Yesterday was the finals of the long waited major of 2022, the IEM Rio Major, where 16 teams from all parts of the globe battle it out to claim the total prize pool of 1.25 million USD, a glamourous trophy, and a shot at the Intel Grand Slam worthy of 1 million USD. 16 teams participated in a single round robin with teams having a 0-3 result being eliminated. #2 ranked FaZe and #13 NIP were the first 2 teams to be eliminated after a disappointing performance losing to lower-ranked teams.
Tournament favorites Natus Vincere started with a banger after a triple OT win before #1 ranked Vitality, however losing their next 2 to Cloud9 and Team Liquid, forcing them into an elimination match against BNE. Navi won 2-0 against them and move past BIG 2-0 to earn their spot in the Champions stage. Brazilian team and home crowd favorite Furia booked their spot early in the Champions stage after brilliant wins against ENCE and Team Spirit. Other teams in the Champions stage were Cloud9, Outsiders, Heroic, Fnatic, Team Spirit, and Mouz After 10 grueling days of the Legends stage, 8 teams proceed to the Champions stage where the action kicks off with Outsiders blast through Fnatic 2-0 and Mouz had a difficult 2-1 win against Cloud9. An upset was made the next day when the home crowd team Furia staged a comeback against tournament favorite Navi after losing their first map/ map pick while Heroic breezes through Team Spirit with a fast 2-0 wipe. Going into the semifinals were Heroic, Furia, Outsiders, and Mouz.
The first semifinal was between Outsiders and Mouz. Losing their map pick 16-10 on Ancient, Mouz pulled themselves together and won a close 16-14 on Overpass. On the deciding Inferno map, FL1T with his insane aim destroyed Mouz bringing in a 16-7 win for the Outsiders and punching their ticket into the finals. The second semis was another close match between home crowd team Furia and the up-and-coming Heroic. Inferno was Heroic’s map pick but they lost 16-6, however, they made a beautiful comeback with a 19-17 OT victory over Furia in map 2 of Ancient and closed the series out with a fast 16-5 in Nuke, giving them the final spot in the Bo3 finale.
The final 2 teams were Heroic and Outsiders, a faceoff between Jame and the danish squad. The finale was expected to be a banger tho it was something short of it. The final match was quickly resolved after Outsiders wiped Heroic 2-0 in a convincing fashion with a 16-12 on Mirage and a 16-5 on Overpass making them the winner and champion of the IEM Rio Major 2022, bringing home 500.000$ prize money and a shot at the Intel Grand Slam.
