IEM Rio preview: Natus Vincere
How well will the second-most recent Major winner behind FaZe do at the IEM Rio?
IEM Rio will be the second CS:GO Major of 2022 and the first-ever Major tournament to be held in Brazil. The Challenger Stage of the Major will kick off on October 31, with the Grand final of the event set to be played on November 13. Once the Legends Stage kicks off, a total of 16 teams will be competing for the lion’s share of the $1.250.000 prize pool, with the winner walking away with a Major trophy and $500.000.
Challengers Stage: Oct 31st – Nov 3rd
Legends Stage: Nov 5th – 8th
Champions Stage: Nov 10th – 13th
NAVI:
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev – 1.29 Rating in 2022
Denis “electronic” Sharipov – 1.11 Rating in 2022
Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev – 1.01 Rating in 2022
Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy – 1.04 Rating in 2022
Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy – 1.12 Rating in 2022
Qualified as: Legends
Last Major: 2nd
Odds of winning IEM Rio: 4.5-5
Is not that long ago since NAVI fell out of the Top 3 of HLTV’s World Ranking for the first time since they acquired Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy to the first team. Their last dip from the Top 3 dates all the way back to May 2021, so it’s not a secret that there have been some questions regarding the team who had a disappointing start to the second half of the season. This is the reason why the spotlight was sat on the new IGL, Denis “electronic” Sharipov, who many didn’t find as the right man for the job. However, after a rough 5th-8th finish at ESL Pro League Season 16, NAVI picked themselves up and made some clear changes in the way of approaching the game, which has helped them finish the rest of this year, until now, with podium finishes.
They succeeded in moving through the RMR Europe with ease, recording no losses at all to secure a 3-0 record. At the end of the event, electronic and s1mple were to be found on the top of the best-performing players with a 1.58 and 1.48 Rating, respectively.
Many CS:GO fans would probably be pointing to Natus Vincere as one of the favorites alongside FaZe and Team Vitality to win the IEM Rio Major. They’re the second-most recent Major winner behind FaZe, and their coolness and individual experience on the big stage could get them a long way, even if they aren’t hitting their best day as a team. Our prediction is that s1mple and company from Natus Vincere will reach the semi-final of the Major. But, the only way to know for sure is to tune in to the Major when it kicks off on October 31, 2022.
Pley.gg prediction: NAVI to reach the semi-final
NAVI’s 2022 best results: 2nd at PGL Major Antwerp 2022, 1st at BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2022, 1st-3rd at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022, 1st at Intel Extreme Masters Road to Rio 2022: European RMR B.
World Ranking: 4
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