IEM Rio Major 2022 Challengers Stage fixture announced

The numerous Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Regional Major Ranking tournaments have come to a close, and all 24 teams participating in the IEM Rio Major, as well as their matchups and seeding order, have been decided.

The RMR tournaments were held in Sweden, Malta, and Australia and officially ended on Sunday, a week after the event kicked off. The qualifying teams will participate in the first Brazilian CS:GO Major, which is set to commence on October 31 and run through to November 13.

THIS IS YOUR #IEM RIO MAJOR LINEUP

Tears were shed. Bonds were strengthened. Every one of these teams fought HARD to get here this week.

SEE YOU IN BRAZIL ON OCTOBER 31ST! pic.twitter.com/47HlwRw7gY

— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 9, 2022

Valve’s Major rulebook specified the seeding method used for the Rio Major. Due to this, the opening matchups for the Challengers Stage of the tournament have already been set.

According to the Valve rulebook, pre-event seeding for teams was mainly based on the performances of their individual regional representatives in the last Major tournament. In this instance, the final ranking of the PGL Major Antwerp, which was held five months ago, was made use of.

Team Liquid’s placement in the IEM Rio Major is a prime example of this. They placed first in the Americas RMR and were awarded the overall eighth seeding in the Legends Stage. This is mainly because FURIA, who are in the same region as Liquid, earned a spot for the Americas after reaching the Antwerp Major’s quarter-finals.

The rest of the five American teams who qualified for the Major were given seeds three, eight, 11, 12, and 15 for the tournament’s Challengers Stage. During the Belgium event, the various franchises that were the regional representatives were placed 11th, 16th, 19th, 20th, and 23rd.

Due to the explained seeding method, the revealed opening matchups of the Challengers Stage of the IEM Rio Major are as follows:

• OG vs Greyhound Gaming
• Vitality vs Imperial
• EG vs IHC
• Cloud 9 vs Fnatic
• BIG vs FURIA
• Bad News Eagles vs 00 NATION
• MOUZ vs Outsiders
• 9z vs GamerLegion

The Regional Major Ranking tournaments saw several shocking upsets, which left behind teams like Astralis and G2. The Challengers Stage of the IEM Rio Major will instead see several newer franchises participate, such as Bad News Eagles and GamerLegion.

The loss of @AstralisCS and @G2esports at the #IEM Rio major came as a shock to everyone, but none more than the players themselves.@MosesGG breaks down what this means for both of these historic teams after they failed to qualify for the major during #IEM Road to Rio pic.twitter.com/GCLWqae8Zg

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 10, 2022

The 2022 IEM Rio Major boasts a USD $1.25 million prize pool. The first games in the Challengers Stage of the tournament will officially kick off on October 31 and come to a close on November 3, with the top eight teams then advancing to the Legends Stage to form a 16-team pool.

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