Two sides of the Brazilian coin: the diverging paths of FalleN and coldzera

Two legendary Brazilians have taken different routes to try to return to the summit of CS:GO.

It has been nearly six years since the legendary Brazilian core headed by Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David won their second Major in front of a packed crowd at ESL One Cologne 2016. It was the peak of a mountain that they had scaled together, through hard work and dedication, and they brought the Brazilian scene along with them as they reached that summit; they can consider themselves largely responsible for inspiring a new wave of stars to try and make the climb themselves in the years that followed, teams like Immortals and FURIA.

The years since haven't been entirely kind to them. coldzera went from a two-time #1 player in the world to struggling in the back end of his time on FaZe and Complexity. FalleN went from a top-five player in the world and premier AWPer to a drag factor, particularly during his Liquid time. Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga fell off a cliff, becoming a player who struggled to find impact in lower tier EU events like Malta Vibes Cup. Lincoln "⁠fnx⁠" Lau only touched the game for brief stints in recent times, generally underwhelming before disappearing for months on end.

It makes sense then, at least in some way, that the players found a desire to reform. The SK Gaming days were the best stretch of every single one of their careers, and with everyone having, to some degree, disappointed in their most recent ventures, revisiting an old yet tried and tested formula is understandably appealing. Originally the reports were placing coldzera and FalleN at the centre of a new project, and again this isn't surprising, as the duo were the stars around which the previous team orbited. Instead of teaming up, however, in an effort to find glory together once more, their paths ultimately diverged. coldzera went to the much maligned 00NATION in an effort to build them an exciting young roster, whilst FalleN followed through with reuniting the double Major winning core of SK under the Imperial banner. Instead of coldzera and FalleN, we got coldzera versus FalleN.

Not only did their paths diverge literally as they became the figureheads of different teams and opponents in the server, but their philosophies seemingly diverged as well. coldzera went in a bold, new direction, being drawn in by the prospect of leading a team built around new talent to glory, guiding the next generation of South American stars to success; he seemed to have settled in with the prevailing wisdom that backing the next generation is better than recycling the same names. FalleN instead found comfort in the old, pulling together familiar pieces in a familiar formation to try and recapture the magic of days gone by; he seemingly backed experience, known quantities and a shared history.

So thus far just how have these competing philosophies treated the two most storied players in Brazilian CS:GO?

At the time, coldzera was the man who garnered the admiration of many for his move. Instead of joining what will certainly be a lucrative victory lap with the old boys of SK Gaming, he chose to take a risk on lesser known names that are high in potential and skill, if rough around the edges and relatively unproven at a tier-one level. He chose to try and write a new chapter in the tale of his legend, a chapter that would see him usher in a new raft of talented players from the South American region.

The reality has not quite been so poetic.

The first outing for 00NATION was a moderate success, as they made their way successfully through a Pinnacle Winter Series regional, qualifying for the main event with a 3-1 record that featured solid wins over decent tier-two/three opposition; the highlight win was a 2-0 victory over the then #38 team in the world, Unique. Results since then have been dismal by and large, with the team crashing out of two Pinnacle events early with a 1-6 combined series record, falling to Movistar Riders in a BLAST Showdown qualifier, and flopping the OMEN WGR European Challenge. It seems developing new talent is not an easy task, even for someone as experienced and successful as the two-time best player in the world, coldzera.

What certainly serves to mitigate the disappointment one might feel in 00NATION is the fact that they are competing in Europe, and generally against solid sub-top European opposition; not quite a baptism of fire, but not the easiest way to bed in two fresh-faced teenagers who have experienced precious little match-time against that kind of opposition. Another mitigating factor is the fact that 00NATION have suffered many close losses. In their Pinnacle Cup III run, for example, three of the six maps they lost were either 14-16 or 13-16 scorelines. In their failed run at the BLAST Showdown qualifier, they lost 12-16 and 13-16 to Movistar Riders in the final.

FalleN on the other hand suffered some ridicule and scepticism for his decision to rekindle an old flame, seemingly putting together something of a vanity project that would garner little success; FalleN himself, fer and fnx seemed washed and well past competing at a high level, with Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo and Ricardo "⁠boltz⁠" Prass serviceable if unspectacular. Instead, under the Imperial banner, things have seemed relatively promising, with the team posting solid runs in several qualifiers and winning the aforementioned OMEN WGR European Challenge, vastly outperforming their counterparts in 00NATION in the process. The very early days of this rivalry appear to have gone the way of veteran AWPer FalleN.

There are a couple of caveats that must be mentioned when discussing Imperial's form, just as there were with 00NATION. 00NATION have been, generally, playing a higher calibre of team, with Imperial having only faced South American opposition, and not the best teams, before their trip to Europe to compete in the OMEN event. Secondly, Imperial currently have a very small sample size of games to look at. 00NATION have played over double the amount of maps in 2022. Considering FalleN and co. have only played 21 maps, and a number of them against a poor calibre of opposition, it is may be a tad early to be getting too excited about their form.

One thing went right for both teams, and it was the most important event; the Americas RMR qualifier. The two squads qualified for the RMR in convincing fashion, and had 00NATION managed to get past Case in the semi-finals, they would have set up a poetic first meeting of the ex-teammates in the final of that qualifier. Regardless, in the most important battle to date, each legend made sure their new project succeeded. With both teams having attended two of the same events in the short lives of their squads, even losing to the same team in the RMR qualifier (that team being Case), it almost feels like the destinies of these two rosters are somehow locked together, that we are somehow destined to see the two different approaches taken battle for supremacy; for now FalleN is winning out.

So we have seen that the two figureheads of Brazilian CS, the two sides of the SK Gaming coin, have experienced differing fortunes in the first months of their new endeavours. By looking at the structure and style of the two squads, we might find some clues as to exactly why.

One man has emerged as the standout star player for Imperial, and it might surprise many to know that the man carrying the Brazilian legends is in fact fer. He is by far the highest rated player in the team's time together so far, his 1.29 dwarfing VINI's 1.19, and he is putting up this rating whilst being their most aggressive player as well. He formed the tip of the spear in all three of the team's events played so far, posting a 1.20 entry rating at the RMR qualifier, a 1.55 entry rating in the BLAST Showdown qualifier, and a 1.27 entry rating in the OMEN event. VINI comes in second to fer in terms of rating, and he also is second to fer in terms of entry statistics. In other words, fer and VINI are the key players for Imperial, being by far the most aggressive and also the most potent fraggers on the team. It seems that the known quantities are, so far, getting the job done for FalleN; the storied IGL could make the argument that opting for known quantities has been the vital tenet of his plan, regardless of the fact that outsiders might say that fer's revitalisation was far from predictable.

As for the rest of the roster, FalleN so far has been the middle-man for the team, posting solid numbers, whilst boltz and fnx form the supportive core, with fnx lagging behind significantly statistically. Interestingly, and in line with the known qualities of the man, the one area that fnx has found some success in is clutching, with him actually leading the OMEN event in 1vsX won (five).

As for 00NATION, the stats have been spread much more evenly across the board; Santino "⁠try⁠" Rigal, Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa, Vinicius "⁠vsm⁠" Moreira and coldzera all sport an average rating between 1.11-1.07 in 2022. There are two differentiating factors that leave try and malbsMd standing out from their peers however; K-D diff and entry attempts respectively. try has been by far the most potent fragger on the team thus far, posting an impressive +140 K-D diff so far in 2022 in 46 maps, and has a K/D of 1.19; the next best numbers are coldzera's +56 and 1.07. malbsMd leads the way in entry attempts for 00NATION by a country mile, with 28.4% of his team's attempts and a 1.21 entry rating; the next highest is try with a comparatively paltry 18.6% and 1.16 rating.

What these numbers tell us, unsurprisingly, is that try and malbsMd are the key fraggers on the team, with the latter being setup to succeed early in the round and the former becoming more involved later in the round. The main problem is that the two youngsters, who are supposed to be the carries around which the team is built, have not quite hit the heights required of them. It is apparent that the approach of developing new talent is more of a challenge, there are more unknowns and more pitfalls for coldzera and his new project to navigate when compared to Imperial, even if there is also arguably a much higher potential upside.

With the Americas RMR coming up next for both teams it is now time to start seeing these rosters build towards something resembling their peak; FalleN needs to maintain the early, if modest, success of his project, whilst coldzera needs to overcome the challenges of bringing new talents to the top table. The RMR itself will be a great chance to test exactly where these teams measure up against some of the stronger opponents in their region; Liquid and FURIA will both be in attendance, with teams like Complexity, Evil Geniuses and MIBR also presenting stiff opposition.

Most tantalising of all, however, is the prospect of seeing these teams face off against each other as they both battle to qualify for their first Major as new rosters. Will fate bring these two together in a clash to see who has gotten the better of the dawn of their new projects, or will we be forced to wait and continue to extrapolate and estimate the respective strengths of these two exciting rosters? Maybe the Major itself will be the battleground for the clash between FalleN and coldzera. Either way, the unspoken battle between FalleN and coldzera has been intriguing to follow thus far, and strong performances at the RMR would only serve to fuel that intrigue.

Which will win the day in the long run, the old, or the new? Only time will tell.