Asia RMR team list finalized

Rare Atom, IHC, JiJieHao International, and ORDER will battle it out for two spots at the IEM Rio Major Challengers Stage.

The closed qualifiers for the Asia, China, Middle East, and Oceania regions have concluded. One team per region was awarded a spot at the IEM Road to Rio Asia RMR, which will run from October 7-9. From there, only two will progress out of the RMR and make it to the IEM Rio Major in November.

In the China Closed Qualifier, Rare Atom didn't have the most straightforward of campaigns as the team fell to the lower bracket following their upper final defeat to Lynn Vision. The team toppled Wings Up in the consolidation final and set up a rematch with Heng "⁠expro⁠" Yang's squad in the grand final. This time around, Rare Atom fared better and took home a decisive 2-0 series victory against Lynn Vision to claim their spot at the RMR.

The result of the China qualifier means that TYLOO, who lost to Lynn Vision and Wings Up, will miss the Minor or RMR stage of the Major cycle for the first time since 2016. Back then, they were not able to attend the Asia Minor after it was revealed that their player, Quanqing "⁠qz⁠" Wu, received a VAC ban in 2013.

Can IHC reach back-to-back Majors?

IHC secured the top spot in the Asia Closed Qualifier to book their second RMR appearance in history. Garidmagnai "⁠bLitz⁠" Byambasuren's crew reached the qualifier's grand final after defeating NKT 2-0, but Erdenetsogt "⁠erkaSt⁠" Gantulga's men made their way to the final after defeating ARAVT in the lower bracket. Even though NKT took the first map, bLitz and company were able to pull off the reverse-sweep after winning 16-14 on Dust2 and Overpass to clinch the RMR spot.

Russian-Israeli side JiJieHao International, which only came together in mid-August, emerged victorious at the Middle East Closed Qualifier to earn their place at the Asia RMR. In all three of their matches, JiJieHao International found themselves down a map but were able to turn things around and complete reverse-sweep wins, first over JPB in the opening round and then NASR in the upper and grand final.

Finally, ORDER topped the Oceania Closed Qualifier to earn a spot at the Asia RMR. Veterans Aaron "⁠AZR⁠" Ward and Sean "⁠Gratisfaction⁠" Kaiwai were standing in for Encore in hopes of boosting the team's chances, but it ultimately wasn't enough as ORDER triumphed in the deciding match and claimed their spot at the RMR.

The four teams competing at the IEM Road to Rio Asia RMR is as follows:

JiJieHao International
IHC

ORDER
Rare Atom