Sharks take first WESG Brazil qualifier spot
The first of the two WESG Brazil open qualifiers concluded last night, with Renato "nak" Nakano's Sharks securing the first spot in the two-team closed qualifier. 29 teams took part in the nation-exclusive qualifier.
Sharks made their way to the semfinals in relatively simple fashion, securing a forfeit win in the first round, before taking a 16-8 win on Overpass over DETONA, before a 16-2 demolition of Rude on Train. It was the semifinal matchup against W7M where it got difficult for the Sharks, being taken to all three maps by their opponent.
It didn't start off well for nak and co, with W7M taking six of the first seven rounds of Cache, with W7M eventually going in 9-6 leaders at the break. The second half was a different story for Sharks, as they claimed all but one round to reach the coveted 16-10 scoreline. Inferno followed, and it was effectively a mirror image of the previous map, with Sharks starting off strong before W7M came into the map. From there they raced up to a 7-3 lead, before the two evened each other out for a 8-7 half in W7M's favor. The second half was a display of what W7M could do, as they dropped only two rounds in the half as they took a 16-9 win.
The final map of Train was a decisive Sharks victory. The first half effectively belonged to Raphael "exit" Lacerda's display of strength, with the rifler taking a 1.73 rating at the end of the map. With a 13-2 lead to their name, a strong second half followed after a pistol round reset, with Sharks securing the final three rounds required for a 16-3 win.
SharksW7M| Sharks |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Raphael 'exit' Lacerda |
59 - 35 | +24 | 87.5 | 74.3% | 1.36 |
| Renato 'nak' Nakano |
55 - 39 | +16 | 82.6 | 75.7% | 1.22 |
| Jhonatan 'jnt' Silva |
54 - 40 | +14 | 80.6 | 71.4% | 1.21 |
| Leonardo 'leo_drk' Oliveira |
41 - 53 | -12 | 74.7 | 72.9% | 0.94 |
| Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
40 - 49 | -9 | 63.0 | 68.6% | 0.91 |
| W7M |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fillipe 'pancc' Martins |
54 - 52 | +2 | 89.0 | 68.6% | 1.15 |
| Rafael 'raafa' Lima |
44 - 51 | -7 | 71.0 | 72.9% | 0.97 |
| Leon 'ryotzz' Felipe |
43 - 52 | -9 | 75.2 | 64.3% | 0.96 |
| Ramon 'RMN' Toledo |
42 - 50 | -8 | 57.8 | 67.1% | 0.93 |
| Lucas 'YJ' Yuji |
33 - 44 | -11 | 58.5 | 67.1% | 0.85 |
Their opponents in the final were Imperial, who had a slightly more eventful route there. A 16-2 win against Pimposo started the bracket run, before going through two close maps, a 16-14 win against rampageKillers on Inferno before a 16-12 win on Inferno against MADE IN CANIL. This lined them up for a semifinal against StarSeries i-League Season 7 qualifiers of Wild.
This was a much quiter match than the one Sharks faced. The opening map of Nuke was a simple affair for Caio "zqk" Fonseca and co, with his team taking the first seven rounds unanswered. This was a common theme throughout the first half, dropping only two rounds for a 13-2 lead at the break. Their T-side completed the rout, recovering from losing the pistol and anti-eco to secure a 16-4 win on the opening map, with Thiago "tifa" França picking up 118.0 ADR in a stand-out performance.
Inferno followed, and it was a similar story. Imperial lead from start to finish, taking five of the first seven rounds on their quest for victory. Although they didn't keep up the domination like in the first map, they were still in control with a 10-5 lead at the half. The second half started like a mirror of the first, with Wild taking the four of the first five rounds, before Imperial went up a gear and secured the final five rounds of the map, taking a 16-9 victory.
WildImperial| Wild |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dener 'KHTEX' Barchfield |
34 - 38 | -4 | 77.7 | 60.0% | 0.90 |
| Paulo 'land1n' Felipe |
30 - 36 | -6 | 75.6 | 53.3% | 0.90 |
| Vinicios 'PKL' Coelho |
24 - 39 | -15 | 66.2 | 62.2% | 0.73 |
| Alef 'tatazin' Pereira |
23 - 34 | -11 | 54.7 | 55.6% | 0.71 |
| Lucas 'destiny' Bullo |
15 - 39 | -24 | 46.8 | 55.6% | 0.53 |
| Imperial |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denis 'dzt' Fischer |
45 - 27 | +18 | 92.6 | 84.4% | 1.53 |
| Thiago 'tifa' França |
40 - 25 | +15 | 100.0 | 86.7% | 1.50 |
| Bruno 'shz' Martinelli |
37 - 26 | +11 | 93.6 | 77.8% | 1.36 |
| Caio 'zqkS' Fonseca |
36 - 22 | +14 | 80.6 | 84.4% | 1.34 |
| Gustavo 'SHOOWTiME' Gonçalves |
28 - 27 | +1 | 64.1 | 75.6% | 1.06 |
This lead to the final between Sharks and Imperial. This best-of-three was in a similar fashion to the one Imperial played, however not in the result you'd immediately expect. Inferno was the opening map, and after the initial portion of the first half where Imperial won five of the eight rounds played, the map was bitten off by Sharks. A 10-5 first half swiftly turned into a 16-5 victory in the second.
Map two, Cache, was more of the same for Sharks, this time controlling from the off. Having a 7-3 lead after the first ten rounds, Rodrigo "RCF" Figueiredo helped himself to a 1.87 rating as his team notched up a dominant 12-3 first-half score. The second half saw Imperial take four rounds, sandwiched between two pairs of two key rounds from Sharks, as they notched a 16-6 victory to claim their closed qualifier spot.
SharksImperial| Sharks |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
43 - 21 | +22 | 106.4 | 81.8% | 1.67 |
| Raphael 'exit' Lacerda |
39 - 21 | +18 | 98.5 | 81.8% | 1.41 |
| Leonardo 'leo_drk' Oliveira |
33 - 23 | +10 | 74.7 | 70.5% | 1.23 |
| Jhonatan 'jnt' Silva |
27 - 18 | +9 | 66.8 | 84.1% | 1.18 |
| Renato 'nak' Nakano |
29 - 24 | +5 | 69.9 | 79.5% | 1.15 |
| Imperial |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thiago 'tifa' França |
33 - 34 | -1 | 78.3 | 63.6% | 1.02 |
| Gustavo 'SHOOWTiME' Gonçalves |
20 - 33 | -13 | 56.2 | 65.9% | 0.84 |
| Denis 'dzt' Fischer |
22 - 35 | -13 | 58.2 | 61.4% | 0.77 |
| Caio 'zqkS' Fonseca |
17 - 34 | -17 | 49.6 | 52.3% | 0.61 |
| Bruno 'shz' Martinelli |
15 - 35 | -20 | 55.6 | 40.9% | 0.54 |
This result means Sharks are through to the two-team WESG Brazil closed qualifier at the end of this month, where the winner will secure a spot at the $890,000 WESG 2018 World Finals in Chongqinq, China, in March of next year.
