32 teams in two different brackets and only 16 Major tickets: Road to Rio 2022 is starting tomorrow. The best CS:GO teams in the world will compete to stay in the top eight of their bracket and make it to IEM Rio Major 2022, the second and final Major of the year. Let’s take a look at what’s happening.
Regional Major Rankings (RMR) are the only way to enter a Major. Not even the last champion is granted a slot for the next Major. PGL Major Antwerp 2022 was won by FaZe Clan, and we will see if they can continue dominating the CS:GO scene, or we will witness a new team taking the victory. If you are looking for information about the European competition to get to the Major, this is the place for you.
Europe RMR A
16 teams will participate in Europe RMR A, and the top four will make it to the Major with the “Legend Status” and start from the second swiss bracket, The Legends Stage. 5th and 6th places will award a Challenger Status which helps you avoid stronger teams at the start of the tournament, and 7th and 8th places will award a Contender Status. The swiss bracket will start with best-of-ones and best-of-threes will be played for elimination and qualification matches.
FaZe Clan, Team Spirit, Ninjas in Pyjamas, G2 Esports, Cloud9 and Bad News Eagles participate in Europe RMR A due to their performance at PGL Major Antwerp 2022. Sprout and Aurora Gaming won Open Qualifier #1, Fnatic and forZe won Open Qualifier #2, Eternal Fire, B8 and ECSTATIC won Open Qualifier #3 and Astralis, 1WIN and GamerLegion won Open Qualifier #4.
PGL Major champions FaZe Clan is a natural favourite at the RMR. G2 Esports and Cloud9 also looked strong recently, although not perfect. However, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team Spirit are clearly declining after the Major. Bad News Eagles was always an underdog, and they will keep trying to upset the big ones here.
After some failures at IEM Cologne and ESL Challenger, Sprout dominated at Open Qualifier #1 with Aurora Gaming to impress everyone and get a spot well before Fnatic and Astralis. While Fnatic also disappointed their fans in 2022, they were able to compete for a Major spot due to a strong performance at Open Qualifier #2. I doubt if these two can continue their good form here, however.
Turkish super team Eternal Fire have some new faces in the team, and their ESL Pro League performance looked promising, but I still can’t say they can challenge the top teams at the RMR. Ukraine’s B8 and Denmark’s ECSTATIC are in a similar situation. Astralis managed to make it in their final chance, don’t forget that MistR will sub in for k0nfig here. 1WIN and GamerLegion followed Astralis, but they don’t look special either.
Because the some of the top teams that got automatic qualification like Spirit and NiP fell after Major, there is a chance for teams like Sprout, Fnatic and Eternal Fire to challenge them and get a spot. It will be a good competition for sure.
The first matches at the Europe RMR A:
Tuesday, October 4
Bad News Eagles (2.00) vs Eternal Fire (1.70) - 11:00 CEST
Sprout (1.75) vs forZe (1.98) - 11:00 CEST
G2 Esports (1.10) vs ECSTATIC (5.80) - 12:15 CEST
Cloud9 (1.08) vs B8 (6.30) - 12:15 CEST
FaZe Clan (1.15) vs GamerLegion (4.80) - 13:30 CEST
Team Spirit (1.48) vs 1WIN (2.50) - 13:30 CEST
Ninjas in Pyjamas (1.58) vs Astralis (2.25) - 14:45 CEST (Must-watch)
Aurora Gaming (2.80) vs Fnatic (1.38) - 14:45 CEST
These RMRs will decide who competes in IEM Rio Major 2022, and you can keep track of the competition with live streams and the latest news on Luckbox. Sign up now to grab your 100% bonus before placing your bets.
Europe RMR B
Europe RMR B also hosts 16 teams: the top three take Legend Status, 4-7 take Challenger Status and the eighth place will take the sole Contender Status. It will start the same day as Europe RMR A, but the first matches will start later. As always, the swiss bracket will start with best-of-ones and best-of-threes will be played for elimination and qualification matches.
Natus Vincere, ENCE, Heroic, Team Vitality, BIG and Outsiders are here thanks to their performances at PGL Major Antwerp 2022. Team Falcons, MOUZ and OG won their spots in Open Qualifier #1, K23 and Monte in Open Qualifier #2, Sangal Esports and FANTASY in Open Qualifier #3 and SAW, HEET and Illuminar Gaming in Open Qualifier #4.
We might see a different kind of competition in RMR B, as NAVI, ENCE, Heroic, Team Vitality, BIG and Outsiders managed to stay relevant in 2022, although the latter two weren’t as strong. Coming from the first open qualifier, misutaaa’s Team Falcons, MOUZ and OG look like the best challengers for the remaining two spots.
K23 and Monte are hard to determine, they mostly participated in smaller tournaments and they couldn’t perform well at a higher level. Sangal Esports, FANTASY, HEET and Illuminar Gaming will also come here to write an unexpected underdog story. The fact that they managed to come here shows they are strong enough to do just that.
The first matches at Europe RMR B:
Tuesday, October 4
Team Vitality (1.03) vs FANTASY (9.00) - 16:00 CEST
Outsiders (1.22) vs Monte (4.00) - 16:00 CEST
Heroic (1.25) vs SAW (3.60) - 17:15 CEST
Falcons (1.52) vs K23 (2.35) - 17:15 CEST
ENCE (1.42) vs HEET (2.60) - 18:30 CEST
MOUZ (1.65) vs OG (2.10) - 18:30 CEST (Must-watch)
Natus Vincere (1.08) vs Illuminar Gaming (7.00) - 19:45 CEST
BIG (1.65) vs Sangal Esports (2.10) - 19:45 CEST
The competition starts tomorrow, don’t forget to tune in!
