IEM Rio 2023 favorites

IEM Rio 2023 features 16 teams and takes place between April 17-23. The tournament is full of highly skilled competitors but some of them are significantly stronger than the rest.

Among these, Natus Vincere, Team Vitality, Heroic, and FURIA Esports are the most likely to thrive in Rio de Janeiro.

Natus Vincere

Even if we ignore the fact that Natus Vincere have the best CS:GO player of all time in the person of Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, their roster is so skilled at every aspect of the game that only a handful of teams can realistically beat them in a best-of-three.

In the qualifiers for BLAST.tv Paris Major, Na’Vi won their competition with three consecutive wins, beating FaZe Clan (2-0) in the process.

The youngest member of the team, Andrii “npl” Kukharskyi, has been successfully integrated into the roster and he is starting to prove what s1mple was saying from the beginning. He’s one of those wunderkids that Na’Vi’s scouting team seems to be great at finding.

At IEM Rio 2023, Na’Vi should easily qualify for the playoffs and possibly even win.

Team Vitality

Vitality haven’t made any roster changes since August 2022. This gives them an advantage over most teams because it takes a long time to forge a strong roster that knows how to play as a cohesive unit.

In the qualifiers for the upcoming CS:GO Major, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and his teammates finished third in their competition with a record of 3 W – 1 L. The only team that defeated them was 9INE. In the tiebreakers, they bested both G2 Esports and Monte to secure their Legend Status spot.

Heroic

Heroic are currently ranked third globally and their recent results speak for themselves: second place at IEM Katowice, fifth-eight place at ESL Pro League Season 17, and second place (3 W – 0 L) in European RMR B for the Paris Major.

The last time when they competed in Rio de Janeiro, Heroic finished second after a painful Grand Final against Outsiders. This time, they have everything they need to win.

FURIA Esports

FURIA Esports are among the favorites because they’re a strong team (currently ranked 11th globally) that will play in front of a very passionate crowd. They were able to beat Natus Vincere and finish third-fourth last time when they competed in Brazil, so it’s hard not to regard them as one of the participants who can win IEM Rio 2023.

Header: ESL