Two potential dark horses of IEM Rio 2023

IEM Rio 2023 has begun and after the first day, we can now say with a bit more certainty who are the most likely dark horses of the tournament.

On day one, a lot of upsets happened and some of the favorites are already in the lower bracket. Despite doing well in the RMRs for the Paris Major, Fnatic, Team Vitality, 9INE, and Heroic will need to survive several elimination matches to qualify for the playoffs.

There are two potential dark horses to keep an eye on. The first one is 9INE and the second one is Cloud9.

9INE

It’s been a long time since we last saw Poland thriving in CS:GO. 9INE are the first team from this country to qualify for a Major and despite their defeat in the first match against Heroic, they still have a decent chance to qualify for the playoffs.

In their first match of the lower bracket, 9INE defeated MOUZ and proved to be capable of delivering spectacular rounds when it matters most. In their next match, 9INE will play against Ninjas in Pyjamas. The match will be tough, but the Poles have a significant advantage. Based on their recent results, they are stronger than their rivals.

The biggest challenge will come in the lower bracket Final. And that’s because Heroic will almost certainly qualify for it. The two teams already played against each other at this tournament, but that was a best-of-one. In a best-of-three, 9INE could realistically win the battle.

Cloud9

In theory, Cloud9 shouldn’t be regarded as a potential dark horse, but after failing to qualify for the Paris Major, it’s hard to regard them as one of the favorites.

This team needs to prove its strength and the first match they played was against MIBR. Naturally, victory wasn’t that difficult to obtain. But in their next match, C9 will need to face OG. The two teams know each other well from other competitions. Cloud9 won the latest encounter with a score of 2-0.

Based on what we know they’re capable of, they should win this one as well. Some teams get demoralized after failing to qualify for a Major. But C9 are likely energized by such failures and will play better at subsequent events as a result.

Let’s not forget that this team has two of the best players in the world on the roster. That alone should help them get to the playoffs of IEM Rio 2023.

Header: ESL