by The opening day of IEM Rio 2024 featured 12 Counter-Strike matches, which saw two teams qualify for the playoffs and another two eliminated from the event.
FURIA Esports kicked off their IEM Rio campaign with a surprising win, defeating FaZe Clan 13-7 on Dust2 to send the European squad to the lower bracket.
FURIA capitalised on FaZe’s ongoing struggles, displaying aggressive play, particularly from Marcelo “?chelo?” Cespedes and Kaike “?KSCERATO?” Cerato, who were pivotal in their victory.
Despite some resistance from FaZe, especially in the first half, the Brazilian team’s dominance on the counter-terrorist side was too much for FaZe to overcome.
On the B stream, MOUZ narrowly defeated paiN Gaming 13-11, also on Dust2, after a hard-fought match.
PaiN, led by Lucas “?lux?” Meneghini’s impressive multi-frags, gave MOUZ a real challenge.
MOUZ’s Dorian “?xertioN?” Berman played a key role with a crucial quad-kill to swing momentum, and ádám “?torzsi?” Torzsás secured the win with a clutch 1v2 in the final round.
Despite paiN’s strong performance, MOUZ advanced, leaving paiN to battle for survival in the lower bracket.
.@mousesports open up #IEM Rio 2024 with a 13-11 victory over @paiNGamingBR on Dust II! pic.twitter.com/tQxCKFnOg5
— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 7, 2024
Meanwhile, Team Liquid and Natus Vincere secured dominant victories against Complexity (13-6) and Imperial Esports (13-2), respectively, setting up a playoff decider between the two.
Complexity started strong but quickly faltered against Liquid’s aggressive play, particularly with Roland “?ultimate?” Tomkowiak’s clutch plays.
Natus Vincere breezed past Imperial, with Ihor “?w0nderful?” Zhdanov’s stellar performance on Nuke sealing the deal.
Astralis also moved on to the upper bracket semi-final, defeating Eternal Fire 13-11.
Powered by Victor “?Staehr?” Staehr’s performance, the Danes overcame Eternal Fire’s second-half comeback, led by Ismailcan “?XANTARES?” D?rtkarde?.
Despite the close match, Astralis closed it out and now faces HEROIC for a playoff spot, who surprised many with a 13-10 over G2 Esports in their opening round clash.
In other results, The MongolZ edged out Virtus.pro (13-10) to earn a matchup with Team Vitality, who smashed 9z Team 13-3, while Virtus.pro dropped to the lower bracket to face 9z.
FaZe survived a scare in the lower bracket, defeating paiN 2-1 in a gruelling series.
Although FaZe’s victory was hard-fought, they remain in contention, while paiN’s tournament run came to an end on day one after close losses to MOUZ and FaZe.
FURIA, despite a turbulent year, secured a spot in Rio’s Farmasi Arena after defeating MOUZ 2-1, marking their third consecutive stage appearance in their home city.
Kaike “?KSCERATO?” Cerato was a standout in their wins against FaZe and MOUZ, helping propel the team forward.
FURIA now has the chance to secure a semi-final berth with a win against Natus Vincere.
VAMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
2-1 OVER @MOUSESPORTS
WE ARE THE FIRST TEAM TO #IEM RIO PLAYOFFS! ??????#DIADEFURIA pic.twitter.com/uAH1c7WhXQ
— FURIA (@FURIA) October 7, 2024
Complexity and Imperial Esports clashed in the penultimate series of the day, and it was the North American squad that bested the home town team in a three-map series, 2-1.
After trading maps, the clash was decided on Ancient, and it was Complexity who proved too good for their Brazilian opponents, closing the series with a dominant 13-5 victory to remain in the tournament.
Concluding the opening day, Natus Vincere took on Team Liquid a playoff spot in the upper bracket semi-final of Group A.
Both squads claimed big wins on their own map picks, with Liquid taking Inferon 13-4 and NaVi claiming Dust2 13-5.
However, the final map, Ancient, was closer than it should have been as NaVi sprinted out to an 8-1 lead early before swapping sides at 8-4.
Liquid made a run in the second half and levelled the series at 11-apiece before NaVi closed out the series with back-to-back round victories.
Tuesday’s IEM Rio matches
- Team Vitality ($1.22) vs The MongolZ ($4.00) @ 11am BRT
- Virtus.pro ($1.50) vs 9z Team ($2.50) @ 11am BRT
- Astralis ($1.72) vs HEROIC ($2.00) @ 1:30pm BRT
- G2 Esports ($1.44) vs Eternal Fire ($2.62) @ 1:30pm BRT
- MOUZ ($1.75) vs Complexity ($2.00) @ 4pm BRT
- FaZe Clan ($1.82) vs Team Liquid ($1.92) @ 4pm BRT
