The Rise of LATAM: Alpha Atheris’s Journey to the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta

Alpha Atheris secured their spot for the Six Major Atlanta with players who are constantly growing in the region, and now they come to showcase their work in a major tournament.

With a roster consisting of Mexicans and Brazilians, the Alpha Atheris team found the perfect balance to overcome favorites like Six Karma and Reven Esports and secure the region’s first spot for the Six Major, happening in Atlanta. But who are they? Get to know the team and their journey to get here, with some additional insight provided by Gustavo “H4skk” Gabas, the 19-year-old entry fragger for the team.

The Team’s Foundation

In July 2022, the second edition of the Supercopa LATAM Norte for the year kicked off. The tournament featured the top Tier 2 teams from the region and the Mexican Championship teams that didn’t qualify for the Elite Six, the main tournament in LATAM at the time. One of the teams participating in the championship was Alpha Academy, which included three specific players: José “Motumbo” Diaz, José “Jayxrs” Roberto, and Carlos “Ivan” Campa. Today, all of them play for Alpha Atheris.

The team’s campaign began with a walkover win against Kingdom and two incredible victories against Fenix Esports and Reven Esports, all three games against Mexican Championship teams. In the grand final? A showdown against Oscar “Toski” Sepúlveda, Alpha, who is also part of Alpha Atheris today. The academy team faced the main team in a BO5 final. To the surprise of the region: a three maps to zero victory for the academy team. This was our first glimpse at the heights they could reach.

In 2022’s third edition of the Supercopa LATAM Norte, the team competed under a new name, now as ESTORM, but the result remained the same: champions. The roster continued to amaze the region. Capping off the team’s great moment? Qualification for the Closed Qualifier of the Six Invitational 2023. However, player Motumbo couldn’t compete in the Closed Qualifier, and with a man-down, the team couldn’t perform anywhere near their full potential, resulting in their elimination in the first game.

The Beginning of the Brazilian Piece of Alpha Atheris

Between the ages of 12 and 13, Brazilian player Gustavo “H4skk” Gabas began following Brazilian YouTubers Drezzy and Patife, with the latter even becoming a FaZe Clan member for a period. The content from these gamers influenced and excited him to purchase Siege on his PlayStation 4, and according to him, “it was love at first sight.”

A team celebration for H4skk’s birthday (Image Credits: Twitter/AlphaAtherisACA)

His first professional team was Pampas, where he made his debut playing in the Sudamericano Stage 3. The invitation came through Daniel “Lend4” Ferreira, who was the team’s coach at the time and needed a newcomer to be an entry fragger. The entire team consisted of native Spanish speakers, with three Argentinians and one Chilean. H4skk talks about the language challenge: “’When I received the invitation to play for Pampas, I saw it as a challenge. I spent some intense weeks with the guys learning the basic language needed to communicate in the game, but I ended up improving quickly and learning somewhat easily.”

During his time with Pampas, H4skk faced the biggest and most feared challenge for players at live events: delays. The finals of the Campeonato Sudamericano 2022 experienced an unusual delay, and the player commented on the difficulties that day: “We played for 10 straight hours, and the exhaustion was more mental than physical. I left there exhausted but proud of the result we achieved, even though we finished in 2nd place. It was an experience that helped me evolve as a player.”

Following this, some tournaments ceased to exist — the Sudamericano he was competing in was one of them, with the event transitioning to the LATAM region. During this period, H4skk admits he was concerned about the changes: “At the beginning of the year, I had a project with some Brazilians to go to Mexico, but it fell through. Seeing that happen made me nervous about being out of the competitive scene for that split.” Shortly after, the opportunity to work with Maycam Evolve arose, alongside two well-known Brazilians: Daniel “Novys” Novy and Lucca “MKing” Coser, and according to H4skk, it was “a very good and constructive experience.”

Looking back in a self-analysis, H4skk doesn’t think he performed well in the first Stage of the LATAM League in 2023 and was surprised by the organization’s invitation: “The invitation came a week after the LCQ ended. I already knew the players because we played a lot of ranked games together. It was unexpected. In my view, I hadn’t performed as I should have in the first split, and I wouldn’t have expected an offer like this.” However, the team connected and delivered results. H4skk saw the potential in the team from the beginning: “What motivated me was playing with rookies whom I already knew had a lot of potential, along with a very experienced captain like Toski.”

Now the player will compete in his first major tournament in Rainbow Six: Siege, and he shares what fans can expect from him: “In my view, I’m a player who can surprise a lot in the game due to my style of plays and adaptability within the team. I think it will be crucial to play in a Tier S championship to discover more about myself in the game and see my real potential in my role.”

The Team Captain

Experienced player Toski has the mission of leading a team filled with promising players. The player has been part of prominent teams in the Mexican competitive scene, including Infinity Esports, Estral Esports, Fenix Esports, ALPHA and Team Cruelty, before arriving at Alpha Atheris. However, not everything has been smooth sailing in the player’s career.

In 2021, the player was banned by Ubisoft for poaching. The incident in question involved a match between Infinity Esports and Estral Esports at the end of 2020. However, an investigation conducted by Ubisoft itself revealed that Estral’s management was responsible for his negative involvement. It was a case of pressuring the players not to tell the truth about the situation. But what about Toski? The player was playing for Estral, but only he and José “Fungi” Vidales were punished. The reason for Toski punishment is straightforward: according to the investigation, the poaching originated from the player himself, who had contacted another player regarding Estral’s recruitment.

Read More: The competitive ruling Ubisoft issued, banning Toski for 9 months

After everything was resolved and the punishment duly served, the player returned to competitive play and has proven to be a good leader and captain for the new generation in the region, leaving his past mistakes behind and wiping his slate clean.

Expectations for the Blast R6 Major Atlanta

The players are experiencing the highs of a career-defining moment since none of them have played in a Six Major or Six Invitational before, so it’s a unique sensation for everyone. H4skk, in particular, comments on this: “It hasn’t sunk in yet. The progress we’ve made since the match against 6K has been absurd, day by day improving more and more. When we defeated 6K and eliminated them from the playoffs, which was the ‘favorite’ for the Major spot, I already knew we would qualify. I woke up and went to bed saying that we only needed to play 4 maps in the playoffs and nothing more. I’m very proud of my individual and, especially, our collective improvement.”

But not everything is rosy when it comes to a tournament of this caliber, as the world’s top teams are there, and the competition is tough to secure a good placement. H4skk also talks about what to expect from the team in the competition: “We’re a very adaptive team and quite capable of going toe-to-toe with the big ones. I believe we can surprise many favored teams with our style of play. I trust and hope that we’ll go far in this Major.”

Alpha Atheris will begin the competition in the first phase along with 15 other teams from around the world, divided into four groups of four teams, with only two advancing to the second phase.