We are less than one week away from the start of the last ever Major in CS:GO history. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all 18 Majors. Today we have reached ESL One: Cologne 2016.

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 Cache, Cobblestone, Dust2, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, Train.

ESL One: Cologne 2016 was the ninth CS:GO tournament in the history of the game and was held from July 5 – July 10, 2016 in the Lanxess-Arena in Cologne Germany. Like the previous Major, this one also featured 16 teams and a total prize pool of $1,000,000!

The previous two events in Cologne were all about the Swedish giants from fnatic and NiP. But by the time ESL One: Cologne 2016 came around, the Counter-Strike landscape had changed. The Ninjas had fallen off drastically, while fnatic were still among the world’s top four teams. The previous event marked the definite end of a dynasty. For the first time in CS:GO Major history, Ninjas in Pyjamas failed to get past the group stage and weren’t even able to qualify for the following two Majors.

New teams were on top, and none of them from Sweden.

2016 was the year of the Brazilian nation. While the team won their first Major as massive underdogs under the Luminosity banner, by the time of Cologne 2016 SK Gaming were undisputed best team in the world. The famous and proud Brazilian winners were FalleN, fer, coldzera, fnx, and TACO.

All the focus was on the Brazilians squad going into ESL One: Cologne 2016. The Brazilian godfather, Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo literally took his team from the depths of irrelevancy to Counter-Strike world champions within one year.

If a professional CS:GO player gets his own graffiti on a map, he’s clearly done something extraordinary. Only few players received this special honor by Valve and one of them is Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, who achieved immortality at ESL One: Cologne 2016.

Those were the words from the renowned caster, James Bardolph when he witnessed s1mple’s outrageous play in the semi-final of ESL One: Cologne, where Liquid took upon the Swedish side from fnatic. The Ukrainian beast outdid himself by presenting a completely ridiculous double no-scope on the B-site of Cache. The iconic play perfectly illustrated his inhuman skills and mechanical capabilities, and the sequence will forever be a part of Counter-Strike history.

Watch the iconic play from s1mple right here:

On their way to the Grand final, the Brazilians from SK Gaming had to overcome some of the biggest names at the time including FaZe Clan, G2, FlipSid3, and Virtus.pro, while Liquid took down teams such as Envy, MOUZ, NAVI, and fnatic to secure their spot in the final.

It is July 10, 2016, and the Lanxess Arena in Cologne Germany is filled to the brim. Nearly 14.000 spectators are ready to watch a nerve-racking Grand final at the tournament between SK Gaming and Team Liquid.

The action of the Grand final began on SK Gaming’s pick of Train, where the Brazilians started off things on the offensive side, storming to a 3-0 lead. It looked like the first gun round between the two teams would go SK’s way, but the Brazilians couldn’t hold down the site and Liquid grabbed their first round. However, the Brazilians would immediately hit back in the following round, resetting Liquid’s economy. SK Gaming were full of momentum, especially coldzera who went huge and delivered a clutch to give his team an even more substantial lead. Down 1-6, Liquid started to wake up and managed to climb back one the scoreboard, thanks to praiseworthy performances from Hiko and s1mple who helped their team add seven rounds to the scoreline, before the second half.

Liquid was on the verge of securing the second pistol round and turn the tide in their favor, but their hopes were crushed by fer, and instead, SK Gaming went on to win all the remaining rounds to draw the first blood to the series.

Map two was Cobblestone, on which both teams had incredible moments throughout the entire tournament. But the map was especially one of Liquid’s favorite picks and the North American squad with s1mple tried their best to live up to that billing as they got out to an early lead after securing the pistol round. coldzera and SK Gaming were able to steal away the third round against the odds, winning an eco and eventually running away with the lead. From there on, the Brazilians showed no signs of slowing down, with the scoreline blooming to a 10-5 advantage. In the second half, SK Gaming only allowed s1mple and company to grab one single round before locking down Cobblestone 16-6 and securing another Major title.

SK Gaming became the second team in CS:GO after fnatic to win back-to-back Majors. They proved their critics they can win no matter what.

Highest rated players at ESL One: Cologne 2016:

1. {cflag:BR} Marcelo “coldzera” David (SK Gaming) – 1.37 Rating 

2. {cflag:DK} Nicolai “device” Reedtz (Astralis) – 1.28 Rating 

3. {cflag:BR} Epitacio “TACO” de Melo (SK Gaming) – 1.25 Rating 

4. {cflag:SE} Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson (fnatic) – 1.22 Rating 

5. {cflag:BR} Gabriel ”FalleN” Toledo (SK Gaming) – 1.19 Rating 

6. {cflag:ES} Oscar ”mixwell” Canellas (OpTic) – 1.19 Rating 

7. {cflag:BR} Lincoln “fnx” Lau (SK Gaming) – 1.19 Rating 

8. {cflag:UA} Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (Liquid) – 1.18 Rating 

9. {cflag:RU} Georgi “WorldEdit” Yaskin (FlipSid3) – 1.17 Rating 

10. {cflag:UA} Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev (NAVI) – 1.16 Rating

Tomorrow we take a look at the ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017

TACO

FalleN

coldzera

When we see the Brazilians from Imperial on the server again in 2023 it will be with a new roster constellation. Something the legendary captain Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo revealed during a stream on his personal Twitch channel.

- Soon more team announcements will come. We're going to have some changes there, as you're already connected, it's nothing new. When it's time to talk, I will give a comment, FalleN said to his many viewers.

[twitchClip:ApatheticArtisticHamsterPupper-3u4ZhX_LniiqA1pE]

FalleN’s statement seem to be consistent with a recent [link:{"url":"https://www.dust2.com.br/noticias/32904/sem-fer-imperial-avanca-em-negociacao-por-jota","isNewTab":true,"text":"report "}]by Dust2.br.com's [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/roque_mn","isNewTab":true,"text":"Roque Marques"}] stating that Imperial are looking to replace the two-time Major winner Fernando “fer” Alvarenga with MIBR’s Jhonatan "JOTA" Willian.

When the report hit the news 11 days ago, the parties were allegedly already in advanced negotiations. No official announcement has been made yet, as FalleN also stated in his earlier quote.

Imperial will field the following lineup going into 2023.

{cflag:BR} Jhonatan "JOTA" Willian (rumoured)

Imperial

In a world of competitive Counter-Strike where there’s a new and up-and-coming pool of promising talents emerging onto the scene every year, you may end up forgetting about the more experienced figures and the ones who h laid out the foundation for our beloved game.

This article focuses on these particular individuals - Players who are beyond their peak, but players who clearly still have a lot to bring to the table when talking about individual firepower.

By looking at all the 28+ year-olds, we’ve found the ten highest-ranked veterans in CS:GO right now, which ended up showcasing a  hard-hitting Scandinavian trio at the very top.

Highest-rated 28+ players in 2022 | Against Top 30 

1. {cflag:DK} Fredrik “roeJ” Jørgensen (Fnatic) | 1.13 Rating / 83.5 ADR - 28 years

2. {cflag:NO} Joakim ”jkaem” Myrbostad (Apeks) | 1.12 Rating / 81.7 ADR – 28 years

3. {cflag:NO} Håvard “rain” Nygaard (FaZe) | 1.09 Rating / 79.9 ADR – 28 years

4. {cflag:BR} Fernando “fer” Alvarenga (Imperial) | 1.08 Rating / 78.7 ADR – 30 years

5. {cflag:DK} Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen (Vitality) | 1.04 Rating / 71.2 ADR – 29 years

6. {cflag:BR} Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo (Imperial) | 1.02 Rating / 67.5 ADR – 31 years

7. {cflag:SE} Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson (Fnatic) | 1.02 Rating / 73.5 ADR – 28 years

8. {cflag:SE} Patrick “f0rest” Lindberg (No team) | 1.00 Rating / 72.2 ADR – 34 years

9. {cflag:SE} Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson (No team) | 0.99 Rating / 73.0 ADR – 29 years

10. {cflag:DK} Thomas “birdfromsky” Due-Frederiksen | 0.97 Rating / 73.7 ADR – 29 years

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roeJ has been Fnatic's highest-rated player since his arrival back in June this year

At first sight, it may come as a surprise that the list only features players from Brazil (FalleN, fer) and Scandinavian countries such as Norway (rain, jkaem), Sweden (f0rest, KRIMZ, Lekr0), and Denmark (roeJ, dupreeh, birdfromsky).

However, these two region/countries are also some of the cornerstones of Counter-Strike having both played a huge role throughout the entire history of the game - also before the birth of CS:GO, with many of the above-mentioned players being former Counter-Strike 1.6 superstars. 

You can also check out our article on the best teenagers in CS:GO right now. Find it down below. 

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roeJ

jkaem

rain

f0rest

dupreeh

Lekr0

birdfromsky

KRIMZ

{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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chelo

VINI

boltz

The entire Brazilian Counter-Strike scene will probably be watching tonight when Imperial goes head to head with 00Nation for a spot in the group stage at IEM Cologne. The monster match was made possible after Imperial started the day by defeating the Australians from ORDER.

Imperial needed all three maps to go through, but on the decider map of Nuke, they started out with a 13-2 lead after an impressive CT side. And though ORDER gave it their best in the second half the damage was done. Imperial won Nuke 16-11 and knocked out the Australians.

This sets up a reunion of the five legendary members of Luminosity/SK Gaming, who won two Major in 2016. For Imperial, we have fnx, fer, and Fallen, while coldzera and TACO represent 00Nation. The Brazilian Brawl will be played tonight at 19.30 (CEST).

Imperial - ORDER 2-1 | IEM Cologne Play-in

8-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:AU} aliStair - 1.48 Rating / 22-12 K-D / 99.1 ADR

16-8 (Mirage) | {cflag:BR} boltz - 1.45 Rating / 21-13 K-D / 80.5 ADR

16-11 (Nuke) | {cflag:BR} fer - 1.44 Rating / 24-16 K-D / 104.1 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BR} Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga - 1.14 Rating / 55-45 K-D / 81.9 ADR

Order

Just as the one between OG and Entropiq, a battle for survival at the ongoing Roobet Cup 2022 took place when Imperial and Eternal Fire locked horns in a Bo3-series. Both teams failed to secure a victory in their opening match of the event, despite Eternal Fire putting up a great performance against the resilient ENCE roster. Being close, however, does not matter as both Imperial and Eternal Fire stood before the risk of getting eliminated today. A battle between the iconic and experienced Brazilians, led by "FalleN", and a roster filled with nothing but astonishing aimers and players with an unreal amount of mechanical skill. After three intense maps it was the Turkish aimers of Eternal Fire to come out on top as they eliminated Imperial from the event and secured their own life at Roobet Cup 2022. 

The first map of the Bo3-series was picked by Eternal Fire and saw the brawl kick off on Nuke. In addition to being the map pick of Eternal Fire, it is also a map that Imperial have struggled on as of late. In their matches, in the past three months, the Brazilians have only managed to win 36% (11 games). Before entering the server it seemed as if Eternal Fire had every opportunity to hit the ground running and to secure a great start to the Bo3-series on Nuke. This, however, was never the case. A rock-solid defense from Imperial proved almost impossible for Eternal Fire to break through. A cohesive performance with no Imperial player falling behind on the scoreboard meant a 10-5 lead before switching sides at halftime. The second half showcased exactly the same as the first had done, that Imperial were the superior team on Nuke. Two CT-sided rounds were all Eternal Fire collected as they had to see themselves defeated on their own map pick at the scoreline of 16-12. 

The second map of the brawl between Imperial and Eternal Fire was, of course, chosen by Imperial and meant a trip to the infamous Mirage soil. With plenty of experience in the ranks of Imperial and with Mirage being the most played map of all time in CS:GO, it is no surprise that the two are a perfect match, at least on paper. It proved to also be a perfect match once the map had kicked off. Imperial carried on their momentum and punished a seemingly discombobulated Eternal Fire side. Before they even got the chance to get things rolling, the Turkish boys were behind at 8-1 on Mirage. Luckily for Eternal Fire, they managed to claw themselves back to a 9-6 scoreline at halftime. Once the two rosters had switched sides Eternal Fire finally woke up and things became closer and closer until overtime was needed to find a victor. Despite a "FalleN" on fire, the impressive individuals of Eternal Fire proved more resilient after three rounds of overtime. At the scoreline of 25-23, they managed to force a third and final map against Imperial. 

The victor between Imperial and Eternal Fire was set to be found in the heights of Vertigo. After the thriller over on Dust 2, with both rosters waking up and playing extraordinary CS:GO, another close battle was definitely on the cards. And close it came to be. Despite "FalleN" having difficulties with reaching his almost always consistent skill-ceiling, perhaps due to fatigue from the previous map, it was Imperial to come out slightly on top in the first half of Vertigo. At the scoreline of 9-6, the two rosters switched sides and the final half of the Bo3-series ensued. Quickly nullifying the lead from the first half, Eternal Fire tied things up and the rosters were suddenly neck and neck. With next to nothing separating the two teams, they traded rounds back and forth. Ultimately, however, it was the Turkish boys of Eternal Fire to prove more resilient once again. The heroics of "fer" were not enough to save Imperial and at the scoreline of 16-13, they would have to see themselves eliminated from the Roobet Cup 2022. 

Eternal Fire - Imperial 2-1 | Roobet Cup 2022 (Group C)

12-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:BR} FalleN - 1.39 Rating / 17-11 K-D / 77.7 ADR

25-23 (Mirage) | {cflag:BR} FalleN - 1.38 Rating / 43-30 K-D / 89.8 ADR

16-13 (Vertigo) | {cflag:BR} fer - 1.35 Rating / 27-18 K-D / 94.9 ADR

: {cflag:BR} Fernando "fer" Alvarenga - 1.23 Rating / 81-61 K-D / 90.0 ADR

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Roobet Cup 2022 (Group D) - FURIA vs Outsiders (2-0) 

Whilst Imperial and Eternal Fire had their battle, another brawl took place at the Roobet Cup 2022. Just as the one between Imperial and Eternal Fire, survival was up for grabs between FURIA and Outsiders. With FURIA taking a shocking loss in their first match of the event, it seemed as if they were fired up and ready to earn redemption. On Inferno, it was a furious FURIA to steamroll Outsiders and claim victory at 16-6. Whilst it seemed as if Outsiders finally woke up on Vertigo, FURIA remained the stronger side as they claimed victory at 16-10, meaning a confident 2-0 victory in the Bo3-series. 

Eternal Fire

The last set of Bo3-series on day two of the Roobet Cup 2022 event saw MOUZ and Imperial lock horns in a battle for three points in Group C. A victory today would mean a great start to the event for both rosters and a current spot at the top of the table with ENCE. On paper Imperial were the slight favorites going into the Bo3-series ranked as #15 in the world, whereas MOUZ ranked as #17 in the world. However, with talent such as "frozen" and "Bymas" on your roster, anything can happen. It was also MOUZ who proved the better team on the day. In just two maps they managed to defeat the iconic Brazilians of Imperial and secure three points to mark a great start to their run at the Roobet Cup 2022 event. 

The first map of the Bo3-series was picked by MOUZ and saw the brawl between the two rosters kick off on Nuke. In addition to being a strong map for MOUZ it is one of Imperial's worst maps as of recent time, having only won 30% of their battles on Nuke in the past three months (10 maps). The Brazilians started on the, arguably, stronger side as the CT's. It was also Imperial to git the ground running and thanks to a great defense and phenomenal performance from "fer" they managed to give themselves an advantage going into the second half of Nuke at the scoreline of 9-6. As mentioned, the CT-side of Nuke is considered to be the easier one out of the two, and MOUZ definitely made it look easy. Only allowing their opponents two rounds on their offensive half, MOUZ secured the first map of the series at the scoreline of 16-11. 

The second map of the brawl was set to be Inferno and was, of course, picked by Imperial. Being Imperial's best map as of late it might come as a surprise as to why MOUZ allowed the experienced Brazilians to choose Inferno as their map pick. Once the map kicked off, however, it quickly became clear as to why MOUZ had left Inferno open for Imperial to pick. Starting on the CT-side, "dexter" and his troops smothered the Brazilian offense and left them little room to execute anything with success. With "dexter" himself leading by example and topping the leaderboard, MOUZ went to halftime at the dominating scoreline of 11-4. The second half continued as the first had ended, with MOUZ steamrolling Imperial. Only allowing their opponents to three rounds in the second half, MOUZ claimed victory at the scoreline of 16-7 and secured three well-deserved points in their first game of the Roobet Cup 2022. 

MOUZ - Imperial 2-0 | Roobet Cup 2022 (Group C)

16-11 (Nuke) | {cflag:BR} fer - 1.35 Rating / 25-17 K-D / 99.7 ADR

16-7 (Inferno) | {cflag:SK} frozen - 1.46 Rating / 22-12 K-D / 85.3 ADR

: {cflag:SK} David "frozen" Čerňanský - 1.33 Rating / 43-29 K-D / 81.6 ADR

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Roobet Cup 2022 (Group C) - 9z vs FURIA (2-0) 

Whilst MOUZ and Imperial had their battle, another brawl took place within the Roobet Cup 2022 event. Two South American rosters clashed as FURIA took on 9z. FURIA were the big favorites on paper before the two rosters locked horns, however, once the Bo3-series got underway 9z completely stunned the Brazilian giants. A close brawl on Overpass fell the way of 9z and with a great performance Inferno to follow it up, the underdogs in 9z managed to shock everybody and take down FURIA in just two maps. 

frozen

MOUZ

It was the "Old boys" versus the "Young guns" when Imperial faced Cloud9 in the 1-2 bracket. The goal of this matchup: To survive elimination.

"Ax1Le" had an outrageous start to Imperial's pick of Overpass. The Russian rifler was at one point 13-1 and Cloud9 took the first six rounds off the back of his dominating display. But as "Ax1Le" started to coll down, so did his team, which allowed Imperial to pick up an acceptable five rounds before halftime.

The Brazilians had the upper hand for most of the second half, but they were not able to capitalize on hitting map point at 15-14. The map needed OT, three of them in fact, before the veterans of Imperial were finally able to win their map pick.

After that surprising loss, Cloud9 took the match to Vertigo, perhaps their strongest map. Even though the Russians have an amazing track record on this map they only led by a single round at halftime. This was partially due to fantastic form from "fer".

As they moved to the CT side, Cloud9 started taking care of business. The CIS squad took advantage of the fact that Imperial do not play Vertigo all that often and quickly pushed the match to a decider.

Mirage was all that was left between the two teams and elimination, and in a turn of events that no one could have foreseen, Imperial came out on the CT side and stomped Cloud9 to the tune of 12-3 at halftime after having lost the pistol round.

"fer", who had been the Brazilians' best player throughout the first two maps, raised his level to that of the Luminosity "fer" of old. He was an immovable object on the defense and an unstoppable force on the offense, and in combination with his team, they eliminated one of the favorites in Cloud9.

Cloud9 - Imperial 1-2 | PGL Major Antwerp Legends Stage

23-25 (Overpass) | {cflag:RU} Ax1Le - 1.26 Rating / 36-30 K-D / 91.9 ADR

16-9 (Vertigo) | {cflag:KZ} Hobbit - 1.45 Rating / 23-13 K-D / 89.7 ADR

3-16 (Mirage) | {cflag:BR} fer - 1.95 Rating / 25-8 K-D / 127.4 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BR} Fernando "fer" Alvarenga - 1.29 Rating / 79-56 K-D / 91.7 ADR

Ax1Le

Hobbit

Cloud9

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!

Six. That’s the number of Major titles the entire Imperial roster has under their belt during their glorified careers. Today, Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and his Last Dance project took their first steps towards qualifying for the upcoming Antwerp Major, by defeating Sao Caetano in the Americas RMR.

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In the Bo1 battle on Inferno, Imperial came out in flying fashion, where they quickly managed to go up 12-6 after a solid CT-sided first half. Despite Sao Caetano narrowing the lead towards the end of regulation, the experienced Major winners proved too strong.

Especially, Fernando “fer” Alvarenga was firing on all cylinders today, with the 30-year-old causing massive problems for his countrymen from Sao Caetano.

Imperial – Sao Caetano 1-0 | PGL Major Antwerp RMR Americas

16-12 (Inferno) | {cflag:BR} fer – 1.71 Rating / 34-19 K-D / 117.1 ADR

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Both teams will be in action again this Monday, with the Swiss Stage presenting matches for the majority of the day. You can follow the tournament here on Pley.

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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.

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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It’s a known fact in the Counter-Strike world that after a CS:GO Major the silly-season kicks off. In this period, a ton of teams and players are looking to either rebuild or find a new home, causing a myriad of transfer rumours and chatter.

One of the rumours circling around has been the creation of a new Brazilian super team, a so-called “Last Dance” team led by Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo and some other profiled Brazilians, including Fernando "fer" Alvarenga and Lincoln "fnx" Lau.

Before the start of BLAST Premier World Final, we got the chance to sit down with FalleN to talk about his future and the possibility of this “Last Dance” roster.

- In order to build a Brazilian team that can be the best team in the world, you have to put certain pieces together, that doesn’t ever seem to exist. That’s why I say, a Brazilian tier-1 team in this exact situation, is very tough to build, FalleN said.

You can hear the superstar AWPer elaborate his thoughts in the interview on our YouTube down below.

- Why he believes FURIA has held back the creation of a top-tier Brazilian team

- And what kind of CS:GO project he wants to build or join in the future

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	30 days	90 days
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