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The IEM Rio Major 2022 Champions Stage kicked off on November 10, 2022, featuring eight of the best CS:GO teams in the world competing in a single-elimination bracket leading up to the Grand Final.
Day 1 of the Champions Stage witnessed the first two matches of the quarterfinals being played out, with Outsiders defeating Fnatic and MOUZ beating Cloud9.
On the second day of the IEM Rio Major Champions Stage, two European contenders will face each other for a spot in the semifinals of the tournament. Denmark's leading CS:GO team, Heroic, will take on the CIS stars, Team Spirit, in a best-of-three matchup to remain in contention for the Rio Majors.
Spirit vs Heroic: Which team will win this IEM Rio Major Quarterfinals CS:GO matchup?
Predictions
Fans of CS:GO can certainly expect an intense matchup tonight as Team Spirit prepares to take on Heroic for a slot in the semifinals. Both teams appear to be in equally good shape ahead of their series. Nevertheless, we can predict a clear winner by analyzing their current form and other factors related to the teams' performances.
Team Spirit has a predominantly young roster with very strong fundamentals. Their in-game leader, chopper, is their most experienced player and has successfully led the team to victory against several top-tier opponents. s1ren and magixx are two talented young players who have contributed significantly to the team's recent success.
Furthermore, Spirit's most exceptional player is their 17-year-old AWPer, w0nderful, who, despite his age, has proved to the CS:GO audience that he is capable of performing at the highest level in front of a grand audience.
In terms of tournament experience, Heroic's roster is far ahead of Team Spirit. One of Denmark's finest talents, cadiaN, is the team's IGL. Although Heroic also has their fair share of young talent, their roster, as a whole, has far more experience playing in high-stakes matchups such as the upcoming quarterfinals.
Players like stavn and TeSeS, as well as Heroic's newest addition, Jabbi, have proven their quality at multiple vital moments throughout the IEM Rio Major. That being said, fans can expect Heroic to emerge as the winner in this quarterfinals matchup, and potentially play against the winner of NAVI vs FURIA in the semifinals.
Head-to-head
The current rosters of Team Spirit and Heroic have faced each other only once in an official CS:GO match, which was during the Legends Stage of PGL Major Antwerp 2022. Their previous encounter ended in a win for Spirit as they beat Heroic on Nuke with a 16-12 scoreline.
Recent results
Both Spirit and Heroic entered the IEM Rio Major directly into the Legends Stage by earning a Legends Status through the Road to Rio: European RMR Qualifiers. Team Spirit enjoyed a 3-2 run in the Legends Stage, whereas Heroic maintained a 3-1 tally.
Team Spirit defeated teams like Bad News Eagles, Sprout, and Team Liquid to earn their qualification for the quarterfinals, losing only to FURIA and Outsiders. Heroic, on the other hand, defeated Outsiders, Fnatic, and Team Liquid, with their only loss in the tournament coming against Cloud9.
Potential lineups
Team Spirit
- Leonid "chopper" Vishnyakov (IGL)
- Boris "magixx" Vorobyev
- Robert "Patsi" Isyanov
- Pavel "s1ren" Ogloblin
- Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov
- Sergey "hally" Shavayev (Coach)
Heroic
- Martin "stavn" Lund
- Casper "cadiaN" Møller (IGL)
- René "TeSeS" Madsen
- Rasmus "sjuush" Beck
- Jakob "Jabbi" Nygaard
- Richard "Xizt" Landström (Coach)
When and where to watch
Interested readers can check out ESL CS:GO's official Twitch channel to watch the IEM Rio Major Champions Stage games live. Team Spirit will be facing Heroic in a best-of-three Quarterfinals matchup on November 11, 2022, at 10:00 am PDT / 6:00 pm CEST / 10:30 pm IST.
