The BR6 League heads into second weekend of the stage, with the local teams Black Dragons and Team oNe leading the field at the top of the table with six points. But, with teams like Team Liquid and w7m esports chasing how long will they hold up there?
Saturday:
- 13:00 BRT – w7m esports vs MIBR
- 14:00 BRT – Ninjas in Pyjamas vs 00 Nation
- 15:00 BRT – Black Dragons vs FaZe Clan
- 16:00 BRT – Team oNe vs FURIA Esports
- 17:00 BRT – TropiCaos vs Team Liquid
Sunday:
- 13:00 BRT – MIBR vs Black Dragons
- 14:00 BRT – FaZe Clan vs Team oNe
- 15:00 BRT – w7m esports vs Team Liquid
- 16:00 BRT – FURIA Esports vs 00 Nation
- 17:00 BRT – TropiCaos vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
Black Dragons and Team oNe were the only teams to have perfect starts last weekend, as both of their victories came in regulation time. TropiCaos, who recently picked up INTZ’s roster, were both teams’ victims, losing by 7-4 against BD and 7-5 against oNe.
Meanwhile, FaZe Clan’s overtime victory against the overall BR6 leaders w7m esports and a regulation win over 00 Nation on Sunday put them in third place behind BD and oNe.
However, the game of the weekend was the clash between Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team Liquid, a match that saw Lorenzo “Lagonis” Volpi debut for his new team. While Liquid were able to defeat the former world champions, Lagonis and his team fell to Black Dragons.
Lagonis wasn’t the only IGL to debut for a different team, as Julio “JULIO” Giacomelli had his first two games as a w7m player. After losing to FaZe on Saturday, the bulls won in maximum overtime against Julio’s former team FURIA Esports as they, too, faced similar struggles as Liquid.
FURIA looked the worse off without JULIO, though, as they also lost to MIBR the day before. Finally, both 00 Nation and TropiCaos are at the bottom of the standings and are still looking to get their first points this weekend.
Heading into the second weekend of the BR6, the clash between Team Liquid and w7m esports is the one to really watch. On paper, it’s an important match for both team’s aspirations to climb into the top four. But it’s much more than that -- it’s also a clash to determine who’s the better IGL between Lagonis and Julio.
Head-to-heads
These are all the results between Team Liquid and w7m esports from the current season:
- BR6 Stage 1: Team Liquid 3-7 w7m esports
- CES Stage 1: Team Liquid 2-1 w7m esports
- CES Stage 1: Team Liquid 2-0 w7m esports
- BR6 Stage 2: Team Liquid 2-7 w7m esports
Both teams have clashed four times this season, with two victories each. However, considering all of w7m esports’ wins came in a BO1 format and with Liquid still adapting to a change of roles due to Lagonis’ signing, they will be slight favorites to win Sunday’s match.
Team Liquid’s strength has always been better in a BO3 format and w7m should feel a bit more confident with JULIO now leading the charge.
Lagonis and JULIO’s roles
With Lagonis and JULIO still adapting to their respective teams, it’s still uncertain how much they will have improved from last week after both had a mixed weekend.
JULIO joined the team to replace what was considered to be one of the best support and defuser carrier players in the region, Gleidson “GdNN1” Nunes. But both his and JULIO’s functions are arguably the same, though, so the change is easier to understand.
Meanwhile, Liquid might need some more time to adapt to Lagonis. Limited time to practice combined with an important change of roles in the roster means they will not be as confident together as w7m might be.
Lagonis was mainly signed to breathe some new life into the team, specifically in the IGL area. His skills and experience could be vital to getting the best out of legendary duo Luccas “Paluh” Molina and André “NESKGWA” Oliveira once more.
To accommodate Lagonis, former Team Liquid hard breacher and support player Gabriel “AsK” Santos has been moved to a more aggressive role.
While w7m might be slight favourites, Lagonis’ record against JULIO is rock-solid. While on Team oNe, Lagonis defeated JULIO three times in his last four games against him — including a 2-0 victory at the CES 2021 Stage 3.
With both teams tied in the standings with three points, a regulation loss this weekend will be cause for serious concern for either side. Who’s going to lead their team to the win?