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Natus Vincere secured a semi-final spot at IEM Rio 2024 by defeating Virtus.pro in a two-map series (Inferno 13-4, Ancient 13-11).
They now have the chance to reach their sixth consecutive grand final, but first, they must face HEROIC, who come into the match as massive outsiders.
.@natusvincere are going to the SEMI FINALS at #IEM Rio after taking down @virtuspro 2-0
13-4 Inferno
13-11 Ancient pic.twitter.com/QUnddXFUQO— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 11, 2024
Mihai “iM” Ivan expressed the Counter-Strike team’s focus on taking it one game at a time, saying, “We don’t want to think about (the grand final streak). If we make it, it’s very good.”
Natus Vincere’s victory started even before gameplay, as the veto ended in their favour.
Virtus.pro picked Inferno, a map they had played only three times in the past three months, while Natus Vincere had win rates over 80% on both Ancient and Mirage.
Inferno began with Virtus.pro winning the pistol round, but Natus Vincere responded with a second-round force buy, spearheaded by iM’s Five-Seven double, leading to a 9-3 half.
The pattern continued in the second half as Virtus.pro’s pistol win was nullified by iM’s multi-kill, and he sealed the map with a 1v3 clutch, delivering a dominant 13-4 victory.
On Ancient, Virtus.pro took their third pistol round and jumped to a 4-0 lead.
However, Justinas “jL” Lekavicius’ 1v2 clutch shifted momentum, and the half ended 7-5 in Virtus.pro’s favour.
Natus Vincere won their first pistol of the series in the second half, reaching match point after two more jL clutches and eventually clinching a 13-11 win despite some late difficulties.
In other tournament news, reigning IEM Rio champions Team Vitality were eliminated in the quarter-final by MOUZ after a 2-1 (Mirage 7-13, Nuke 13-11, Inferno 13-10) loss.
.@mousesports reverse sweep @TeamVitalityCS to reach the SEMIFINALS at #IEM Rio 2024 💪
7-13 Mirage
13-11 Nuke
13-10 Inferno pic.twitter.com/yurPF1gaPb— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 11, 2024
Vitality initially dominated MOUZ’s map pick but faltered as the match progressed.
MOUZ showed great composure, extending their tournament run and setting up a rematch against FURIA Esports, the hometown favourites.
Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek expressed confidence despite FURIA’s crowd advantage, stating, “We’re on fire and with a lot of confidence. Even though it’s a rematch, we’re going to get there.”
MOUZ’s comeback against Vitality began on Nuke, where they gained an early lead, but Vitality brought the deficit down to two rounds by halftime.
Despite Vitality’s efforts to tie the game, MOUZ edged out the win in the final round of regulation.
The final map, Inferno, saw Vitality make costly mistakes, winning only two rounds on the counter-terrorist side.
Although they mounted a brief comeback in the second half, MOUZ secured victory in the 23rd round, thanks to Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo’s key frags in a B-site retake.
IEM Rio 2024 semi-final matches
- HEROIC (+333) vs Natus Vincere (-500) @ 12pm BRT
- FURIA Esports (+120) vs MOUZ (-161.29) @ 3:15pm BRT
