The Challengers Stage of IEM Rio gets underway on Monday with plenty of intriguing match-ups.
There are lots of teams that have historically made it to the main event of this tournament.
This Challengers Stage features 16 teams in a four-day competition with eight of those 16 teams advancing to the next stage. This portion of IEM Rio features plenty of well-known organisations from around the world.
Teams such as MOUZ, BIG, FURIA Esports, Vitality and fnatic find themselves in this Challenger Stage and none of these teams have an easy path. Plenty of other teams could easily find themselves punching their ticket to the next stage of the competition.
Let's look at some of the biggest matches on the schedule for the opening day of the IEM Rio 2022 Challengers Stage.
| What | MOUZ v Outsiders, IEM Rio Challengers Stage |
| Where | Rio de Janeiro |
| When | 10:00 ET, Monday 31st October 2022 |
| How to watch | CS:GO YouTube Channel / Twitch |
| Odds | MOUZ +100, Outsiders -138 |
MOUZ and the Outsiders start the Challengers Stage of IEM Rio Major 2022. Both teams will be looking to prove their worth. The MOUZ have made a good climb in the world rankings since having all of their roster changes this year. The top player for MOUZ has been frozen who is averaging 0.76 kills per round.
As for Outsiders they have been led by FL1T who is averaging 0.75 kills per round. Outsiders won the last head-to-head meeting which was a 2-1 victory at ESL Challenger Rotterdam 2022 early this month. That match was very heavily contested.
Only a couple years ago the MOUZ were among the best teams in the world, but they have since dropped down a bit with the number of roster movements in the past year. They were able to grab a seventh-place finish at the IEM Road to Rio 2022 Europe event. However, they have struggled to have any consistency.
Outsiders are coming off a victory at ESL Challenger at DreamHack Rotterdam 2022, which was an event where they also played MOUZ and beat them in three maps. MOUZ have solid playmakers, but that is not expected to be enough to overcome Outsiders.
| What | BIG v FURIA, IEM Rio Challengers Stage |
| Where | Rio de Janeiro |
| When | 12:30 ET, Monday 31st October 2022 |
| How to watch | CS:GO YouTube Channel / Twitch |
| Odds | BIG +150, FURIA -200 |
BIG and FURIA meet once again in CS:GO in the Challengers Round of IEM Rio Major 2022. Both teams are no strangers to this event and will try to outduel the other. BIG have some work to do as KSCERATO for FURIA Esports has been on fire. His 1.31 rating and 0.80 kills per round average have been good.
The inconsistency of the rest of the FURIA line-up has been a little questionable although they have picked it up since their last major event. As for BIG they lack quite a bit as their roster continues to struggle to gel. BIG did win the most recent head-to-head at IEM Dallas as they beat FURIA in three maps.
Esports: South Korea continue to dominate
BIG had a very tough performance at IEM Masters XVII Cologne as they couldn't get much accomplished and ended the event with a 17th-20th placing. It has been pretty much the same throughout the rest of the 2022 campaign for the team. Which is far below the calibre the team showed in the first half of the calendar which included a third-place finish at IEM Dallas.
FURIA Esports have made a lot of progress throughout 2022 after several changes to their roster. This team hasn't finished worse than 12th in their events this season. There may not have been any major wins, but they have been consistent in their finishes. The Brazilian organisation have a great chance to take down BIG.
| What | Vitality v Imperial, IEM Rio Challengers Stage |
| Where | Rio de Janeiro |
| When | 13:45 ET, Monday 31st October 2022 |
| How to watch | CS:GO YouTube Channel/ Twitch |
| Odds | Vitality -450, Imperial +300 |
The fight between Team Vitality and Imperial will be a match to watch as both teams are trying to make it out of the Challengers Round. Imperial could be expected to be at this level, but this a new place for Vitality as they have been contenders for the outright win at these IEM Major events.
Team Vitality have never faced Imperial in a head-to-head setting. The #1 team in the world aren't taking that lightly as they and their leader ZywOo should expect a tough challenge.
It has been a productive season for Imperial as they have a couple of championships to their name. However, their last Major event appearance was at IEM Cologne where they were eliminated early on by 00 Nation and ended up in the 17th-20th placing. Their opening draw at this event doesn't make things much easier as they have to find a way to limit ZywOo and Team Vitality.
Vitality made a lot of big moves this season including cashing in during ESL Pro League Season 16 where they were champions which boosted the team to the #1 world ranking. The team also grabbed a third-place finish at last year's World Final. This team has reached the finals stage in the last two IEM Majors. This event shouldn't be different as Vitality are expected to easily beat Imperial.
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