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2025-04-20 04:48:31

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 Geniuses

Matchpage 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