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IEM Rio Major Champions Stage Favorites

The first day of the Champions Stage of IEM Rio Major is over and two of the eight teams,... Radu M. | 10. November 2022

The first day of the Champions Stage of IEM Rio Major is over and two of the eight teams, Cloud9 and Fnatic, have been eliminated.

Six more teams remain, and so we wonder: which of them will win the trophy?

The biggest favorites of IEM Rio Major

The big battle will most likely take place between Natus Vincere and Heroic. But not the Grand Final, because the two teams, if everything goes according to plan, will meet in the semifinals.

Both of these competitors looked very hard to beat in the Legends Stage and their defeats came against opponents that are no longer in the race: Cloud9 and Team Liquid.

On top of that, both of these teams have a lot of LAN experience and enjoy displaying their skills in front of a big crowd. The only problem, at least in Na’Vi’s case, is that their first opponent can do that as well, and probably even better in this case.

Do not underestimate FURIA Esports

FURIA Esports are the crowd’s number one favorite. The Brazilians already proved themselves in the Challengers Stage and the Legends Stage, where they only lost one match.

In particular, their Legends Stage performance was very impressive to watch. The opponents were ENCE, Team Spirit, and BIG. In every single case, FURIA won with ease. They were the team with the fewest lost rounds in this stage of IEM Rio Major. On the four maps they played, they only lost 34 rounds!

Na’Vi will have a really tough task in this match. Most of the crowd will be against them and even Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, despite his numerous Brazilian fans, will probably get booed.

The two teams only met once this year and Na’Vi won. But the circumstances of this match are completely different. Na’Vi are not as strong as they used to be and FURIA will receive massive support from the live audience.

The whole situation looks a lot like the one from Boston. In 2018, Cloud9 won the ELEAGUE Major in front of their own fans despite the massive skill difference between themselves and many of their opponents.

MOUZ or Outsiders

MOUZ and Outsiders will meet in the first semifinal of IEM Rio Major. Based on what we’ve seen in the Legends Stage, Outsiders are the favorites. However, it probably won’t matter who wins this match. If Na’Vi or Heroic reach the Grand Final, the title will be theirs.

Header: ESL