As a seasoned gamer with years of Counter-Strike under my belt and countless hours spent on Dust 2, I must say that this year’s Intel Extreme Masters Rio playoffs have been nothing short of thrilling! The matchups were intense, the strategies were intriguing, and the upsets were unexpected.
Apart from champions Heroic and FURIA, the teams that came in second place, namely Vitality and Natus Vincere, are moving forward to the Farmasi Arena as well.
The latter two are set to face the winners of the advancement games, that were played on Wednesday.
The first encounter saw Russian side Virtus Pro face The MongolZ. This game was surprisingly one-sided.
VP successfully acquired The MongolZ’ map pick from Ancient 13-10 in an impressive group effort, orchestrated primarily by team leader Jame (Dzhami Ali) of VP, as four out of five players achieved double-figure kill counts.
Elbow becomes a meat grinder and @electronicCSGO is the operator #IEM
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 9, 2024
As a gamer, I cruised through Dust 2 like it was a leisurely stroll in the park. None other than the legendary Denis “electroNic” Sharipov, former star of NaVi and major winner, went absolutely berserk with an unbelievable 20-8 K/D ratio!
THIS. IS. JAME. TIME. #IEM @JAMEPAIN
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 9, 2024
They closed it out comfortably with a 13-3 victory to advance onto the quarters. VP will face NaVi in the early game on Friday, starting at 17:00 CEST.
The second all or nothing matchup saw FaZe Clan, with 3 former mousesports players, take on the German org of MOUZ.
The team led by Finn “Karrigan” Anderson has had a tough run lately, finding themselves in the lower bracket at the start of the first day of the event.
FaZe chose Dust 2 as their map selection, but it turned out to be a disappointing choice since they could only secure victories in three rounds on the Terrorist side.
MOUZ got a nice carry by their AWPer Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás, as well as Dorian “xertioN” Berman.
xertioN had this important 1v2 clutch early on in the contest:
Bro just saved our a**
— MOUZ (@mousesports) October 9, 2024
MOUZ took Dust by 13-7 and looked in prime position to 2-0 the series.
But FaZe fought back!
Robin “ropz” Kool, better known as Mr. CS2, showcased an exceptional performance on the map Mirage, securing 26 kills and leading FaZe Clan to a surprising 16-14 overtime victory.
“They are not laughing anymore”
— HLTV.org (@HLTVorg) October 9, 2024
A critical, significant layout for the game of Nuke was approaching. This map holds a rich history for Karrigan, marking his major victory at PGL Antwerp 2022. However, once more, it was Mousesports who shone brightly!
Their young in game leader Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek had the perfect game plan ready.
With an outstanding display on the third stage, Jimi “jimpphat” Salo served as their anchor, securing victory in the second pistol round of the map. The prodigious 18-year-old executed this remarkable string of moves:
SPINBOTTING IS NOT ALLOWED JIMI #IEM @jimpphatCSGO
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 9, 2024
MOUZ secured another 13-7 win, pocketing Nuke, the series, and a spot in the playoffs. They will square off against Team Vitality in the evening game on Friday, approximately 8:00 PM CEST.
See you in the arena @mousesports
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 9, 2024
That rounds out our playoff bracket, you can see it visualized below once again:
Who do you think is going to win the event? Will Vitality be able to defend their title?
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2024-10-11 12:41