FURIA Esports and Cloud9 earned wins Tuesday to advance to the Group B upper-bracket final at the Intel Extreme Masters Rio event in Rio de Janeiro.
FURIA and Cloud9 will square off on Wednesday to determine the top two spots in Group B, while BIG and Natus Vincere will clash for first and second place in Group A.
The $250,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began with 16 teams divided into two groups for the double-elimination opening phase. Each team’s first match consisted of a single map, while all other matches are best-of-three.
The group winners qualify for the playoff semifinals. The group runners-up move into the playoff quarterfinals as high seeds, and the third-place finishers in each group start the playoff quarterfinals as low seeds.
The single-elimination playoffs start Friday, with the quarterfinals and semifinals best-of-three and the grand final on Sunday best-of-five.
The tournament champion will earn $100,000 and a berth in the $1 million Intel Extreme Masters Cologne scheduled for July 25-Aug. 6 in Germany. The Rio runner-up will receive $42,000.
In Group B on Tuesday, FURIA swept FaZe Clan 2-0, prevailing 16-8 on Mirage and 16-13 on Nuke. Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato led FURIA’s all-Brazilian roster with 44 kills and a plus-20 kill-death differential. Estonia’s Robin “ropz” Kool logged 36 kills and a minus-5 K-D differential for FaZe Clan.
Cloud9 posted a tight 2-0 victory over OG, winning 16-14 on Mirage and 16-14 on Overpass. Russia’s Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov amassed 56 kills and a plus-19 K-D differential for Cloud9. Another Russian, Abdul “degster” Gasanov, wound up with 49 kills and a plus-14 K-D differential for OG.
Group B lower-bracket play began on Tuesday with Fnatic and Team Vitality extending their runs. Fnatic rallied past 9z Team 2-1, dropping Nuke 16-9 before capturing Overpass 16-3 and Ancient 16-12. Vitality swept MIBR 2-0 with a 16-11 victory on Anubis and a 16-8 triumph on Nuke.
In the Group B lower-bracket semifinals on Wednesday, OG will oppose Fnatic and FaZe Clan will clash with Team Vitality.
Ninjas in Pyjamas and Heroic earned wins on Tuesday in the Group A lower-bracket semifinals.
Ninjas in Pyjamas lost the first map to 9INE, 16-9 on Vertigo, before claiming Mirage 19-15 in overtime and taking Overpass 16-12 to complete a 2-1 win.
Heroic got past The MongolZ 2-1, sandwiching a 16-4 victory on Inferno and a 16-6 win on Mirage around a 16-13 setback on Overpass.
The schedule for Wednesday, the last day of group play:
–Group A upper-bracket final: BIG vs. Natus Vincere
–Group B upper-bracket final: FURIA Esports vs. Cloud9
–Group A lower-bracket final: Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Heroic
–Group B lower-bracket semifinal: OG vs. Fnatic
–Group B lower-bracket semifinal: FaZe Clan vs. Team Vitality
–Group B lower-bracket final: Group B lower-bracket semifinal winners
Intel Extreme Masters Rio prize pool
1. $100,000, berth in IEM Cologne
2. $42,000
3-4. $20,000
5-6. $10,000
7-8. $6,000
9-12. $5,000 — 9INE, The MongolZ, two teams TBD
13-16. $4,000 — Imperial Esports, MOUZ, 9z Team, MIBR
–Field Level Media
