In Brazil, Gamers Club — a third-party platform similar to FACEIT or ESEA — has unearthed a lot of new blood in the scene. GODSENT’s trio latto, b4rtin, and dumau made their first steps in Gamers Club lobbies. To be considered a dangerous or high-level player on the platform there are a few requirements. The first is a Naruto or Anime Steam profile picture. Skilled, but unknown, Brazilian players started this trend which can be explained by the player’s age group, a maximum of 18, that watch this type of content. Apart from the profile picture, this kind of player has Mirage mastered. They know all the angles and tactics; their level of play receives a considerable boost on this map. Almost all members of MEGAZORD follow the profile described here.
Recently, they played in a Gamers Club PUG against FalleN, KSCERATO, coldzera, fer, and boltz. They played Mirage and, without much surprise, MEGAZORD won 16-13 with a lot of good shots from the young squad. During the match, the MEGAZORD players received many compliments from viewers and players. As a joke, some community personalities say that if the Major was played only on Mirage, Brazil would have more than two wins.
The name “MEGAZORD” is a reference to the Power Rangers — the colossal robot that joins the abilities of the five smaller “zord” robots into one. Allan “history” Lawrenz, Kaue “kauez” Kascuk, Mateus “cidZzZ” Piber, Samuel “voltera” Rodrigues, and Kayke “kye” Bertolucci form this squad with such great talent and potential.
history previously played in eLevate — a North American organization which houses a Brazilian roster for two months during 2021. The 17-year-old AWPer boasts the highest HLTV rating (1.12) on the team in the last three months, a feat made more remarkable considering his role. He has also shown he is capable of rifling — dividing his statistics in the last three months in similar numbers in kills with the AWP and rifles.
kauez is one of the most promising players in the region despite having a VAC ban for allegedly using a skin-changer. The 18-year-old prodigy was an important piece in DETONA’s team last year, unfortunately parting ways with the team after confessing to having the ban. During the first season of the CBCS Elite League (a South American RMR event) a lot of players were accused and later exposed of having accounts with a VAC ban. Because of Valve’s new position on VAC banned accounts, kauez has two more years of waiting before he will be eligible to play in a Valve-sanctioned event as his ban dates back 3 years. The Brazilian talent is playing as a trade fragger in this new project.
cidZzZ, in-game leader of MEGAZORD, was part of Bears at the beginning of 2021 but he was recently removed from the team in a recent roster change. He is another player with a VAC-banned account although in a TwitLonger the player explains that he is still waiting for an answer from Valve about the specifics of his ban. Continuing the trend, kye is another VAC-banned player on the roster at just 16 years old. The lurker parted ways with his former team, Keyd, after a disappointing season.
voltera is the most recent addition to the team, promising to add more experience to the roster as part of his role as an entry-fragger. The former Bears player — playing alongside cidZzZ — is 23 years and has the most experience playing in a competitive environment. Although the team is focused on results, and we can see a game style based on firepower and simple tactics, they have also added the Brazilian coach Emanuel “gra1zen” Andrade to help with tactical issues.
Considered as promising players in the region and following frustrating experiences in their previous teams and with Valve, they decided to join forces and form MEGAZORD. “Mirage’s Lions” as they are affectionately called by the community, the team is still trying to find their space in the competitive scene. In the second season of the CBCS Retake Series they were able to reach the playoffs but fell to Havan Liberty. Shortly after in August, they played in the most important monthly league in Brazil, Liga Gamers Club Série A. MEGAZORD placed fourth, finishing the tournament behind the likes of 9z Team and Paquetá.
While having decent online results, the young Brazilian squad must face the process of transferring their performance from online to offline; many players known by their performances online can’t replicate them in face-to-face events.
“We see ourselves as one of the best teams in Brazil, we know our potential and we know that we can stand out within the top 5 in Brazil. Our style of play is more based on quick reactions, and we take advantage of the synchrony we have inside of the game. My teammates, they are the best I’ve played with, both our relationship outside and inside the game is amazing,” said cidZzZ about MEGAZORD and his teammates.
grayz1n dove deeper into the squad’s potential, saying, “nowadays I see the potential of the team to face the main teams in Brazil with ease as we have already managed to do today with 2 months of the team.” He continues, “individually I believe that the boys can play in great Brazilian teams that play here or abroad and as soon as the bans expire there will be several proposals for some of the boys. Our goals nowadays are to get places in the biggest tournaments, get good performances and establish ourselves in Brazilian Tier 1. Of course, we want to win championships, obviously, and we trust that with this lineup we will achieve great things in Brazil. I think slowly we will get more used to the great teams in Brazil and the longer we are in the CS:GO Brazilian elite, the more we will be ready to compete and win big championships over time.”
kye stated, “I hope that in a few years I’m playing against the best all over the world, and the style of play I define myself as a more aggressive player when the time needs it, but who prefers to play more on the wings making a lurker as a standard. [My teammates] all have incredible potential and without a doubt, they are one of the best I’ve played with.”
The Brazilian scene is expecting good things from the squad too. MEGAZORD is a reunion of what the Brazilian scene has to offer: high mechanical skill ceilings. The CS:GO competitive scene is not all about killing and pressing W, however. All these signs are promising, and the team can deliver good things to the Brazilian fan base. It’s clear that all regions have players with much firepower, however, the Brazilian scene discovers a lot of talent daily. Maybe what’s missing is the tactical part, one of the most important aspects of the game.
Known for his experience in coaching and analysis in the Brazilian scene, Giovanni “gio” Deniz gave his opinion on MEGAZORD. “They are players with gigantic aiming potential, but they don’t have a more experienced head to withstand moments where experience will count. kauez has already shown his result at [Gamers Club] Masters with DETONA. The others haven’t been so prominent yet, but without a doubt, they managed to perform well. The main difference at this point is that they are 100% online, where they can develop and conquer space quickly and continuously.”
Brazilian CS:GO commentator, Raul “Raules” Ribeiro, highlights also the skill and individual level of the MEGAZORD players and the VAC Ban situation involving three players, “points that can hinder the team’s evolution in the long run is the presence of old accounts banned in some players. Also, maybe the lack of experience doesn’t allow the team to find some “shortcuts” to evolution, but with time they will definitely acquire this.”
Havan Liberty coach, Sid “sidde” Macedo, praises the MEGAZORD player’s initiative: “The initiative of players to try a project of this type is very interesting because it gives a relief to the career of those who are serving punishment with Valve.” sidde continues, “I think the choice of players was also well made, because it mixes talents with little competitive experience, with players with a little more shooting like cidZzZ and kauez bringing the balance they need in relation to mixing tactical style and the ‘loose’ posture of young players.”
Finishing off by adding, “I started to admire them when I realized that they are invested in playing the game correctly and intelligently. Many of these teams of young people want to play anyway, thinking that the skill solves everything. But in this team, I realize that due to the coach and captain’s efforts, there is a more structured style and a concern to do things from the beginning of the team in the most correct and structured way possible.”
The potential of young players is never certain, but with the right kind of experience and proper practice, who knows? Maybe MEGAZORD will be the next Brazilian Major winners or become legendary names in the Tier 1 scene. Their potential is undeniable.
