Outsiders send Vitality to elimination matches; 9z come back against Evil Geniuses

Both Evil Geniuses and Vitality will start the third day of play with a 1-2 record.

9z claimed their second victory in front of the Brazilian crowd, this time against Evil Geniuses. The South American mix faced a 5-10 deficit on Nuke ahead of the break, but managed to force Sanzhar "⁠neaLaN⁠" Iskhakov's squad into overtime before stealing the map 19-17.

The secondary stream witnessed Outsiders's 16-12 victory over Vitality on Overpass, securing a 2-1 record for the Russian squad. The European mix was unable to run away with the CT side despite Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut's heroics, and struggled to challenge on the offense — sealing their demotion to the 1-2 pool.

max's impact on the CT side was crucial in 9z's comeback on Nuke

Evil Geniuses opened up the match on Nuke against 9z by taking the pistol round and guaranteeing themselves a small 2-0 lead. The South Americans remained competitive throughout the early stages thanks to David "⁠dav1deuS⁠" Tapia Maldonado, but as Evil Geniuses settled on the defense they extended their lead to 10-5.

9z were more comfortable after switching sides and strung six consecutive rounds early in the half to steal the advantage as Maximiliano "⁠max⁠" Gonzalez started to come online. A late North American resurgence forced the game into overtime, but the South Americans quickly swept through their CT side in extra time.

IEM Rio Major 2022 Challengers StageBest of 1 Evil GeniusesMatchpage 17 19 1st November 2022 9z 17Nuke 19

The second 1-1 match hosted Vitality against Outsiders on Overpass. The European mix took the early lead courtesy of a triple-kill from ZywOo in the first pistol round, however, Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali's squad was never far behind. The Russians' late pushes into sites often caught Vitality off-guard and enabled the offense to grind out a slight 8-7 advantage going into the break.

Despite taking the second pistol round, the Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire-led squad was unable to seal the game and Outsiders's CT side slowly got back in contention, stringing five in a row. The B site push against the Russian force buy on round 27 devolved into a game-defining mistake for Vitality as they conceded match point to Outsiders. The defenders wasted no time and quickly brought the map to a close 16-12.

IEM Rio Major 2022 Challengers StageBest of 1 VitalityMatchpage 12 16 1st November 2022 Outsiders 12Overpass 16 Group Challengers Stage 2W - 0L Bad News Eagles GamerLegion MOUZ fnatic 2W - 1L Outsiders 9z 1W - 1L OG FURIA BIG Grayhound 1W - 2L Evil Geniuses Vitality 0W - 2L Cloud9 IHC Imperial 00NATION Dzhami 'Jame' Ali Age: 24 Team: Outsiders Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 1224 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.55 Evil Geniuses #21 Timothy 'autimatic' TaVincent 'Brehze' CayonteTsvetelin 'CeRq' DimitrovSanzhar 'neaLaN' IskhakovJadan 'HexT' Postma David 'dav1deuS' Tapia Maldonado Age: 22 Team: 9z Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 363 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.67 Outsiders #8 Evgenii 'FL1T' LebedevAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' AliDavid 'n0rb3r7' DanielyanPetr 'fame' Bolyshev Sanzhar 'neaLaN' Iskhakov Age: 22 Team: Evil Geniuses Rating 1.0: 0.93 Maps played: 1109 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.70 Vitality #2 Dan 'apEX' MadesclairePeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenEmil 'Magisk' ReifMathieu 'ZywOo' HerbautLotan 'Spinx' Giladi Mathieu 'ZywOo' Herbaut Age: 21 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.27 Maps played: 1069 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.61 Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire Age: 29 Team: Vitality Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 2052 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.70 Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez Age: 23 Team: 9z Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 604 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.66 9z #28 Maximiliano 'max' GonzalezFranco 'dgt' GarciaDavid 'dav1deuS' Tapia MaldonadoLucas 'nqz' SoaresNicolás 'buda' Kramer