9z's Historic First International Trophy — Inside Their Perfect XSE Pro League Run
After years of rebuilding, roster changes, and heartbreaking near-misses, 9z finally reached the top of a major international tournament. The Argentine organization swept PARIVISION 3-0 in the grand final of XSE Pro League Guangzhou 2026, claiming the first international trophy in the team's history. Here's the story of how they got there, and why it matters so much for South American Counter-Strike.
Some championship runs feel inevitable from the group stage onward. This one didn't, and that's exactly what makes it worth telling in full.
The Final: A Dominant Sweep
9z closed out XSE Pro League Guangzhou 2026 with a commanding 3-0 sweep over PARIVISION across Mirage, Inferno, and Dust2, as clean a map veto as either side could have drawn up. 9z won every single first half of the series, repeatedly forcing PARIVISION into the harder position of chasing a deficit rather than dictating the pace themselves. Every player on the 9z roster had a moment in the spotlight across the series: Franco "dgt" Garcia dropped 20-kill performances on two separate maps, while Luciano "luchov" Herrera topped the individual ratings on the opening map. The win secured 9z $260,000 of the tournament's $1,000,000 prize pool, with PARIVISION taking home $140,000 for their runner-up finish.
Matias "HUASOPEEK" Ibañez Hernandez was named the event's Most Valuable Player, finishing the tournament with a 1.19 rating, the individual centerpiece of a genuinely balanced team performance rather than a single carry job.
A Rocky Road That Got Smoother Every Round
What makes this title genuinely earned rather than a lucky bracket run is how far from smooth the path actually was. 9z stumbled through the group stage with defeats to both EYEBALLERS and Alliance, an unconvincing start that gave little indication of what was coming. From there, though, the team grew visibly stronger match by match. They eliminated TYLOO in the quarterfinals, then faced a rematch against the very Alliance side that had beaten them in groups for a spot in the final. That semifinal went to 9z 2-1, with a tactical map switch from Dust2 to Nuke proving decisive, and Ignacio "meyern" Meyer coming alive with rifles after a quiet start to the series to help close it out alongside luchov's late multi-kills.
The First Trophy in the Organization's History
9z has been a fixture in Latin American Counter-Strike since the organization's founding back in 2018, but this specific title marks a genuine first: their first-ever international trophy at this level of competition. The victory continues a run of momentum that's been building for months. Earlier in the year, 9z made the playoffs at PGL Astana in May with wins over Falcons and MOUZ along the way, and followed that with a playoff run at the IEM Cologne Major, by far the best Major finish in the organization's history. Guangzhou is the culmination of that stretch rather than an isolated surprise, a team that had been knocking on the door at bigger and bigger events finally getting through it.
PARIVISION's Silver Lining
The runner-up finish isn't nothing for PARIVISION either. This was the first tournament for their new-look roster following the additions of HObbit and slaxejezzz, and reaching a grand final in a debut event, having eliminated BIG and FaZe along the way in the playoffs, is a genuinely strong showing regardless of the final result. It's the kind of result that puts a team firmly on the radar heading into future events, even in defeat.
Why This Result Resonates Beyond the Scoreline
South American Counter-Strike has had its moments on the international stage before, but a first-ever trophy of this scale for an organization that's been building for close to a decade is the kind of story that lands differently than another top-tier European or Eastern European team adding to an already-long list of titles. For 9z specifically, after years of rebuilding and roster turnover, this is a genuine validation of the current lineup's chemistry, not just individual talent showing up on a good day.
Keep Your Read on the Scene Just as Sharp
Watching a story like 9z's build over an entire year, from a Cologne Major playoff run to a first international trophy, is part of what makes following competitive CS2 genuinely rewarding. If you enjoy that kind of close following of the scene, testing your knowledge of the game's skins, prices, and history is a different, equally engaging way to stay sharp on the culture surrounding it, and that's exactly what the mini games on CS Guess are built for.
Head over to CS Guess, put your CS2 knowledge to the test, and see how your read on the scene holds up alongside your read on its biggest breakthrough stories.