OG Qualify to First CS:GO Major - Rio 2022

The Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022 is just round the corner and OG have managed to earn themselves a place. This is the team's first CS:GO Major since their inception in 2019 and the road has not necessarily been an easy one. However, after a surprise win against NaVi in the BLAST Premier, OG have really been making waves and finally seem to be moving up in the world.

Rio Major 2022

As usual, the Rio Major is separated into the Challengers Stage, Legends Stage and Champions Stage. With 24 teams competing, fans are going to be in for some excellent gameplay, that much is guaranteed. The first two stages take the form of a 16 team Swiss System format, with the final stage being a single elimination bracket. The Champions Stage will also consist of best of 3 matches.

All of these will culminate in a grand final that will earn the winner $500,000 and an automatic qualification to IEM Katowice in 2023. However, that doesn't mean the others will miss out. Every team will earn an amount of the $1,250,000 prize pool but only the top 8 will receive tournament circuit points so it's safe to say everyone is in it to win it!

First is always the hardest

OG are one of the most successful eSports orgs in the world, with their veteran Dota 2 team competing for several years. However, this will be the very first Major for the CS lineup. The team have been placing in the top 5 at S tier events more consistently in the last year, which shows just how much progress they've made.

Historically speaking, team's tend not to place too highly in their first Major as the roster gets used to playing on LAN. That doesn't mean OG should be underestimated though. In the BLAST Premier, fans were convinced that NaVi would stomp them but OG managed to pull it back on Mirage and Ancient.

Current roster - A whole lot of talent

Something that OG seems to understand is the importance of the relationship between the team members. This team hasn't been working together for that long but something is clearly working:

• flameZ (Shahar Shushan)
• nexa (Nemanja Isakovic)
• NEOFRAG (Adam Zouhar)
• F1KU (Maciej Miklas)
• degster (Abdulkhalik Gasanov)

This is all topped off by coach ruggah (Casper Due), who has been working with OG since 2020 following some previous controversy wherein he was banned from ESIC events due to exploiting a spectating bug.

In for a good ride

The CS:GO pro scene has been dominated in recent years by the same few orgs including NaVi and FaZe Clan so perhaps it's time for some new blood to shake things up. If OG are able to pull off a similar level of success,

The Rio Major is just around the corner, being due to kick off on October 31st. Now is a great time to get involved!

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