Popular Brazilian Twitch streamer Alexandre “Gaules” Borba has broken his record for highest concurrent viewers with over 540,000 people tuning in to his stream, according to Twitch Tracker.
The record occurred during the tense final moments of triple overtime as Imperial Esports battled Cloud9 at PGL Major Antwerp 2022. The first map of the best of three that decides the tournament life of the two teams went the way of Imperial, the Brazilian squad, in spectacular fashion.
The map, Overpass, ended with a tense post-plant 2v2. In the end, it was just one player left alive for Imperial. He was dispatched but not before bomb ticked below five seconds remaining. With no time left to defuse, Imperial Esports won the round and the map, keeping their PGL Major Antwerp dreams alive.
As a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player and coach, Gaules has built his Twitch community around the game. The Brazilian streamer always rallies huge amounts of support for the popular Brazilian teams such as FURIA Esports, MIBR and, most recently, Imperial Esports. On May 15, Gaules had more than 430,000 viewers watching his stream at one time. That record was broken only a day later during the Imperial Esports vs. Cloud9 match.
Imperial recently signed the “Last Dance” project — a collection of veteran Brazilian pros helmed by Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo. The history behind the players on the roster has led to the team accruing a massive fanbase in a short period of team. Even still, expectations were low for the team whose players were believed to be past their prime.
Defying expectations, Imperial managed to qualify for PGL Major Antwerp 2022. What’s more, they clawed their way into the Legends stage where they eventually ended up facing Cloud9 in the 1-2 elimination match of the Swiss bracket. Cloud9 has been a consistent top five team over the past few years of CS:GO, and the expectation is that the squad will net themselves a strong playoff finish at Antwerp. Imperial Esports are the heavy underdog in the matchup, making the map win a statement.
