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The CS: GO Majors, one of the most historic events in the game's esports calendar, will set foot in Brazil for the first time ever this year. The Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Rio 2022 will be the second Valve-sponsored Major of 2022 and will feature 24 of the best teams in the world as they compete for their share from a $1,250,000 prize pool.
Valve originally had plans to take the Majors to Brazil in 2020. However, with the global pandemic, the organization had to shift its plans for ESL One: Rio 2020 to a later date. After two years and two successful CS: GO Majors in between, Valve, along with ESL, is ready to bring the highly anticipated Majors to one of the most passionate Counter-Strike communities in the world.
CS: GO's IEM Rio Major 2022 will kick off with its Challengers Stage on October 31, 2022, with the tournament's Grand Finals scheduled for November 13. The Challengers and Legends stages of the tournament will be held live at Riocentro while the Champions Stage will be held at Jeunesse Arena.
Everything to know about CS: GO IEM Rio Major 2022
Qualification for the upcoming IEM Rio Major 2022 was determined through a format similar to recent Majors. Teams had to succeed against their regional competition in various RMR events to secure their slot for the upcoming tournament. The slot distribution for each is as such:
Europe: 16 slots (3 Contenders, 6 Challengers, 7 Legends)
America: 6 slots (3 Contenders, 2 Challengers, 1 Legend)
Asia-Pacific: 2 slots (2 Contenders)
Upon qualification, all 24 teams have been split into 3 groups, Contenders, Challengers, and Legends, based on their performance in the RMR Qualifiers.
Format
In their attempts to claim the IEM Rio Major 2022 trophy, teams will have to compete in three different stages.
The Challengers Stage
IEM Rio Major 2022 will kick off with The Challenger Stage on October 31, 2022. During this stage, the 8 CS: GO teams that have qualified as Contenders will compete alongside the 8 Challengers teams in a Swiss-system format until November 3.
In such a format, each team will be matched against an opponent with a similar running score until the bottom 8 teams are eliminated. All matches will be held as a best-of-one series, except for Elimination and Advancement matches, which will be conducted as best-of-threes.
The Legends Stage
The second stage of IEM Rio Major 2022 will begin on November 5, 2022, and will continue until November 8. In The Legends Stage, the top 8 teams from the previous stage will compete with the 8 Legends teams, also in a Swiss-system format.
Similar to The Challengers Stage, only Elimination and Advancement matches will be conducted in a best-of-three series. The remaining matches will be held as best-of-ones, with the top 8 teams from this stage advancing to the next stage.
The Champions Stage
The Champions Stage is the final stage of the prestigious CS: GO Majors. At this stage, the 8 best teams from The Legends Stage will compete in a single-elimination bracket until the Grand Finals of the tournament decides the winner. All matches at this stage will be best-of-threes.
The Champions Stage will kick off on November 10, and will conclude with the Grand Finals on November 13, 2022.
Teams
Here are all 24 CS: GO teams that qualified for the upcoming IEM Rio Major 2022, based on their group allotment:
Legends
- FaZe Clan
- Natus Vincere
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- ENCE
- Sprout
- Heroic
- Team Spirit
- Team Liquid
Challengers
- OG
- Team Vitality
- Evil Geniuses
- Cloud9
- BIG
- Bad News Eagles
- MOUZ
- 9z Team
Contenders
- Team GamerLegion
- Outsiders
- 00 Nation
- FURIA Esports
- Fnatic
- IHC Esports
- Imperial Esports
- Grayhound Gaming
Schedule
ESL has announced the schedule for the opening matchups of The Challengers Stage:
Monday, October 31
Stream A
MOUZ vs Outsiders (7.00 am PDT / 3.00 pm CET / 7.30 pm IST)
Bad News Eagles vs 00NATION (8.15 am PDT / 4.15 am CET / 8.45 pm IST)
BIG vs FURIA (9.30 am PDT / 5.30 pm CET / 10.00 pm IST)
Team Vitality vs Imperial ( 10.45 am PDT / 6.45 pm CET / 11.15 pm IST)
Stream B
9z vs GamerLegion ( 7.00 am PDT / 3.00 pm CET / 7.30 pm IST)
OG vs Grayhound (8.15 am PDT / 4.15 am CET / 8.45 pm IST)
Evil Geniuses vs IHC (9.30 am PDT / 5.30 pm CET / 10.00 pm IST)
Cloud9 vs Fnatic ( 10.45 am PDT / 6.45 pm CET / 11.15 pm IST)
Where to watch
CS: GO enthusiasts can tune into ESL's official handles across YouTube and Twitch to keep up with the IEM Rio Major 2022. Players will also be able to find links to all the official streams and watch parties in-game by heading to the Events tab.
