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Vitality secured a spot in the IEM Rio playoffs with a 2-0 victory over The MongolZ, winning on Inferno (19-17) and Nuke (13-8).
Led by Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, the Counter-Strike squad advanced to the upper bracket final, where they’ll face HEROIC for a spot in the semi-finals.
A clean second map sees @TeamVitalityCS take down @1mongolz 2-0 in order to reach the group B upper bracket final at #IEM Rio 2024
19-17 Inferno
13-8 Nuke pic.twitter.com/YH3XyKQ2Jn— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 8, 2024
Meanwhile, The MongolZ will try to bounce back against Eternal Fire in the lower bracket.
Vitality has struggled since their IEM Cologne win, failing to reach the finals of ESL Pro League Season 20 and BLAST Premier Fall Final.
However, in Rio, they appear to be rediscovering their form.
The MongolZ put up a fight on Inferno, coming back from a 7-10 deficit to force overtime, but Vitality’s superior teamwork and strategy helped them prevail.
Nuke was a more straightforward affair, with Vitality’s dominant counter-terrorist side sealing the win.
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut delivered a standout performance across both maps, ensuring his team’s progression.
In the lower bracket of Group B, Virtus.pro eventually overpowered 9z Team in a three-map series to eliminate the South American squad and continue their run of poor performances.
9z claimed the opening map, Ancient (13-6), before VP bounced back on Inferno (13-11) to level the series heading into Mirage.
However, the competition ended there, as VP dominated the third map and strolled to a massive 13-2 victory, setting up a clash with Astralis in the lower bracket semi-final.
.@eternalfiregg defeat @G2CSGO in order to eliminate them from #IEM Rio 2024 in 13-16th place
13-4 Anubis
13-6 Mirage pic.twitter.com/IsHZD7kcgA— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 8, 2024
In another notable result, Eternal Fire upset G2 Esports with a 2-0 victory, winning Anubis (13-4) and Mirage (13-6) to eliminate G2 from the tournament.
G2, fresh off their BLAST Fall Final win, appeared unprepared and disjointed, with key player Nikola “NiKo” Kovač posting his worst Big Event rating ever.
In contrast, Eternal Fire displayed excellent coordination, led by Ali “Wicadia” Haydar Yalçın, Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş, and Özgür “woxic” Eker.
HEROIC also earned a playoff spot with a dominant 2-0 win over Astralis, setting up a clash with Vitality in the upper bracket final.
After a back-and-forth start on Mirage, HEROIC found their rhythm and overpowered Astralis in both maps.
.@heroicgg close it out the series 2-0 against @AstralisCS to advance straight to the #IEM Playoffs 💪
13-9 Mirage
13-7 Ancient pic.twitter.com/JUHN5UhTDn— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 8, 2024
FaZe Clan kept their playoff hopes alive by eliminating Team Liquid with a 2-0 win, taking Inferno (13-6) and Dust2 (13-7).
Liquid, struggling to find form with their new lineup, were no match for FaZe’s strong individual performances, especially from Helvijs “broky” Saukants and Finn “karrigan” Andersen.
FaZe will now face MOUZ for a playoff spot after MOUZ narrowly defeated Complexity 2-0 in a pair of overtime thrillers.
MOUZ, despite their victory, will need to tighten up after nearly squandering multiple map points against Complexity.
Their elimination match against FaZe promises to be a thrilling encounter, as both teams aim for a spot in the playoffs.
Wednesday’s IEM Rio fixtures
- Astralis (-163.93) vs Virtus.pro (+120) @ 11am BRT
- The MongolZ (+162) vs Eternal Fire (-227.27) @ 11am BRT
- Team Vitality (-500) vs HEROIC (+333) @ 1:30pm BRT
- FURIA (+350) vs Natus Vincere (-625) @ 1:30pm BRT
- FaZe Clan (-153.85) vs MOUZ (+115) @ 4pm BRT
- Winner of Astralis/Virtus.pro vs Winner of The MongolZ/Eternal Fire @ 4pm BRT
