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Desistir Jamais: Welcome to the IEM 2022 Rio Major
In the world of Counter-Strike Global Offensive, the highest honour for any team is a Major title, which separates good teams from great teams. And finally, Valve will host the major at the centre of the world's biggest and most passionate fan base. IEM Rio Major is just a few hours away, with 16 teams taking on each other at the Challengers stage.
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IEM Rio Major will feature 24 teams and have all the teams qualified through RMR events. It will also be the first time Valve hosts a major in Brazil.
What is a CSGO Major?
A Major is a Valve-hosted CSGO tournament and is a bi-yearly affair where the top teams compete for the highest honour CSGO esports has to offer. The IEM Rio Major will be the nineteenth since the genesis of CSGO Esports.
The first major ever hosted by Valve was Dreamhack Winter 2012, where 16 teams played through the group stage and the playoffs, eventually crowning Fnatic as the first-ever CSGO Major Champions. Also, Fnatic became the first team to win back-to-back majors in 2015 as the best team.
In the nineteen majors, there are only 12 unique winning rosters. Out of which, the Astralis core of dev1ce, dupreeh, Xyp9x and Gla1ve have won four majors, three of them with Mag1sk. They are the only team to complete a three-peat in CSGO Major and are regarded as the greatest roster in CSGO.
Region-Wise, Europe is winning with 16 majors, Denmark leading with five major titles and Sweden with four. With all its years in competitive CSGO, North America only has two majors, one for Cloud9 with Eleague Boston Major and second in Twistzz with PGL Antwerp Major bringing Canada its first major champion.
The previous Major, PGL Major Antwerp, was also the first to have an international champion and had all five unique major winners. The winners, Faze, defeated Natus Vincere 2-0 to crown themselves as the eighteenth major champion.
Storylines coming into IEM Rio Major
A total of 24 teams will play in the Rio Major. With Eight teams as Legends, Eight as Challengers and Eight and Contenders. These teams are:
Coming to the IEM Rio Major, Faze will be looking to win the back-to-back title and place themselves in the league above. This will also be the first major where Astralis will miss the major since its inception. Dupreeh will also be the only player left now who has attended every single major.
Na'Vi is the only organisation to attend all the majors with separate rosters and one of the strongest teams coming into the Major. Led by S1mple, Navi is now looking to win their second championship.
With all the teams playing, there will be 35 different nationalities competing for the Major title. Denmark has the most 17 players at the Major, followed by 15 from Brazil. The major will also feature three new organisations and only three new players.
The major will conclude on 13th November and have a show match between Sweden and Brazil. With many matches ahead of us starting tomorrow with the Challengers stage. Let's buckle up for the most significant event of the year. And enjoy the biggest CSGO major at the biggest and most passionate Rio De Janeiro.
Image Source: IEM Twitter