Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023 Playoffs To Begin

From April 17-19th, some of the world’s best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players competed in the Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023 Group Stage. With $250,000 in the prize pool and a trip to the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023 tournament on the line, every team brought their A-game. Three teams from each group remain to make up the Playoffs bracket. You won’t want to miss any of the playoffs action starting on April 21st.

FURIA Esports is playing in their backyard and striving as the Brazilian squad has looked dangerous so far this tournament. Their first win was an impressive overtime win over Fnatic before finding a dominant 2-0 over FaZe Clan that included a 16-8 stomp on Mirage. Though they fell in the Group B Upper Bracket Final to Cloud9, the series was very competitive, and the team should feel confident going into their quarterfinal match against Heroic.

The Danish squad of Heroic will be ready. Heroic found themselves in the Group A lower bracket after a loss in the second round of the upper bracket to BIG. In that series, Heroic jumped out to a quick lead before fading in the last two maps losing the previous map, Overpass, 16-6.

Heroic was able to bounce back in the Lower Bracket, taking down the MongolZ in a very dominant 2-1. They then secured a spot in the playoffs by dismantling Ninjas in Pyjamas, winning the first map 16-5 and the second 16-9.

BIG has had a solid run through the tournament so far, finishing 2nd in the Group A bracket. They started their tournament with a dominant win over MOUZ before finding themselves down early in the second round to Heroic. However, BIG was able to hold off Heroic and mounted a comeback securing the match 2-1.

They found themselves in an incredible back-and-forth first map in the Upper Bracket Final. On Mirage, Natus Vincere and BIG went back and forth in an insane 20-22 loss. After the defeat, it felt like BIG was unable to respond, losing the second map Inferno and the match 8-16. They are now preparing for Team Vitality, who they will face in the quarterfinals of the playoffs.

Team Vitality found themselves in the lower bracket after a disappointing first-round loss in the upper bracket to OG in a close game that went to overtime. They used that disappointment as fuel to blow past all of their opponents in the lower bracket, taking down MIBR 2-0 in the Lower Bracket Quarterfinals and FaZe Clan 2-0 in the Lower Bracket Semifinal.

In the Lower Bracket Final, they faced the team that sent them to the Lower Bracket, OG. This final was just as back and forth as their first meeting, only this time, Team Vitality was the team left standing with the 2-1 win. They look like a force to be reckoned with going into the Quarterfinals.

Cloud9 and Natus Vincere both were able to come out of the Group Stage brackets unscathed, which automatically sends them into the second round of the playoffs. Natus Vincere has looked absolutely stellar so far, having yet to drop a map in the dominant run through The MongolZ, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and BIG. Cloud9 has looked almost equally as dominant in matches against MIBR, OG, and FURIA Esports. With these great teams, you will want to take advantage of all of the Counter-Strike action.