Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022 preview

Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major is one of the last two $1+ million CS:GO tournaments of 2022. It features 24 teams, offers $1.25 million in prize money, and lasts for two weeks, between October 31 – November 13.

The location of the tournament, as the name suggests, is Rio de Janeiro. And for the first time in many years, the entire Major will be played in front of a live audience. This means that the level of excitement will be high from day one.

Fortunately for ESL, the Dota 2 World Championship ended on October 30 and the League of Legends World Championship only has one more match to be played. This means that IEM Rio Major will get a lot of attention from esports fans around the globe.

If everything goes according to plan, this tournament should break all audience records, at least for CS:GO.

IEM Rio Major Participants

The tournament has three types of participants. The 24 teams are divided by status and the first two categories will compete in the Challengers Stage.

Contenders:

• Team GamerLegion
• Outsiders
• 00NATION
• FURIA Esports
• Fnatic
• IHC Esports
• Imperial Esports
• Grayhound Gaming

Challengers:

• OG
• Team Vitality
• Evil Geniuses
• Cloud9
• BIG
• Bad News Eagles
• MOUZ
• 9z Team

Legends:

• FaZe Clan
• Natus Vincere
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• ENCE
• Sprout
• Heroic
• Team Spirit
• Team Liquid

Usually, CS:GO Majors become captivating only after the first stage is over. But this time, thanks to the presence of the live audience, the participation of four South American teams, and the fact that the number one and number five teams in the world had to take part in the Challengers Stage, the Major is 100% worth watching from the start.

The competitive format is the Swiss System, and the most interesting matches of the first day are these:

• Vitality vs. Imperial
• Cloud9 vs. Fnatic
• Bad News Eagles vs. 00NATION
• BIG vs. FURIA
• MOUZ vs. Outsiders

Each of these best-of-ones should be quite epic. Unfortunately for Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and his crew, Imperial will face Vitality in the first match. The odds of success are extremely low because Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut is in top form right now. If he plays his usual game, Imperial have no chance.

One Brazilian team that does have a good chance of winning on day one is 00NATION. After 10 months of hard work, Marcelo “coldzera” David will finally have the opportunity to show what he’s capable of in front of his own fans. Back in the old days, he was the best player in the world. But now he needs to prove himself again.

Header: ESL