Furia, Vorax among the favorite teams in Brazil Challengers

Nicholas James Published 27/01/2021

The South American region is kicking off its regional Challengers tournament a few days earlier than the rest of the world. The Brazillian leg is now in the closed qualifiers stage, finishing up the online open qualifiers with a few upsets.

All of the top four teams in the Brazillian First Strike event were upset in the open qualifiers and will not be defending their titles at the event. Gamelanders and B4 eSports, which finished first and third respectively, were upset in the last leg of the qualifier.

So without the top teams from First Strike, which teams are the favorites to take the title of the first Challenger event?

Furia Esports and Vorax lead Brazilian Valorant

Furia is a recent addition to the Brazillian scene, picking up players post-First Strike. The organization is a powerhouse in its region and showed great promise in its first major event. The newly minted team qualified over Gamelanders in dominant fashion, beating the First Strike champions in two straight games.

Furia has picked up many of the more promising talents in the scene, notably former B4 eSports frontman Alexandre “xand” Zizi, and now looks poised to take the first Challengers title.

This team is one of the more consistent Valorant squads in the Brazillian region. It was formed just before First Strike as two teams merged together under one organization and is one of the few teams that has qualified for the 2020 major tournament and Challengers.

Vorax did have one of the easier brackets through which to qualify, mostly battling against unsponsored and amatuer teams, but still impressed by not dropping a map in its run from the round of 32.

Team Vikings is a dark horse in Brazil’s Challengers event

Team Vikings is more of a dark horse to take the tournament, but has the stats to back up a favorite status. The squad has three players that are in the top 10 of KDA in the qualifiers, and the team’s ace Gustavo “gtnziN” Moura had an over 300 average combat score.

In its run to the closed qualifiers, the team also took down Brazillian stalwart paiN Gaming, which is ranked in the top five in its region. Of the teams competing in the closed qualifier, Team Vikings are one of the more intriguing squads that fans should keep an eye on.

Nicholas James

About Nicholas James

Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.

View full profile

Read Also

News

X launches Live Studio in bid to rival Twitch and Kick Khizar Mundia Social media giant X has been pushing for content streamers to start livestreaming on the platform, and Head of Product Nikita Bier has announced the launch of Live Studio. X isn’t particularly known for its livestreaming capabilities, and the platform is typically used by clippers to make memorable moments go viral. However, X Head of Product Nikita Bier has been encouraging creators to multistream their content on the platform for ...

Kick

Why Mexico returned SteveWillDoIt’s Rolex gifts: The controversy explained Khizar Mundia Stephen “SteveWillDoIt” Rocco Deleonardis celebrated a recent win by gifting the Mexican national football team Rolex watches, but the gesture quickly became controversial, leading to the team returning the gifts. Interest in predicting the outcomes of major sporting events surges whenever tournaments are underway. FIFA has even partnered with ADI Predictstreet, marking the World Cup’s official entry into prediction markets. American YouTuber SteveWillDoIt reportedly staked $2 million on Mexico advancing ...

Twitch

iShowSpeed hits Instagram milestone, gets told to ‘go home’ by Argentina fan Khizar Mundia Darren “iShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. has hit another milestone after surpassing 50 million followers on Instagram, but the streamer also found himself on the receiving end of taunts during the Argentina vs Cape Verde match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. iShowSpeed has been consistently livestreaming the World Cup in North America, but he had to host a watch-along for Portugal's Round of 16 match due to travel complications. The YouTuber ...

Slots

Here is how to play Panda Goes Boom, Red Tiger Gaming’s new slot Ben Boland The adorable Panda theme has become one of the most popular categories in the video slots industry, so it is easy for developers to fall into the trap of cliched presentation and mechanics. Panda Goes Boom manages to avoid that pitfall and instead announces itself as one of the leading new slot releases of 2026 — it was released on June 15 by Red Tiger Gaming and is already available ...

News

Xbox to follow PlayStation in ending all physical media Zachary Roberts Earlier this week, PlayStation announced it will stop producing physical discs for new PlayStation games starting January 2028. Now, Xbox appears poised to do the same. Though it isn't coming in the form of an official blog post like the PlayStation news did, there's plenty of reporting that Microsoft is about to do the same, though perhaps not in the same way. Sony has confirmed that by January 2028, it ...

News

DraftKings gets serious about prediction markets with DKeX launch Khizar Mundia Prediction markets are becoming increasingly relevant to the gaming industry, and DraftKings has taken a major step into the space by launching DKeX. DraftKings has now officially announced DKeX, but the move has been in the works since last year. The company acquired Railbird Technologies in October 2025, thereby obtaining the CFTC-regulated infrastructure required to enter the sector as a prediction market operator. Following the acquisition, DraftKings offered prediction market ...

Slots

Satisfy your food cravings — How to play the Ramen Quest slot by Degen Labs Hannan Mundia Degen Labs has recently launched the delicious Ramen Quest slot, complete with charming chibi-like visuals and identifiable ramen-themed symbols. The most successful online slots are usually created by the same handful of major slot providers. This is less because of a lack of creativity or skill, but more because lesser-known developers don’t usually have the required backing to come into the spotlight. Fortunately for Degen Lab, Stake has partnered to ...