2024 couldn’t be better for SAW. After qualifying for the first Counter-Strike 2 Major in Copenhagen, and for the final stage of the BLAST Premier Spring Finals in London, the Portuguese organization surprised everyone and everything on German soil, by securing an unprecedented presence in the world. IEM Cologne 2024 qualifiers. Listed as one of the “underdogs” of the tournament, SAW began their journey in Cologne in the play-in stage, where they needed to win twice to be present at the main event, alongside- alongside the best coaching in the international context. Here, irrevocably, the Portuguese team left behind the formation of TheMongolz, the number one team in the Asian ranking, and BIG, a formation established among the top 20 teams in the European ranking. After two convincing victories, the Portuguese quintet qualified for the main event of the competition and dared to dream against the international sharks. The first match in this stage, which took place last Saturday, the 10th of this month, put the national team on the path to the team currently ranked number one in the European G2 Esports rankings.

This duel, which was more complicated for the Portuguese accounts, turned out to be the easiest of the two that will play in the IEM Cologne qualifiers. In a series played on the best of three maps, the Warriors surprised the international community by defeating m0NESY and company 2-0, on de_nuke and de_inferno, 13-5 and 13-10 respectively. This victory left the SAW series far from making history again. For the first time in the context of Portuguese Counter-Strike, Portugal found itself fighting for a place in what is considered the cathedral of the ecosystem.

The final match, which took place last Sunday, the 11th, led us to meet the Mongols again and no ease was expected. A sign of this is the wrong entry into the mark. The first map of the series, de_ancient, smiled at the Mongolian team, and the Portuguese athletes made up for the loss in the remaining match.

If, at other times, a delicate moment for national aspirations was expected, MUtiRiS, roman, arrozdoce, Story and ewjerkz responded in kind and rose to a level never seen before. In the remaining series, the Portuguese quintet dominated all hostilities and secured qualification for the main event with victories over de_nuke and de_anubis with scores of 13-7 and 13-10 respectively.

With this win, SAW secures its unprecedented presence in the top six of the competition, alongside the best teams in the world. On Tuesday the 13th of this month, the Portuguese team returns to the server to face NAVI, a team already qualified in the same division. The winner of this match qualifies directly to the semi-finals of the competition, while the loser begins his playoff journey from the quarter-finals.

The IEM Cologne qualifiers start next Friday, the 16th, and continue until Sunday, the 18th, and the Portuguese flag will be represented for the first time in Counter-Strike's cathedral, the Lanxess Arena, in Cologne.