MOUZ edge out Sangal to secure IEM Rio Major spot

Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong and company were made to work for it, needing overtime on Inferno before almost dropping a seven-round lead on the decider of Ancient.

MOUZ defeated Sangal in a three-map series to clinch a spot in the IEM Rio Major Challengers Stage after going 3-2 in the European RMR B tournament.

The European combine beat OG and K23 to reach the best-of-three stage, where they first lost to Vitality in a three-map series before getting the job done against Sangal. The Robin "⁠ScrunK⁠" Röpke-led team will be disappointed to lose out after dropping a 13-7 lead on the first map of Inferno before running out of steam on the decider of Ancient.

torzsi is one of three Major debutants in MOUZ

Sangal got off on the right foot on Inferno, winning the T pistol and racing to a 5-0 lead, before a retake on the A site got MOUZ their first. Love "⁠phzy⁠" Smidebrant answered by winning a 1vs2 clutch, which meant that the underdog team was six rounds up in no time. They would win just one more round in the half, however, as MOUZ woke up and reduced the deficit to just one at halftime.

An aggressive push down middle gave Sangal their second pistol, which they once again converted into a five-round streak to lead 13-7. MOUZ came back to salvage the half, eventually forcing overtime with a B attack. Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman began OT with a triple-kill, as he crept into CT spawn undetected to backstab the B defenders and deliver the round for his team. MOUZ's experience shone through, looking more comfortable in high-pressure situations to close out the map 19-16.

Sangal began Vertigo with another quick start, going up 8-1 before MOUZ were able to find at least some success when David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský reduced the deficit to six with a 1vs2 clutch. Caner "⁠soulfly⁠" Kesici was the best performer in the half, as he went 7:0 in opening duels in the first half to help his team go into the interval with an 11-4 scoreline.

Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás began the second half with a triple in the pistol, but MOUZ immediately dropped the ball in the ensuing forcebuy, going down 5-14. This time, dexter and company weren't able to come back, dropping the map 9-16 to move the series to the decider of Ancient.

Sangal were once again quicker out of the gates, but MOUZ fought back quickly to tie up the scores at 4-4. Their CT side looked strong, with dexter leading by example to put his team five up at the interval.

MOUZ were able to start the second half by winning the immediate forcebuy to negate another Sangal pistol round, converting the momentum to a 13-6 lead. They had some trouble closing out the game, but dexter's crucial triple-kill and a 1vs1 clutch by Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro were enough to get them over the line, 16-12.

IEM Road to Rio 2022 Europe RMR BBest of 3

MOUZ

Matchpage

2

1

9th October 2022

Sangal

19

Inferno

16

9

Vertigo

16

16

Ancient

12

MOUZ	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
David 'frozen' Čerňanskýfrozen	61 - 53	+8	78.5	1.18
Christopher 'dexter' Nongdexter	67 - 61	+6	79.3	1.10
Dorian 'xertioN' BermanxertioN	63 - 58	+5	74.9	1.08
Jon 'JDC' de CastroJDC	47 - 61	-14	68.1	0.87
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsástorzsi	39 - 54	-15	51.4	0.81

Sangal	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Caner 'soulfly' Kesicisoulfly	67 - 60	+7	82.2	1.18
Kornél 'kory' Szedlárkory	60 - 60	0	74.6	1.07
Love 'phzy' Smidebrantphzy	56 - 51	+5	65.5	1.06
Can 'kyuubii' Alikyuubii	50 - 52	-2	60.4	0.95
Robin 'ScrunK' RöpkeScrunK	48 - 55	-7	66.9	0.93

Group Swiss

3W - 0L

Natus Vincere

ENCE

3W - 1L

Vitality

Heroic

OG

3W - 2L

BIG

MOUZ

2W - 2L

Falcons

Outsiders

2W - 3L

Sangal

K23

1W - 3L

Monte

HEET

Illuminar

0W - 3L

FANTASY

SAW

The teams confirmed at the Major so far are:

Legends Stage
FaZe
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Natus Vincere
ENCE
Sprout
Spirit
Liquid

Challengers Stage
9z
FURIA
00NATION
IHC
fnatic
GamerLegion
Bad News Eagles
Grayhound
BIG
Cloud9
MOUZ
Evil Geniuses

TBD*
Heroic
OG

Heroic and OG will play in a third-place decider bracket for a Legends spot