Gaimin Gladiators captured victory in the South American ESL Challenger League Finals, securing their place at ESL Pro League Season 23. The Brazilian squad joins teams like Lynn Vision and PARIVISION who also earned qualification through the ESL Challenger League pathway. They'll participate in the opening stage of ESL's premier competition from February 27 through March 3 next year.

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The squad faced off against 9z in the grand final, where they battled through a grueling best-of-five series that tested their resilience and composure. The match started poorly for Gaimin Gladiators, who suffered a crushing defeat on their own map selection of Train, falling 5-13. However, the Brazilian side showed their championship mettle by bouncing back emphatically on Ancient, where João "felps" Vasconcellos and Jhonatan "JOTA" Willian delivered exceptional performances to level the series.

9z managed to edge out a narrow victory on Dust2, winning 16-13 in what became one of the closest maps of the series. The match went to overtime as both teams traded rounds back and forth, with 9z ultimately prevailing to take a 2-1 series advantage.

Facing elimination, Gaimin Gladiators demonstrated they were the superior team on the day, dominating the final two maps. They secured convincing victories on both Inferno and Overpass to complete the comeback and seal the 3-2 series triumph. felps stood out as the star performer for Gaimin Gladiators, posting a 100-73 scoreline across the five maps and proving instrumental in the team's comeback victory.

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This qualification marks an important milestone for Gaimin Gladiators as they prepare to compete against elite international opposition at ESL Pro League Season 23.

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