The action in the Jeunesse Arena has finally come to a close with just one team left standing - and Team Vitality has been crowned the champion of IEM Rio 2023!
IEM Rio 2023 winner
Team Vitality's victory came through a thrilling Grand Final match against Heroic, where Vitality were able to achieve a decisive 2-0 victory - with scores of 16-13 on Vertigo and 16-12 on Inferno.
It marks the end of a stunning tournament for Team Vitality, who performed well from start to finish - with their sole setback coming during the Group Stage, where the team suffered a 19-17 loss to OG in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals.
Since then, however, the team absolutely dominated their competition - with their Group Stage highlight coming during the Lower Bracket Semifinals, where they eliminated the mighty FaZe Clan from IEM Rio 2023 through a 2-0 victory.
Their stunning performance continued through the Playoffs too, which Team Vitality kicking off the Quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over BIG, before eliminating Cloud9 in the Semifinals through a 2-1 win.
Team Vitality's success is the result of a remarkable team effort, with both Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and Lotan "Spinx" Giladi being the highest-ranked players of the tournament, according to HLTV.
Speaking on broadcast following their win, team captain Dan "apEX" Madesclaire celebrated their victory - but refused to get complacent ahead of the BLAST.tv Paris Major.
"What we need to remember is last time we won the last tournament before the Major, and we fucked up," said apEX. "Now we know what we have to do."
"I think the biggest improvement we had was our map pool," he continued. "I think right now it is getting really good. We worked a lot on our weakest map, and I think this shows it."
As the champions of IEM Rio 2023, Team Vitality have received $100,000 out of the $250,000 prize pool and qualified for IEM Cologne 2023, which will take place from July 25-August 6.
All eyes are now on the upcoming BLAST.tv Paris Major. The final CS:GO Major is due to kick off soon, and will take place from May 8-21. The French-led Team Vitality are due to compete due to their success at the European RMR, and they've certainly got the momentum behind them after their Rio win.
But will it be enough for the team to emerge victorious on their home soil? Once you've signed up for your free account, you'll be able to watch the BLAST.tv Paris Major live right here on Luckbox. And if you're looking to bet on CS:GO, you're in the right place - just click here to see our upcoming CS:GO match schedule.
