MQ madness in South America

A harsh bracket, disqualifications, and second chances shake the South American scene in the first month of BSC 

The first Monthly Finals in South America were wild, featuring a difficult bracket, underdogs, disqualification due to account sharing, tiebreakers, and second chances. In the upper bracket qualification match, two underdog teams faced each other, neither of which had a player that had ever qualified to Monthly Finals before. 

Meanwhile, we had some very spicy matches in the other brackets. Most notably, in the Lower Bracket, Reis da PL (Brabão, Lele, Toodyxz) went up against Team Queso (Bryan, Jxcr, Rhz) and lost 2-1, before Team Queso faced Pokémons F/A (Mohtep, Pekka, Tufa) in the same bracket, losing 2-0. On the other side, One Chance (Jeremy, Prozy, Todd, weepy) went up against Marruecos (Alonso, Kristian, Loko), though they lost 2-0. 

After unexpected encounters and some big names not qualificating, it was announced that two teams, Sublime, and GoD Team, were disqualified due to account sharing. To replace Sublime, the three teams that lost in the last LB round were given a second chance: Team Queso, One Chance, and Bom Dia Princesa. Team Queso came out victorious after they won both their matches with two 2-0 victories. The first Monthly Finals start on March 31st, 2024, at 12:00 BRT (UTC-3). 

The final qualified teams are:

1) Calabresos | Edinho, FireCrow, KaioDog, Trekking (M), AlchemicalX (C)

Calabresos had one of the tougher Upper Brackets, facing two high-profile teams in iworlds and Marruecos, but they managed to qualify without dropping a set, leaving them well poised to finish highly this month.

2) CVD F/A | CaueBR, Doritos, VTzim, Kaerlos (C), Acee (A)

Despite having multiple decorated and experienced members, there wasn't as much of a spotlight on CVD as the other teams. However, they were another team to pass all challenges without a set dropped, despite facing Olimpo Squad, Team Queso, and Pokémons F/A among others - they will certainly be one to look out for this month.

3) Urubus Do Pix | Jubileu, PitBullFera, Wesley, Kaiki (M), Sugus (A)

UDP had the "easiest" bracket of the top teams - even though they faced 2 fellow MF-qualified teams in Panchos and Amigos do Adalmantas. They too won every set in the qualifier, but face a much harder challenge in Fofoletes F/A in their quarter-finals - will they be able to pull off an upset?

4) Fofoletes F/A (formerly known as Pokémons F/A) | Mohtep, Pekka, Tufa, Rol (C)

It came as a surprise to many to see the best team in SA in 2023 fail to win every match in the Monthly Qualifier. However, they showed that they still have their clutch gene, and managed to stay together to qualify via the Lower Bracket, defeating Team Queso in the process.

5) Panchos | AleSSJ, NoOne, Tano, Keng (M) (Lukitas announced he had left the team after the MQ)

Panchos are another team that had what could be called an easy bracket. However, do not let this hide the fact that they are a dormant force - for within their ranks they have two World Finalists in AleSSJ and NoOne - the former also being a Monthly Final champion in EMEA. Expect them to cause some trouble.

6) Adalmantas 357 (before known as Amigos do Adalmantas) | Gudi, Fv7, Rei Do Fut, Studio, Kira (M)

They have many doubters facing them, but Adalmantas 357 can use this stage to really make a name for themselves. Their roster consists of some of Brazil's most exciting new talents, but they will have to bring their A-game if they are to surpass Team Queso in the quarter-finals.

7) Marruecos | Alonso, Kristian, Loko, Yaguex (C)

After playing as Datos F/A at the end of 2023, Alonso and Loko are back under the Marruecos tag. After falling to Calabresos in the Upper Bracket, they did not have a much easier match-up in the Lower, as they faced One Chance. This was no problem for them though - and they qualified for Monthlies in style, with a 2-0 victory.

8) Team Queso | Bryan, Jxcr, Rhz, Kius (M), Joaking (C)

TQ pulled the shortest straw with their bracket, and faced a plethora of top teams, such as One Chance, CVD F/A, iworlds, Reis Da PL, and Pokémons F/A, before they had to play the tiebreaker against Bom Dia Princesa and One Chance (again). They made use of their second opportunity and used it to qualify for the Monthly Finals, and are favourites to make it to the semis too.