Tons of MIBR fans poured into the Ginásio do Ibirapuera Arena in São Paulo, Brazil looking to watch their hometown team impress against some of the best competition the world has to offer at BLAST Pro Series São Paulo. Unfortunately, MIBR couldn’t find any success during the tournament and ended up skirting the bottom of the group stage with no wins.
They faced off against some tough competition in Astralis, FaZe Clan, Team Liquid, ENCE, and Ninjas in Pyjamas—and with a team still trying to build back coordination and synergy, they were at a bit of a disadvantage heading into the tournament. They still have a very strong lineup with a ton of firepower behind them, though, so they aren’t an underdog by any means. Being in their home country of Brazil also placed a lot of pressure on their shoulders.
Unfortunately, MIBR simply couldn’t find individual or overall success in any of their matches. All five players had some of the worst statistics of the group stage so far. Epitácio “TACO” de Melo, for example, had a very difficult tournament, sporting an abysmal negative 29 kill/death difference and a 0.74 HLTV rating.
Their worst match was against North American powerhouse Team Liquid, who are heading to the grand finals to face off against Astralis. MIBR managed to only pick up two round wins in a 16-2 rout. It was a difficult game to watch as Keith “NAF” Markovic blasted his way to 20 kills to lead his team to victory.
To perform at such a low level in front of your hometown fans must be heartbreaking for this new-look MIBR roster. Fortunately, it’s early in the year and they have plenty of time to bounce back from such a demoralizing loss. They’re still figuring out their strengths, their map pool, and how they can compliment each other’s skill sets. MIBR definitely have the talent to flourish in 2019, but it will take some patience from both the team and the fans.
