ingaming’s attack surrendering 8 rounds in a row before salvaging a 4-8 half. Keyd Stars’ attack was much more comfortable for them, and they only lost one round before closing the map and series 13-9. Two critical clutches by mwzera and v1xen from A hell stifled every chance Ingaming had to stem the bleeding.
Heat was uncharacteristically quiet over the last two maps, but he still managed to post a 16-5 first kill to first death statline. Mwzera looked the most comfortable in a more passive Sova role than he has before, and notched 4 clutches over the series. BRNWOWZK1 was the star of the show for Ingaming with 249 ACS, but NANZIN was noticeably absent from this series.

Sharks (2-0) Furia
Although Sharks were already eliminated from the playoffs, and Furia were mostly playing for seeding, this game still turned out to be a great battle.
Breeze was the first map, and Sharks decided to experiment with their composition to prepare for the next stage of VCT. Frz picked up the Chamber for the first time, despite putting up team leading stats on Cypher previously. Furia lost the first three rounds, but won a critical eco in the fourth to regain momentum. Unfortunately, the momentum only lasted a few rounds as KILLDREAM hit 3 “one-deags” with the Sheriff and 7 hp to clutch the 8th round. The back and forth battle continued until Furia led at the half 7-5. The final round was secured by a Nozwerr post-mortem shock dart in a 1v3 to kill the player defusing at the last second. Furia won the second pistol and started to pull away, but back to back to back 4k, 3k, and 3k, rounds by KILLDREAM kept Sharks in it. Sharks then pulled away to the tune of 5 rounds in a row to win the map 13-10. KILLDREAM’s Viper led the way with 365 ACS and more than double the ADR of anyone else in the game. Nozwerr had three clutches, but was unable to overcome the 7-1 advantage Sharks had in multikills of at least 3 kills.
Icebox one again showcased Sharks mixing their comps up as prozin came off the Kayo to cover the Sage which allowed Frz to play the Killjoy. Sharks won the first two rounds, but Furia quickly ran back seven in a row forcing Gaabxx to save the awp in multiple consecutive rounds. Sharks salvaged a 4-8 scoreline at the half, but lost their attacking pistol. However, Icebox has been by far the most attacker sided map in Brazil so far in these group stages with 129 rounds won by the attack against only 73 won by the defense through four weeks. This trend continued as Sharks converted 9 straight to close the map 13-9.
Sharks did not need this win as they are already eliminated, but this provides a clearer picture that they were unlucky with this group of death. They still have issues, but are still competitive in this ultra-competetive group. With this loss, Furia have dropped into a tie with NIP and KS at 2-1 and will have to face KS for a spot in the playoffs. Even if they lose, an NIP win over ING secures them the 3rd seed, and an ING win over NIP forces a three way tie for two spots.

Coming Up
TBK vs Vikings and Liberty vs Gamelanders Blue tomorrow in group A.

There are two games left in group B. KS vs FUR, and ING vs NIP.
Here is a breakdown of the potential results in week 5.
FUR > KS, ING > NIP
Furia get 1st seed, and KS,NIP,ING have a 3 way tie for two spots.
FUR > KS, NIP > ING
Furia get 1st seed, NIP get second seed, KS get 3rd seed.
KS > FUR, ING > NIP
KS get 1st seed, NIP, ING, FUR have a 3 way tie for two spots.
KS > FUR, NIP > ING
NIP get 1st seed, KS get 2nd seed, FUR get 3rd seed.

Rumors suggest that 3 way tiebreakers are decided by round differential in other regions. At the moment, NIP have +12, KS have +7, FUR have +6, and ING have -4.

You copied and pasted the LATAM VTT writing I see.
edit: ah it is fixed

Fantasy Team
MVP: f0rsaken
Duelist: DEATHMAKER
Initiator: LAMMYSNAX
Sentinel: Lightningfast
Controller: fl1pzjder

Placements
1st: Paper Rex
2nd: BOOM
3rd: Xerxia
4th: NAOS
5th-6th: Full Sense, Velocity
7th-8th: South Built, Cerberus

Oof that TLDR dunks on Sharks. They have looked worse and worse each week. I think they have some good pieces, but they got a rough draw with this group and have lost all momentum.

LOUD is already guaranteed a first round bye in the playoffs as well. Win 3 series from there and they are in Iceland.

If you hold an ability while you ult, you can plant while invulnerable.

I was playing a comp game with a lower level account and I was able to play Yoru despite the fact that he is currently disabled. I think it is because my account has not unlocked Yoru yet. The plant bug still worked
edit: the second game he is now disabled. I don't know how it worked.

This thread is not meant to spark political debate. There are potential Valorant consequences of the recent world events.

Blast has recently announced that Russian organizations will not be a part of their CSGO events. It is debatable whether their decision was based on logistics or politics, but the consequence remains the same. The primary team that this effects in Valorant is Gambit (NAVI is Ukranian). Obviously the players of Gambit are not to blame for this situation, and multiple have even spoken out for peace.

The organization of Gambit, however, poses a different issue. Gambit are reportedly owned by a massive state owned Russian conglomerate company. Since many nations and companies are imposing sanctions or severing ties with Russian based companies, especially companies so integral to the Russian state and economy, Gambit could be removed from Valorant events. I think it is unlikely that Gambit are removed from the group stage of EMEA Stage 1, but large scale changes to CIS participation are looming. Riot themselves are no stranger to being part of a massive eastern based technology conglomeration. Gambit as an org could be removed from future events, but a more pressing issue is just the logistics.

Getting Gambit players to international events might be difficult. If travel from Russia in particular is restricted, Gambit may not be able to attend the international Masters events. I anticipate very little being done about this situation unless Gambit qualify for Masters 1.
Travel could also affect any Russian players on other teams who have not left Russia. I do not know where people are located, but there are russian players on FNC, GUILD, NAVI, and FPX.
Please be sensitive and understanding for everyone involved.

I think the BR teams this year are significantly better than last year. Vikings were by far the most successful BR team of 2021 and they suffered from merely good but not great firepower even by minor region standards as well as role/playstyle issues. The other teams were either completely outclassed in firepower or lacking the fundamentals to succeed (or both). I think every team except LOUD is an iteration away from true contention. I see LOUD, KS, Furia, NIP, and Liberty as being able to handle themselves in the international events, but it would take an upset run even by LOUD to win the titles. LOUD is on DRX levels in my opinion, and a couple of the others have the firepower potential to make playoffs of events if the stars align.

Thank you. I just got into these analysis pieces as a casual hobby, but I have really enjoyed them. Now I am looking to level up my analysis to incorporate more formal analysis with clips/stats. I don't plan on expanding my content beyond the written form, as I have neither the time nor the personality for those formats, but thank you for the support.

Yep, they have impressed so far. When I made those posts, I thought ableJ was going to be brought in as a Jett and Quick was going to continue to be a support which he struggled as. They haven't looked dominant against a good NIP or an average ING squad so far, but they could challenge the best teams. They really need that win against KS to guarantee the 1st round bye and avoid the potential of facing LOUD early in playoffs.

Make sure to mention that time he won a world championship as a stand-in.

I started following BR because I recognized frz and saadhak from paladins. (I still watch Bonkar as well.) I enjoy their games, and the EU/NA forums are a bit too saturated for me to find a niche. I will still do some predictions/analysis of the international LANs, but I didn't feel like it was worth my time to cover regions that have a lot of other coverage.

Disclaimer: These posts were my own independent amateur work

Update: I have joined the VLR writing staff, so some of the recaps/news/feature pieces will be more professional. Unfortunately, I don't really have the time/energy to produce a bunch of minor pieces. Updates to this library will probably be less frequent.

I have been making a number of opinion pieces on VCT BR lately, so I figured I would organize them into a catalog. I do not speak Portuguese, and I just do this for fun, so these posts are just casual analysis of the games I watch and the stats as well as my weekly recap series which started late.

Weekly Recap Series: I started late, but will try to finish this group stage at least.
Week 3 Group A Week 3 was not originally written for these forums and was posted after week 4.
Week 3 Group B
Week 4 Group B
Week 4 Group A
Week 5 Group A
Week 5 Group B

Team Analysis Series: I will try to add at least one of these each week. They are mostly criticisms, but I think some of these teams can become true contenders.
Sharks not Cohesive
LOUD lack Nuance
Keyd Stars have not Improved
Gamelanders: Not quite there

General Thoughts: General VCT BR posts. Mostly tournament format critiques so far.
The Misuse of Single-Elim about the closed quals
Bracket Faliure: VCT BR Groups

Tierlists and more: I intend to make new team/player tierlists after stage 1.
Player Tierlist Pre-Group-Stage
My team tierlist on a different thread
My VTT fantasy team

I am still not sure what to think of Liberty. They have looked really good so far. If they clean up business against the lower tier teams in group A they will probably make tier 1 in my eyes.

I agree with the heat chamber. Their bind comp looks good and should probably be extended to other maps. Their split comp needs work though. I typically don't like Jett+Chamber comps because they have very little versatile utility, and are both best on the awp which can be a bit constricting. When you add a second duelist like raze, the team has such little utility. On split, KS had no flashes, no information agents, no healing, and a lot of overlap. I would like to see their bind comp be copied to split.