All eyes are on the 16 teams that start their journey at the PGL Copenhagen Major on Sunday at the Opening Stage of the tournament. The biggest stars on the scene will enter the tournament in the next phase, where FaZe, G2, and the rest of the seeded teams for the Elimination Stage await. But until then, we will take a look at some of the players, that you should keep an eye on in the first stage of the tournament.

Filter: Against the top 50 teams (min. 15 maps) in 2024

1. João "felps" Vasconcellos (Imperial) – 1.19 rating (32 maps)

The 27-year-old Brazilian plays his sixth Major in his career. It’s been a while ago since the former SK rifler was part of any lineup that could win big tournaments, but in 2024 João "felps" Vasconcellos and his teammates have shown promising signs. The experienced Rifler is averaging a 1.25 rating overall, and a 1.19 rating against top 50 teams in the world.

2. Rafael "arrozdoce" Wing (SAW) – 1.19 rating (24 maps)

SAW is one of the most in-form teams that are going to the Copenhagen Major. With 9 wins in a row, the Portuguese fans are expecting their heroes to go far in the first CS2 Major in history. One of the key players for SAW will be Rafael "arrozdoce" Wing. The 21-year-old rifler has been amazing in the last couple of tournaments, where he has averaged between 1.21 and 1.32. Rafael "arrozdoce" Wing is one of the most in-form players at the tournament, and we can’t wait to see, what he brings to the server in Copenhagen.

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3. İsmailсan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş (Eternal Fire) – 1.19 rating (22 maps)

The Turkish Rifler is obviously going to feature on this list. İsmailсan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş is now 28-year-old, but he can still shoot heads. The Rifler was great in Katowice but had issues performing against the likes of FaZe and G2. Against lesser prominent opponents, İsmailсan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş is still lethal, and has a very respectable 1.19 rating in 2024.

4. Özgür "woxic" Eker (Eternal Fire) – 1.18 rating (22 maps)

We have long stopped counting the times that Eternal Fire changed their roster in the past. But now something seems to have clicked for the Turkish side, that are expected to be among the best teams in the opening stage of the tournament. One of the reasons is Özgür "woxic" Eker. The 25-year-old AWP’er has been fairly consistent for Eternal Fire, and sometimes we see glimpses of the player that were ranked in the top 20 of the world in 2019. At the IEM Katowice Play-in, Özgür "woxic" Eker gave one of the best performances of his career with a 1.51 rating. It will be interesting to see, how Eternal Fire plays at the event after nearly a month without competitive matches.

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5. Yuri "yuurih" Boian (FURIA) – 1.18 rating (19 maps)

2318 days. That is the number of days, that Yuri "yuurih" Boian has been rifling for FURIA. The longest-standing member of the team is also the player in best shape before the start of the Copenhagen Major. The duo of Yuri "yuurih" Boian and Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato is always dangerous, and will without a doubt pose a threat to all the teams in the Opening Stage.

6. Michel "ewjerkz" Magalhães (SAW) – 1.17 rating (24 maps)

Another SAW player has found his way to the top of the ratings. Michel "ewjerkz" Magalhães has been very consistent in his performances for SAW with a minimum of 1.11 rating in the five events, that SAW has played in 2024. Michel "ewjerkz" Magalhães is 23-years-old and joined SAW in the summer of 2022. Can he bring glory to Portugal in CS2?

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7. Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad (Apeks) – 1.17 rating (34 maps)

The Norwegian Rifler has played competitive Counter-Strike since 2014! Copenhagen will be the 9th Major in history for Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad, who went all the way to the Semi-Finals with Apeks at the last Major in Paris. At 30 years old, Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad will be one of the keystones for Apeks to replicate the impressive result from Paris.

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8. Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato (FURIA) – 1.16 rating (19 maps)

Often mentioned as the current best player from Brazil, Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato will once again be one of the key players for FURIA, if they want to succeed in Copenhagen. Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato has been named among the best 20 players in the world by HLTV four years in a row. At the last Major in Paris however, Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato and FURIA were a long way from doing damage, so it will be interesting to see, what kind of FURIA we will see this time around.

9. Garidmagnai "bLitz" Byambasuren (TheMongolz) – 1.16 rating (16 maps)

TheMongolz has been the best team out of the Asian/Oceania region in the last couple of years. One of the stars of the Asian scene is 22-year-old Garidmagnai "bLitz" Byambasuren. The rifler plowed through the RMR tournament with a 1.46 rating and has greatly contributed to the fact, that TheMongolz is one of the teams to watch in the first stage of PGL Copenhagen.

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10. Alejandro "mopoz" Fernández (KOI) – 1.15 rating (35 maps)

27-year-old Alejandro "mopoz" Fernández spent a lifetime (in Counter-Strike terms) playing under the banner of Movistar Riders from 2017 until the start of 2024. Now the team is named KOI, but it is still with the roots of Iberian Counter-Strike in mind, that the Spanish/Portuguese roster enters the first CS2 Major in history. As an entry-fragger, Alejandro "mopoz" Fernández has been an excellent spearhead for KOI in 2024, where he has averaged a 1.15 rating against the top 50 teams.

11. Henrique "HEN1" Teles (Imperial) – 1.15 rating (32 maps)

Immortals, Luminosity Gaming, FURIA, O Plano, 00 Nation, MIBR, and Imperial. The list of Brazilian teams that Henrique "HEN1" Teles has played on is long and windy, but recently Imperial has begun to climb up in the world rankings after the team has performed significantly better. Henrique "HEN1" Teles looks determined to prove his worth after a superb performance at the RMR averaging 1.62 on the four maps it took Imperial to qualify. The 28-year-old Brazilian is playing his only second Major in his career, after reaching the Grand Final back in 2017 at PGL Major Krakow with Immortals.

12. Denis "electroNic" Sharipov (Cloud9) – 1.15 rating (30 maps)

The Russian Cloud9 player is the only Major winner on our list. But since the switch from NAVI to Cloud9, the results have been lackluster, to say the least. The introduction of Kirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov as the new in-game leader has proven to be pivotal for the experienced rifler, who has seen a significant spike in his individual ratings. At IEM Katowice and the RMRs, Denis "electroNic" Sharipov once again showed that he is reliable as ever.

The opening round at PGL Copenhagen starts this Sunday.

electronic

HEN1

mopoz

bLitz

KSCERATO

jkaem

ewjerkz

yuurih

woxic

arrozdoce

felps

Before the start of BLAST Premier Fall Showdown North America not many would have pointed towards Fluxo as the favorites to win the entire thing.

Yet, it was exactly what happened with the Brazilian underdogs outclassing strong teams like Complexity, Evil Geniuses, 00Nation and MIBR, who all have a higher ranking than Fluxo.

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After the impressive Grand Final victory Sunday night over MIBR, Fluxo’s João “fepls” Vasconcellos took his time speaking with BLAST’s James Banks stating that there’s more to come for the newly-formed team.

- I’m feeling very good because it’s so hard to create one team and then try to beat the likes of MIBR, 00Nation, paiN and 9z with a little bit of time. So, I’m feeling very good – but I think we can look better for the future because we have good players with great potential on this team.

You can watch the entire interview with the former SK Gaming player here. 

The current Fluxo squad was formed only in August this year with the signing of felps, Lucaozy, lux, v$m, and the in-game leader WOOD7. Yesterday’s win at BLAST Fall Showdown means that the Brazilians are heading to Copenhagen later this year to compete at the top-tier BLAST Fall Final. The $450.000 tournament is set to be played in the massive Royal Arena and will feature teams like FaZe, Liquid, and NAVI.

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Fluxo

MIBR

Yesterday GODSENT announced the benching of their rifler João "⁠felps⁠" Vasconcellos. 

The player is expected to be out for the next two to three months leaving GODSENT one man short before their ESL Pro League starts next week. But on the website for [link:{"url":"https://pro.eslgaming.com/csgo/proleague/teams/","isNewTab":true,"text":"ESL Pro League"}], Henrique "HEN1" Teles has already been named as an extra player on the squad, which indicates that the 26-year-old AWP'er will be used as a stand-in for the tournament next week.

An interesting move for GODSENT who could use a good AWP'er on their team. It is also hard to imagine that Henrique "HEN1" Teles would not be very keen to perform and to show, that he still has what it takes to be a key player on a Tier 1 team. GODSENT has still not confirmed the addition of the Brazilian.

You can see some of his old highlights in the video below.

GODSENT face Movistar Riders on the 23rd of March in their first match in Group C.

GODSENT

The first quarter-final of the day featured the Swedish/Danish mix of Ninjas in Pyjamas and the Brazilian GODSENT. In a thrilling three-mapper, it was NIP to come out ahead, but it was not without heavy resistance from an exciting GODSENT that keeps surprising everyone.

GODSENT were awarded the first pick of the match with which they unsurprisingly chose Nuke, their most played map.

The Brazilians started out well on the T-side, winning the pistol round and safely converting the anti-eco. Now the guns came out for the Ninjas, and the rest of the half they were dominating. With aggression in the yard from “device” and “hampus”, they were able to deny enormous amounts of map control from the Brazilians, while “es3tag” was ready to take off whatever heads came past his crosshair in the lobby. Nothing was yet lost for GODSENT, but they did go to halftime with a deficit of 11-4. 

The second half looked a lot better for the “TACO”-led squad, as they were able to come back to a point where they were only down two rounds at 12-10. Unfortunately for them, this was where the fun stopped as NIP were able to take four in a row and win the map 16-10.

Now only needing to win one more map, NIP were taking their opponents to do battle on Overpass.

With elimination on the line, GODSENT came out flying on the CT-side. After picking up the first seven rounds of the half the Brazilians conceded their first two rounds. GODSENT, needing to take advantage of the notoriously weak T-side of NIP, did everything possible to put themselves in a good position before the break, by securing 12 of the first 15 rounds.

Now on the CT-side, NIP looked completely refreshed. They snagged away the first five rounds, only allowing GODSENT to plant the bomb once in that time. The streak of rounds by the Ninjas was not enough to deter the Brazilians, who went on a small four-round streak themselves, which was enough for them to close out the game at 16-8.

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The decider of the series was to be Ancient, starting with the Ninjas on the CT-side while GODSENT took the role of the terrorists.

The opening of the map was extremely brawly. GODSENT looked like they were in a good position in several rounds early on but ended up taking heavy casualties or even losing the round versus very light buys from the side of NIP. Off the back of these rounds, NIP were able to build a solid economy, enabling better buys which played a huge factor in them going to halftime with a 10-5 lead.

NIP capitalized on their momentum from the first half, taking the first three rounds of the second half. The Brazilians answered back with three of their own but being down by eight rounds it was too little too late. The Swedish/Danish Ninjas took the win 16-8.

This result sees NIP advance into the semi-final where they will face G2, while GODSENT are eliminated in 5th-6th place.

 [twitchClip:esl_csgo/clip/TardyHeadstrongSandstormPlanking-S8Pl8QfR9fnBRSGQ]

NIP – GODSENT (2-1) | IEM Winter 2021 

 {cflag:SE} hampus – 1.58 Rating / 27-16 K-D / 103.3 ADR

 {cflag:BR} felps – 1.56 Rating / 23-15 K-D / 104.1 ADR

{cflag:DK} device – 1.49 Rating / 26-17 K-D / 106.2 ADR

device

hampus

es3tag

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Monday night (CET), the Brazilian heavy-hitters in FURIA and GODSENT faced off in a thrilling Grand Final at the closed qualifier for IEM Winter. The decider match was won by GODSENT in a demanding 2-1 victory, where they impressively managed to come back from a 16-1 loss on the first map. 

During the third map on Overpass, GODSENT's experienced João "felps" Vasconcellos turned into an absolute beast. In round 14, the former MIBR and SK-Gaming player presented an outstanding ace, despite being placed in a 1v4 situation at one point. 

Watch felps and his ace in out latest Pley of the Day.

FURIA

The Brazilians from GODSENT has grabbed their first notable title since they were acquired by the big Swedish organisation at the beginning of this year, as they managed to seal the victory at DreamHack Open September NA.

Epitacio “TACO” de Melo and his troops took home the win after a marathon Grand Final against Extra Salt, which spanned over 7 hours. The Bo5 decider went all the way to the fifth match and also presented two thrilling overtime maps on Vertigo and Dust2.

GODSENT vs Extra Salt 3-2 | DreamHack Open September NA

16-6 (Ancient) | {cflag:BR} felps – 1.91 Rating / 29-12 K-D / 121.1 ADR

8-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:ZA} Sonic – 1.53 Rating / 21-12 K-D / 99.3 ADR

19-17 (Vertigo) | {cflag:US} oSee – 1.84 Rating / 44-20 K-D / 120.0 ADR

14-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:ZA} Sonic – 1.65 Rating / 31-17 K-D / 120.6 ADR

22-20 (Dust2) | {cflag:BR} dumau – 1.80 Rating / 46-20 K-D / 119.2 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BR} Eduardo ”dumau” Wolkmer – 1.32 Rating / 131-93 K-D / 87.1 ADR

In the South American edition of DreamHack Open September, it was also a Brazilian roster who ended out as the victors, owing to Shark’s impressive showing in the Grand Final against 9z. The fully Brazilian team took the victory, despite 9z having a 1-0 map advantage going into the match.

Sharks vs 9z 3-2 | DreamHack Open September SA

0-1   (9z begin the match with a 1-0 map advantage due to coming from the upper bracket)

16-14 (Ancient) | {cflag:BR} pancc – 1.45 Rating / 27-18 K-D / 93.0 ADR

13-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:BR} BIT – 1.59 Rating / 28-17 K-D / 104.7 ADR

16-14 (Inferno) | {cflag:BR} zevy – 1.41 Rating / 27-14 K-D / 83.2 ADR

16-11 (Mirage) | {cflag:AR} try – 1.58 Rating / 29-17 K-D / 93.9 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BR} Lucas “Lucaozy” Neves – 1.25 Rating / 92-75 K-D / 89.1 ADR

TACO

dumau

Extra Salt

On Thursday, GODSENT secured a 2-0 victory against Extra Salt in the DreamHack Open September 2021 North America event.

GODSENT’s felps finished the series as the highest-rated player, topping the scoreboard with a 1.50 Rating and 107.1 ADR. The 24-year-old Brazilian played a massive role in the victory and dropped 59 frags in total across the two maps. During the first map on Inferno, felps delivered a monster play to push his team to match point and eventually closing the map right after.

Enjoy his 4k that we’ve picked for our #POTD:

João "felps" Vasconcellos was instrumental in securing GODSENT a 2-0 victory against fellow Brazilians from O PLANO. His 1vs4 ace clutch on Dust2 helped seal the deal for GODSENT.

The round victory came at a crucial time for GODSENT, who was trailing 2-6 on the map. The five kills from felps helped GODSENT back into the match, which ended with a 2-0 win and fine MVP performance from the Brazilian.

O PLANO

With 3 matches lost in a row, Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia’s troops have been eliminated from Snow Sweet Snow 2. It was the Polish-side from Anonymo with Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski on the roster, who took down the Brazilians 2-1 on Vertigo (16-9) and Mirage (16-14).

Despite losing the first map on Overpass 10-16, Anonymo answered back by taking their own map pick in a controlled manner with Kamil “KEi” Pietkun leading the charge and shining on the scoreboard with 25 frags. On the decider, Anonymo came out on top of a close game where GODENT’s Joao “felps” Vasconcellos lit up the server and dropped a 33-bomb, which unfortunately wasn’t enough to push his team across the finish line in the very end.

: Joao “felps” Vasconcellos – 1.25 Rating | 87.8 ADR | 75-54 K/D

Snax

Anonymo

GODSENT showed class in today’s important matchup against EXTREMUM as they went on to win the series 2-0 in a controlled manner. The Brazilian squad will now look forward to competing in the playoffs, while the newly established EXTREMUM will have another chance to qualify or get eliminated.  

Dust2: 16-7 – Joao “felps” Vasconcellos | 1.73 rating | 127.7 ADR | 25-15 K/D 

Nuke: 16-8 – Bruno “latto” Rebelatto | 1.29 rating | 85.6 ADR | 17-14 K/D

GODSENT’s felps finished the series as the best performer, sporting an overall rating of 1.41, 102.1 ADR, and a 45-34 K/D.

Joao “felps” Vasconcellos | 1.41 rating | 83.0% KAST | 102.1 ADR | 0.96 KPR | 45-34 K/D.

EXTREMUM

After two very close maps, "TACO" and his teammates won their first match as GODSENT players.

The match was hard-fought on both Nuke and Inferno. The Brazilians won the first map after overtime, while it took all 30 rounds on Inferno to clinch the victory. João 'felps' Vasconcellos was the top fragger for GODSENT with 49 kills during the two maps.

In the Swiss-style format tournament, GODSENT will now face another team with a similar scoreline as themselves. GODSENT lost their first match in the tournament.

SinnerS

BOOM Esports announces that they have benched João “felps” Vasconcellos from this date on. The decision grounds on felps wanting to seek other options on a new team. The Brazilian organization explains that they are “surprised and saddened” by his decision but they fully accept it.

Last month rumours emerged on a new Brazilian CS:GO team being ground, featuring the former major winner Epitacio “TACO” de Melo and the renowned coach Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia. felps was according to multiple sources one of the key elements in the plan, where he should rejoin his former teammate TACO.

Read more. “Are we witnessing the creation of a new big Brazilian CS:GO team?”

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/are-witnessing-creation-new-big-brazilian-cs-go-team/"}]

felps provided a statement following the announcement where the profiled player saying that “Leaving the team was my decision and I will announce my next step next year. Thanks all the fans that support and like

The 23-year old Brazilian joined BOOM in the end of February this year, with an incredible effect. Felps and the rest of BOOM won 8 tournaments since his entrance, peaking at the ESL Pro League Season 12: South America where they defeated Sharks 3-1.

BOOM

According to Jarek “Dekay” Lewis and DBLTAP.com, the former MIBR coach Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia and inactive player Epitacio “TACO” de Melo in the works of creating a new Brazilian CS:GO team. The players joining the roster is besides TACO former MIBR player Joao “felps” Vasconcellos and the two youngsters “Eduardo “dumau” Wolkmer and Bruno “latto” Rebelatto.

dead is currently banned due to his activity in the “Coaching bug scandal” and will therefore stand as team manager. It’s unclear whether the Brazilian coach changes into a coaching role when his 6.5-month ban is endured.

You can read the whole report on the following link.

	30 days	90 days
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felps

Player stats

Articles mentioning felps

Players to watch at the Opening Stage of PGL Copenhagen Major

felps after massive win at BLAST Showdown: We look better for the future

HEN1 replaces felps on GODSENT for ESL Pro League

NIP moves on to semi-final, GODSENT eliminated

Pley of the Day: felps with an unreal ACE against FURIA

GODSENT is the DH Open September champions!

Pley of the Day: felps with the 4k!

Pley of the Day: felps 1vs4 ace clutch in Brazilian Brawl

Snax and company eliminate GODSENT

GODSENT beat EXTREMUM to qualify for playoffs

GODSENT picks up first win with new roster

Brazilian profile benched

Are we witnessing the creation of a new big Brazilian CS:GO team?

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