EN DE CN BR ES RU
Image
Icon

Heroic will face Outsiders in the Grand Final of IEM Rio Major

The IEM Rio Major Finals teams are set — Outsiders and Heroic! In the semifinals, Outsiders didn’t have much... Fragster | 13. November 2022

The IEM Rio Major Finals teams are set — Outsiders and Heroic! In the semifinals, Outsiders didn’t have much of a problem against MOUZ, even though they gave up one map. However, the match between FURIA and Heroic was completely different, as the Brazilians started with a win, but in the end had to admit a 2-1 defeat, despite a blatant comeback on Map two!

Although FURIA didn’t make it against Heroic, the Brazilians showed a remarkable performance.

MOUZ fail in the rematch against Outsiders

The two teams met a week ago in the Legend Stage, where the Outsiders won easily 2-0 with two 16-10 scorelines on Overpass and Inferno. After the game started on the Europeans’ pick Ancient, but they only got five rounds on T-side, so things weren’t looking too good. Mainly because MOUZ were only able to win one of the last eleven rounds at half time, and all the momentum was on the Outsiders’ side. Leading 10-5, Dzhami “Jame” Ali and his boys actually only had to break MOUZ’s money once, which they did after three rounds. That was the end for MOUZ, and the first map finished with a score of 16-10.

On the second Overpass, MOUZ started well again and took a 9-6 lead. This time, the Outsiders took the second pistol and started a worrying six-round streak. Shortly after that, the Russians were already leading 14-11 before MOUZ pulled themselves together and responded with five rounds in a row to win the game 16-14. Again, Outsider’s Jame was the player of the match, closely followed by Dorian “xertioN” Berman, an Israeli MOUZ player who showed us what he’s made of at the age of 18.

MOUZ fans were beginning to hope, but the Russians had other plans on the third map, Inferno. They got off to a lightning start 7-2 and consequently managed to secure a narrow 9-6 lead at half-time. The final score was a clear 16-7 for Outsiders, who worked their way up to the finals, but had a relatively easy path through the tournament. Let’s see if they hold up against Heroic.

Big game between Heroic and FURIA

This match was a big showdown for the Brazilian fans, with the home team FURIA, whose team house is also based in Rio de Janeiro. The game started on Heroic’s map pick Inferno, and FURIA showed straight away who’s the proverbial master of the house. With a stable first half as CT, they grabbed the pistol round and added seven straight rounds to the 9-6 score. The final score of 16-6 on Heroic’s pick made the fans hope for a place in the final and triggered a huge party.

But on the second map, things didn’t go so well for the Brazilians. Ancient started balanced but quickly got out of control, as Heroic added five laps to the 10-5 half-time lead and were about to equalize the best-of-three score. However, FURIA were driven to peak performance, so a ten-round comeback followed. The crowd freaked out and FURIA faced the sensation, but they ran out of breath. In overtime, the Danes pulled themselves together and made it over the finish line with a 19-17 score. 

The decider was con Nuke and for FURIA, the question was whether they still have enough power after the huge comeback to get the third map. They started on the CT side, usually very well on Nuke, but Heroic won the pistol round and followed up. In the fourth round they broke the CT-Eco and were able to pull away to 7-1. After that, FURIA still managed to score again, but the 10-5 half-time score didn’t promise anything good. Nevertheless, the players and fans believed that it would be possible to start a comeback again. Heroic dashed that hope with the second pistol round win and six straight rounds to win the third map 16-5.

Now Heroic will face Outsiders in the Grand Final of IEM Rio Major — a final that many didn’t expect, with Heroic coming in as a favorite. They beat stronger teams and directly defeated the home team. Let’s see how the final of the IEM Rio Major goes! The match starts today at 7:00 p.m. CET!

Header: @luanportofoto