Team One Make Their Underdog Dream Come True at Six Mexico Major

It’s a fairytale story for the Team One players. Six months ago, the team hadn’t even existed yet – now they’ve got a Major victory under their belts. For Brazil, this is the second big trophy and for the viewers, this may just have been the greatest underdog story within Siege. 

The Group Stage already had some surprises in store. The Ninjas in Pyjamas, winners at the Six Invitational and favorites for this event, bombed out of the Mexico Major as one of the first teams. In the meantime, it looked as though the APAC region might dominate the tournament. But at the last match-day, the teams folded and DAMWON Gaming were the only ones to actually make the playoffs.

Team One kicked things off with three straight losses. On the second day, they got back on their feet and secured enough points to tie with CYCLOPS athlete gaming. This resulted in the first ever tie-breaker in professional Siege history. Team One made it past CAG and narrowly qualified for playoffs in the end.

THE PLAYOFFS

Arriving in this Single Elimination bracket, the teams all had just one shot. Both EU representatives used this to enter the Semi Finals. Liquid survived a narrow first map versus DAMWON, but outplayed them on the second one. Team One overcame DarkZero Esports after two DZ players had tested positive and the whole team was forced to play from their hotel rooms.

So far, the favorites had succeeded and gotten further. But in the Semi Finals, Team One shockingly made it past Liquid! After attending the Grand Finals at SI and with the Ninjas failing, Liquid had surely understood themselves as favorites for this event. But when they suffered an 0-7 loss on the third map, it was clear as day that Team One were the better squad.

On the other side of the bracket, BDS put up one of the most exciting comebacks ever. From a 1-5 deficit, BDS made it all the way to overtime – but only after Stéphane “Shaiiko” Lebleu saved his team in the last second with an almost impossible peek. In the end, they still folded and let Empire through on a 7-8 scoreline.

Empire entering the Grand Finals was more than fitting. After all, the last Major had taken place in Raleigh in 2019 and Empire had won the whole thing. After their impressive performance versus BDS, it seemed more than likely that they would make their dream of a repeat victory true. But in the end, oNe had different plans.

THE GRAND FINALS

Empire didn’t miss a beat on the first map. They swiftly secured a 7-2 scoreline, but oNe struck back with a 7-2 of their own. On Clubhouse, we finally got to see a close first map. The teams entered overtime, but oNe came out on top. So Empire stood with their backs against the wall for the first time in this Grand Finals. A single map loss would mean the end of the match.

But Consulate was tried-and-tested territory for them. Just a day ago, they had played their infamous last map versus BDS on there. Once again, Empire ramped up a 5-1 lead, but saw it slowly dwindle away on the defense. This time around, however, Danil “JoyStiCK” Gabov managed to clutch them to victory before any comeback could ruin it. On the fifth and last map, however, oNe reigned supreme. Their 7-1 victory is a testament to how dominant the Brazilians had become – and it’s a fitting conclusion to one of the most exciting underdog stories in professional Siege ever!

THE CONCLUSION

Brazil is the strongest region with three out of eight playoffs contestants. NiP might have failed in Mexico, but they’re still an internationally viable team. While oNe might not be back at the top for the next big event, the likes of Liquid will be there to pick up the slack. EU gets a small breather as well. Empire and BDS are finally able to at least be in contention for titles. BDS almost would have made the Grand Finals themselves.

On the downside, we had to witness G2 and NaVi crashing. The same holds true for North America. DarkZero and Spacestation Gaming were impressive in the Group Stage, but failed to compete in the playoffs. In the case of DZ, this could well be put down to their Covid cases – but it’s obvious that the Brazilians have overtaken this region as well.

It’ll take a few months until we have the next Major tournament at hand. Until then, we’ll have the regional leagues to fill the time and the teams will surely tweak their rosters in the meantime. Who will still be at the top after that?