Vitality qualify for Rio Major

MOUZ will have one last chance to secure their spot at IEM Rio in the final round of the Europe RMR B tournament.

Vitality became the latest team to qualify for the IEM Rio Major from the European Regional Major Ranking tournaments. With a victory over MOUZ, the Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire-led side finished 3-1 in the B group of the European RMRs, having previously beat FANTASY and Monte and lost to BIG.

Though their run through the Swiss stage itself is over, Vitality will fight for direct advancement to the Legends Stage on Sunday, in a third-place decider bracket also featuring Heroic and the winner of OG vs. Outsiders.

dupreeh keeps his Major streak alive, having attended all 17 so far

MOUZ struck first in the series after putting together a fantastic CT side on Inferno. Their pistol prowess in early rounds gave them the early momentum and a Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong 1v1 clutch later in the half kept it on their side, as Vitality struggled to enter either bombsite.

It was just a matter of time before MOUZ found the last three rounds after the 13-2 half, but it was far from an easy task. Vitality responded in kind, stringing rounds together with ease on the defense — ultimately, though, their disappointing first half left them with next to no space for mistakes, and MOUZ reached map point with two A executes and locked down the map at 16-13 with just pistols in hand on the other bombsite.

Vitality equalized the best-of-three on their opponents' map pick, Mirage, looking comfortable on what had been a shaky map for them not so long ago. Nine rounds in a row on CT side and a flashy Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut clutch put them on 10 rounds in the first half, and the second looked only like a formality once Vitality won early forcebuy battles thanks to a couple of ZywOo openings with a hero AK-47.

On the deciding Vertigo, Vitality were quickly running away with the game to start with a commanding offense led by none other than ZywOo. Struggling for momentum, MOUZ salvaged the half thanks to a win with just pistols in the 11th round as Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman and Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás took turns making crucial plays to shut down the remainder of the half.

Once on the CT side, the French-Danish-Israeli mixture went back to winning ways, though, locking out the offense with an eight-round run on the trot to clinch the series 2-1.

IEM Road to Rio 2022 Europe RMR BBest of 3

MOUZ

Matchpage

1

2

8th October 2022

Vitality

16

Inferno

13

8

Mirage

16

7

Vertigo

16

MOUZ	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsástorzsi	58 - 51	+7	80.3	1.16
Dorian 'xertioN' BermanxertioN	43 - 56	-13	75.3	0.92
David 'frozen' Čerňanskýfrozen	39 - 46	-7	58.6	0.86
Christopher 'dexter' Nongdexter	45 - 54	-9	60.8	0.83
Jon 'JDC' de CastroJDC	39 - 58	-19	58.1	0.72

Vitality	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautZywOo	71 - 43	+28	93.9	1.46
Dan 'apEX' MadesclaireapEX	57 - 48	+9	91.6	1.24
Lotan 'Spinx' GiladiSpinx	50 - 47	+3	60.3	1.01
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	40 - 42	-2	68.1	1.00
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	44 - 48	-4	73.4	0.98

A total of 15 teams have now qualified for the IEM Rio Major:

Legends Stage
FaZe
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Natus Vincere
ENCE

Challengers Stage
9z
FURIA
00NATION
IHC

TBD*
Liquid
Evil Geniuses
Spirit
Cloud9
Sprout
Heroic
Vitality

* Liquid vs. Evil Geniuses will decide one Legends spot

The highest seeded of Spirit, Cloud9, and Sprout will secure a Legends spot automatically, and the other two teams will play for another

Heroic, Vitality, and the winner of OG/Outsiders will play in a third-place decider bracket for a Legends spot