IEM RIO Major: OG, Vitality, BIG, EG secure their first win

The IEM Rio Major Challenger Stage’s first Swiss round is over, and so far no Brazilian teams have managed to claim a victory.  

The IEM Rio Major was greeted by a boisterous home crowd, but despite their enthusiasm, the Brazilian teams were unable to overcome the European and North American titans, who defeated them convincingly in the first round of the Challenger Stage. OG, Vitality, BIG, Evil Geniuses, Bad New Eagle, MOUZ, Fnatic, and Gamer Legion all won their first game in the Challengers stage, while the rest had a disappointing start.

As the Major begins, OG and Vitality set the bar high

FURIA lost against BIG in a closely fought 19-16 match, failing to give Brazil its first victory in the Rio Major. In their matchup with the Germans, the Brazilians had a 15-8 lead but were unable to hold on, dropping seven straight rounds and forcing overtime. As their impenetrable defense and a precisely calculated aggressive approach prevented the Brazilian squad from gaining any momentum, Vitality hammered Imperial 13-2 in front of a home crowd.

EG and BIG start off Major with a bang

Grayhound fell short of making a mark against the European side, closing the first match of the Major with a disappointing loss. Abdul “degster” Gasanov, a Russian sniper who recorded 25 kills and a 1.87 rating, guided the European team to a convincing 16-5 victory.  Despite having a great first half in Nuke, IHC was unable to defeat the North American CS:GO powerhouses Evil Geniuses in their opening clash. Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov’s excellent performance in the later stages of the match let EG bounce back from a sluggish start before they sealed the deal with a 16-9 victory.

Bad News Eagles and MOUZ are off to an explosive start

The Bad News Eagles opened their IEM Rio Major campaign with a landslide victory over 00NATION on Vertigo, disappointing the home audience yet again. The Brazilian team lost the best-of-one match by a massive 3-16 score differential despite having the two-time major winners Epitacio “TACO” de Melo and Marcelo “coldzera” David by their side. In the backstage match, MOUZ handily crushed Outsider 16–6 to exact revenge for their loss to the Brazilian team in the ESL Challenger Rotterdam.

Team Gamer Legion and Fnatic go 1-0 

The Brazilian team had the fans on their side, but the European lineup easily surpassed team 9z. The Brazillian team appeared unsynchronised throughout the first half, getting repeatedly slammed back and forth. Despite a brave effort by the 9z in the second half, Game Legion closed the series 16-6. In the final match of the first round, The European juggernauts Fnatic defeated the formidable squad of Cloud9 19-17 to begin their Major journey with a victory in the encounter that gripped the eye of both the spectators and competing players.

Header: ESL Gaming