MIBR part ways with fer, TACO & dead

The Brazilian team will be making some adjustments in the coming weeks after a series of disappointing results.

MIBR have parted company with Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga, Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo, and coach Ricardo "⁠dead⁠" Sinigaglia with immediate effect, the Brazilian team announced on Sunday. The changes follow a disastrous run of results since the team landed in Serbia for a long bootcamp after the player break.

Both players issued brief statements on Twitter promising to reveal more information at a later date. TACO noted that this was a decision "made exclusively by the organisation" and dropped a hint that he will continue his career, saying that he is "looking forward to seeing what the future holds".

dead also took to Twitter to react to the news, saying that, "when the time comes", he will comment on everything. The Brazilian coach and manager was suspended by the organisation after it was revealed that he had exploited the spectator bug for competitive advantage in an ESL One: Road to Rio match — which earned him a six-month suspension from all tournaments held by members of the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) . He was also handed a separate two-event ban by Beyond the Summit after using the bug in cs_summit 6. His actions cost MIBR all of their Regional Major Ranking (RMR) points after Valve announced that teams caught exploiting the bug in these tournaments would have their points reset.

TACO and fer leave MIBR following a decision by the management

The news means that Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and fer will split up after a long association that began in 2014, when the Brazilian sniper joined KaBuM!. TACO linked up with the team in 2015 and spent the last five years with the squad, apart from an eight-month period in 2018 with Liquid. The trio won several titles together, including back-to-back Majors in 2016, and helped to form one of the most successful teams in CS:GO history.

But the team have struggled to stay competitive for the better part of the last two years. MIBR's last title dates back to August 2018, at the ZOTAC Cup Masters 2018 Grand Finals, and they have been outside the top 10 in the world rankings since July 2019.

Things went from bad to worse after the recent player break as MIBR embarked on a woeful run of form while on a bootcamp in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. The team won just four matches out of 14, struggling even against opponents outside the top 50, with Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe taking over as in-game leader in one of the squad's latest attempts to right the ship.

MIBR are slated to compete in the following RMR tournament in North America, IEM New York, which will kick off October 6. The team will also compete in the BLAST Premier Fall Series 2020 Americas, later that month, and in the second edition of Flashpoint, with a starting date to be determined.

With these changes, MIBR now have: