{cflag:BR} Fernando ”fer” Alvarenga - 1.15 rating in 2022

{cflag:BR} Marcelo ”chelo” Cespedes - 1.15 rating in 2022

{cflag:BR} Gabriel ”FalleN” Toledo  - 1.09 rating in 2022

{cflag:BR} Ricardo ”boltz” Prass - 1.08 rating in 2022

{cflag:BR} Vinicius ”VINI” Figueiredo - 0.97 rating in 2022

The hometown favourites. It’s no understatement to say that Imperial will be by far the most popular team at the upcoming Major tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Brazilian “Last Dance” squad, led by the legendary AWPer Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, have had massive backing and support from the Brazilian fans ever since the creation of the team in early 2022.

The huge fan support is an aspect which could help and elevate FalleN and company massively at the Major, especially now when all matches are set to be played in front of a crowd. Something that plays in when you are to consider the favourites of each match – the same can be said about their countrymen from FURIA, although they don’t hold the same popularity as Imperial.

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The signing of the 24-year-old Brazilian Marcelo ”chelo” Cespedes looks to be a very good pickup for the veteran team. By replacing Lincoln “fnx” Lau with chelo, Imperial has received a very potent rifler who offers a lot more firepower to the server than the ageing fnx.

His arrival + the support and help from the Brazilian crowd could make Imperial a real underdog at IEM Rio Major – maybe not to take the overall title in the end – but as a team that could upset a lot of profiled teams.

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FalleN

chelo

VINI

boltz

Imperial

After seeing Spirit qualify for the playoffs, Na'Vi and NIP now had the chance to do the same. After going 2-0 on Day 1 the two teams were hoping for a clean run through the Swiss Stage.

Na'Vi had a fantastic start to their opponents' map pick of Inferno. The CIS squad went in front 9-1 despite heavy resistance from "es3tag". The other Ninjas finally stepped up and the Scandinavians managed to take an acceptable five rounds before the break.

Changing sides did not bring more fortune for the Ninjas as they only managed to stop the Na'Vi offense a single time. Throughout the map, the trio of "s1mple", "b1t", and "Perfecto" was simply too much to handle for NIP.

Na'Vi looked to make a statement against the Ninjas as they capitalized on their momentum from Inferno to take a 6-0 lead on the second map of Mirage. "hampus" and co. somehow recovered from that devastating start and ended the half behind by only one round.

The CIS squad led almost the entirety of the map, and it seemed like a certainty that they were going to win it, but the perseverance of the Ninjas and the calls of "hampus" led to a surprising 16-14 in favor of the Scandinavians.

After their great Mirage, NIP struggled on the T side of Ancient. They conceded the first eight rounds of the map before they themselves put one on the board. "Brollan" and "hampus" were able to find some good openings for the team, but at the end of the day that only translated to two rounds at halftime.

The map was over after five second-half rounds as NIP could not stand up to the CIS giants of Na'Vi.

Na'Vi unsurprisingly qualify for the playoffs while NIP will have to try their luck again tomorrow.

Na'Vi - NIP 2-1 | PGL Major Antwerp Legends Stage

16-6 (Inferno) | {cflag:UA} s1mple - 1.70 Rating / 23-15 K-D / 120.5 ADR

14-16 (Mirage) | {cflag:UA} b1t - 1.49 Rating / 29-20 K-D / 107.3 ADR

16-4 (Ancient) | flag Perfecto - 1.55 Rating / 21-10 K-D / 98.5 ADR

MVP: {cflag:UA} Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy - 1.48 Rating / 71-44 K-D / 102.9 ADR

, the Bad News Eagles and Imperial fought for survival.

The match started on Imperial's pick of Inferno where only a single round separated the teams at halftime. 

Imperial, who had started as the terrorists, looked more convincing on the defensive side as they were able to make good reads with some aggressive maneuvers. "fer" also stepped up his game which helped the Brazilians win on their map pick.

On their map pick of Mirage, the Eagles managed to take their first pistol round of the series but were immediately shut down by a seven-round streak from the Brazilians, that had "boltz" and "fer" written all over it. The Kosovars managed to pull a few rounds back and were only behind by five at halftime.

The Brazilians quickly pushed the lead to 14-7 and things were looking bleak for the Eagles. But like the click of a button, all of a sudden the Eagles were turned on. Things started working out for them, most of all on an individual level. Especially "rigoN" came alive and boosted his team's chances massively. In the end, the Eagles fell just short of the mark after pushing the map to its 30th round.

The historic performance of bNE, therefore, comes to a close as they go 0-3 in the Legends Stage. On the other side Imperial stave off elimination and hope to make the reverse sweep.

Bad News Eagles - Imperial 0-2 | PGL Major Antwerp Legends Stage

13-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:BR} fer - 1.55 Rating / 26-16 K-D / 102.3 ADR

14-16 (Mirage) | {cflag:BR} fer - 1.40 Rating / 24-17 K-D / 77.7 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BR} Fernando "fer" Alvarenga - 1.47 Rating / 50-33 K-D / 89.8 ADR

es3tag

s1mple

rigoN

Perfecto

Natus Vincere

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Bad News Eagles

With an average age of 28.4, the Brazilians of Imperial is the oldest roster at the major. But age is just a number, right?

Lincoln "fnx" Lau, 32, started his career all the way back in Counter-Strike 1.6 where he was played for household organizations such as mibr, compLexity, and paiN. In 2016 the rifler was hailed as the 19th best player in the world. The veteran has not been competing at the top level for a long time but has now come back to show that he still has what it takes.

Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo aka. The Godfather of Brazilian Counter-Strike, 30, is one of the most tenured IGLs in all of CS:GO. At the height of his career, he led the best players in the game, including his current teammates "fnx" and "fer" to many S-tier events wins, including two majors. His individual prowess with the AWP has also yielded him two top 6 spots on HLTV's top 20.

Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, 30, is known for his ability to always catch his opponents off-guard with his excellent aggressive maneuvers. With an opening kill rating of 1.12 versus top30 teams, he is ranked as the 11th best player of all time in opening duels. The impact he has on a team has earned him two spots on the HLTV top20, one as #3.

Ricardo "boltz" Prass, 25, the 18th best player of 2017 has been a part of the professional Brazilian CS:GO scene since 2014. He has been a valuable component of a large number of the biggest Brazilian rosters throughout the last eight years. He placed second at the PGL Major Kraków 2017 as a part of Immortals and won ESL Pro League Season 6 as a part of SK Gaming.

The last player on the Imperial squad is Vinicius "VINI" Figueiredo. The 22-year-old is most known for his supportive work in FURIA, where he played for more than four years and was an integral part of the meteoric rise they had in 2018/2019. "VINI" is by far the youngest player on the team, but what he lacks in wisdom he makes up for in skill.

Between them, these five men, who have not been playing together for much more than three months, have six MVPs, countless trophies, and more than 60 years of professional Counter-Strike experience between them.

The team is currently sitting at a 72.7% win rate, and are up 9-5 in maps versus other teams attending the major. The Brazilians have yet to test the waters on the other side of the Atlantic though, as they have only been playing against North- and South American teams since they came together as a squad and were picked up by Imperial.

Imperial will be without their coach Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu, who just a few days ago was banned from the event due to use of the free-roam spectator bug in 2018.

It has been a long time since many of these players have been at the absolute top, but now they once again have to show what they are made of!

Ricardo "boltz" Prass is the man behind today's #POTD.

A dream for many Brazilian Counter-Strike fans became a reality last night, when Imperial announced, that they had signed Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and four other Brazilian stars to their new team.

The news broke out after a long time of rumors about the project. Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo is joined by Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo, Ricardo "⁠boltz⁠" Prass, Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga, and Lincoln "⁠fnx⁠" Lau on the project with the two latter being part of the biggest success in Brazilian CS:GO history with two Major victories back in 2016 together with FalleN.

In December 2021, we talked with Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo about the project, which did not seem like a possibility at the time.

The reason why "The Professor" talked the project down is unknown, but according to a Brazilian journalist, Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo had received an offer from a "top 3" team in the world.

As a coach on the project, the experienced Luis "

" Tadeu has been brought in to support the new roster.

MIBR has officially announced the departure of the 24-year-old Brazilian today via their Twitter account. The news has been known for a while that Ricardo "boltz" Prass will join the Last Dance roster. The Brazilian is set to join up with ex-teammates FalleN and fer. The team, which plans to compete in the North American scene, was most recently rumored to be signing with Imperia.

Boltz and MIBR performed well in South American events but struggled to make an impact in Europe. The most memorable highlights include a first-place finish at CSCS Elite League Season 1, whist the lowlight was the team failed to make it to the PGL Major Stockholm.

MIBR

The superstar core behind SK Gaming and Luminosity’s Major victories in 2016 and 2017 could soon be reunited under a completely new banner.

A report by [link:{"url":"https://ge.globo.com/esports/csgo/noticia/csgo-imperial-faz-proposta-pelo-last-dance.ghtml?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter","isNewTab":true,"text":"Globo Esporte"}] and Roque Marques, state that the profiled trio of Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, and Lincoln " fnx " Lau has been presented an offer from Imperial, together with their countrymen Ricardo "boltz" Prass and Vinicius "VINI" Figueiredo. 

The Brazilian media outlet state that the roster already has met with Imperial’s CEO, Felippe "felippe1" Martins, where negotiations for a potential signing happened. One of the things which could delay or cause problems is the fact that FalleN, VINI, and boltz all are contracted with Liquid, FURIA, and MIBR respectively - That means Imperial is required to negotiate with the aforementioned teams for a buyout. 

{cflag:BR} Luis " peacemaker " Tadeu (Coach)

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The rise of a new Brazilian super team could soon be a reality. At least if you believe all the rumours and reports, which have been circulating in the Counter-Strike community in recent weeks and months. 

One of the most exciting rumours is the story about the creation of a “Last Dance” roster built around the two-timer Major winner trio Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo, Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, Lincoln "fnx" Lau and joined by Ricardo " boltz " Prass.

A recent [link:{"url":"https://draft5.gg/noticia/vini-e-cotado-para-completar-last-dance","isNewTab":true,"text":"report "}]from the Brazilian media DRAFT5 can now inform that FURIA’s Vinicius " VINI " Figueiredo is being considered as the last piece in the puzzle on the already profiled roster. The report state that there have been conversations between the two parties, and that the deal depends on an agreement with FURIA.

The rumours of VINI joining the Brazilian quartet emerge two weeks after FURIA announced his departure from the Brazilian top team. Straight after, VINI wrote a [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/FURIA_VINI/status/1463936176868450313","isNewTab":true,"text":"Twitlonger"}] about the exit and his situation.

- FURIA, through Guerri (FURIA coach), came to the conclusion that they wouldn't want to count on me for the 2022 season. Obviously, I'm saddened by the decision, but life as a professional athlete goes that way. My desire is to continue playing CSGO professionally, so at the moment I am evaluating all the proposals for my future as a player, VINI wrote.

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If the rumours are true, the “Last Dance” roster will look as follows.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"Gamle billeder/sk_esl_Helena-Kristiansson_tifwx0","originalWidth":548,"originalHeight":308,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: ESL Helena Kristiansson"}]

FalleN, fer and fnx (the trio on the right) lifting the ESL One Cologne Major trophy in 2016 - Photo credit: ESL and Helena Kristiansson

FURIA

Ricardo "boltz" Prass has been on the top of CS:GO for ages, and the Brazilian have also represented some of the biggest teams in the world. The former SK Gaming and Luminosity rifler is currently playing for the other Brazilian top team in MIBR, where he and the hasn't impressed lately. The 24-year old entry-fragger is currently in his worst period stat-wise, since 2018. However, will boltz conquer a W at betway's tough frag quiz?

Watch boltz and his attempt to guess these top frags in the latest episode of 'Whose frag is that?'

In the video down below, the Brazilian rifler expresses his gratitude towards the help they got from the NaVi fans in their match against Cloud9.

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/navi-is-brazilian/","text":"Read more: NaVi is Brazilian!"}]

The defeat cost Cloud9 their playoff spot, and NaVi is through to the playoffs instead.

Earlier this week, the NaVi star Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov promised to get a tattoo with the text boltz, if they won against Cloud9, and NaVi went on to win the event.

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/mibr-crush-cloud9s-playoff-dream-navi-advance-through/","text":"Read more: MIBR crush Cloud9´s playoff dream, NaVi advance through"}]

Cloud9

It’s a Cinderella story for Natus Vincere! 

Due to MIBR’s 2-0 victory over es3tag and company from Cloud9, NAVI are qualified for the ESL Pro League Season 13 playoffs. Only the first spot in Group C is left to be decided between Gambit and FURIA. 

NAVI started off the game on TeamOne’s map pick of Train, where s1mple and company took them down 16-8 in a controlled manner. The Russian-Ukrainian side finished off the first half 13-2, only allowing the Brazilians to grab two rounds before switching sides. In the second half, TeamOne found their footing on CT-side and took the first four rounds. But as soon as NAVI’s economy started rolling, it didn’t take long before they closed out the map. 

The second map of the series on Nuke was quite different as the two teams followed each other throughout the whole game in a contested affair. NAVI’s flamie stepped up huge and led the charge for his team to close out the map 16-14, in hopes that MIBR or FURIA would win their game so they don’t get eliminated. 

Train: 16-8 | s1mple – 1.35 Rating – 78.8 ADR – 20-10 K/D

Nuke: 16-14 | flamie – 1.34 Rating – 75.1 ADR – 24-15 K/D 

 Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev – 1.21 Rating – 79.6 ADR – 43-30 K/D 

The series of Cloud9 vs. MIBR started on the Brazilians map pick of Vertigo where boltz and company came out on top by closing the map 19-17 in overtime. Despite a good performance from Cloud9’s floppy who finished the map on top of the scoreboard with a rating of 1.36 and 34 frags, the North-American side wasn’t able to keep their focus as they fell short. 

MIBR wrapped up the series on Overpass after a hard-fought battle with boltz winning some key moments that helped the team to close out the map 16-14. The 23-year-old Brazilian finished the match as the highest-rated player with 0.82 KPR and was praised by NAVI and s1mple afterward on Twitter.  

Vertigo: 19-17 | floppy – 1.36 Rating – 89.7 ADR – 34-23 K/D 

Overpass: 16-14 | boltz – 1.32 Rating – 101.6 ADR – 28-20 K/D 

 Ricardo ”boltz” Prass – 1.23 Rating – 91.4 ADR – 54-42 K/D 

TeamOne

The Brazilian team MIBR is through to the last round of the qualifying tournament at IEM Katowice after they defeated Fnatic. Despite being dubbed as underdogs, they managed to win a clear 2-0 victory.

On Dust2 they controlled the map until the end, where the Swedes were trying to force their way back. But with an incredible ace, Bruno "shz" Martinelli got in their way and helped MIBR with the last push to secure the victory.

The new roster from MIBR continued to deliver some great CS:GO on Overpass. Again Bruno "shz" Martinelli dominated the server but were this time joined by teammate Ricardo "boltz" Prass. It was 8-7 at halftime, but from then on it was only one-way traffic. The Brazilians pierced through the Swedish defense in the second half and won the map 16-9.

Fnatic is now eliminated from IEM Katowice. A disappointing result from the new roster that started very well in cs_summit, but could not follow up on it at this tournament. MIBR will have to make another surprise to qualify for the main event. They will face the world's number 4 later tonight when they face BIG.

MVP: Ricardo "boltz" Prass - 1.43 rating / 38-19 K-D / 90.6 ADR

[twitchVideo:esl_csgo/clip/HeartlessCrackyBaboonDeIlluminati-WIp_ypNN6J4eFpfH]

Fnatic

Watch the clip where MIBR's Ricardo "boltz" Prass makes the perfect play against Heroic.

Usually, you can survive the bomb on A-site Inferno by putting yourself in the corner. An option that was denied with clever use of utility from the Brazilian.

[twitchVideo:btscsgo/clip/EntertainingGiftedLyrebirdPartyTime]

The clip gives flashbacks to another smart play from 2017.

b0RUP

There was full action in the match between Heroic and MIBR. The two teams gave each other a hard fight to try and snatch a victory that would guarantee a spot in the playoffs at cs_summit 7.

On Vertigo it was Heroic captain Casper “cadiaN” Møller who lead his team to a 16-13 victory. The Danish AWP’er and in-game leader went +18 in K/D.

On Inferno, the roles switched. The Brazilian riffler Ricardo “boltz” Prass made the difference and secured MIBR a 16-11 win.

Mirage was left as the decider. Here the match took some twists and turns before Heroic in the end took control and won the map 16-10.

With the victory, Heroic is now through to the Playoffs, while MIBR still has the chance to qualify.

cadiaN's 1vs3 clutch on Mirage gave Heroic an important round.

[twitchVideo:btscsgo/clip/CalmCooperativeBaguetteKappaRoss]

Casper "cadiaN" Møller |1.30 rating |80.2 ADR | 63-46 K/D

cadiaN

Heroic

A combined report by fraglider.pt and Cypersport.pl can tell that MIBR is interested in signing BOOM’s roster, consisting Gustavo " yel " Knittel, Marcelo " chelo " Cespedes, Bruno " shz "Martinelli, and Ricardo "boltz "Prass. The report states that sources have confirmed that the Brazilian quartet will be free agents as of February this year. Something which will simplify the potential deal between BOOM and MIBR.

The Brazilian top team MIBR have been the talk of the town this week. Over the span of 3 days, the proud organization have lost its entire roster through a mass escape from players as Vito “kNgV-“ Giueseppe, Epitácio "TACO" de Melo and latest Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo. However, if this report is true, it looks like MIBR once again could hold a potent CS:GO team in the future.

[link:{"url":"https://fraglider.pt/18585-mibr-interessados-na-equipa-dos-boom-report"}]

A fifth player hasn't been confirmed yet, however, the Brazilians have practised and tested several players, to complete the roster. 

MIBR’s roster if the deal goes through:

Read more. "Liquid signs Brazilian superstar FalleN"

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/liquid-sign-brazilian-superstar-fallen/"}]

	30 days	90 days
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boltz

Player stats

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