Outsiders sweeps Rio Major grand finals over Heroic
After a dominant grand finals performance in the heart of Brazil, Outsiders has been declared the champion of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Rio Major.
The Rio Major marks the 18th CSGO major and the very first to take place in South America. Outsiders is the continent’s first champion, bulldozing through Fnatic, MOUZ, and Heroic to claim the Intel Extreme Masters trophy. It will take home $500,000 of the $1.25 million prize pool, the largest in the team’s history.
While controversies surrounding the crowd spoiled the experience for some fans, the peaks of the event may be the most electric atmosphere in all of CSGO. Here’s how the grand finals resolved and whether the crowd helped or hindered the fan experience.
Outsiders triumphs in grand finals of Rio Major
The match started in dramatic fashion on a very expected map in Mirage. Things started even, with rounds trading all the way to the switch with Outsiders claiming eight on Mirage T side. The Eastern Europeans then rallied back from a lost pistol to claim five straight rounds on CT. Despite a comeback attempt spearheaded by Casper “cadiaN” Møller, Outsiders put the map to rest on round 28. Rifler Pyotr “fame” Bolyshev and his captain Dzhami “Jame” Ali combined for 47 kills, painting them as players to watch.
Map two Overpass started strong for Heroic with a won pistol and followup, but a tough economy combined with a teamkill onto René “TeSeS” Madsen gave Outsiders a foothold. Heroic failed to hold connector round after round, granting the already-winning team clean access to both sites. Ecos and buy rounds alike couldn’t bring Heroic back into the game. The first half ended 12-3 in Outsiders’ favor, requiring just four T rounds to seal the deal.
Heroic attempted to build momentum but failed to survive the pistol round crackback, dropping a crucial two rounds to put Outsiders on championship point. A final scrappy buy from the Danes wasn’t enough to hold it back. As the final shots rang out from Evgeniy “FL1T” Lebedev’s M4A1-S, Outsiders rushed the stage to claim its crown.
Outsiders Rio Major championship roster
Outsiders’ CSGO roster at the time of winning the Rio Major included the following players and coach.
- Aleksei “Qikert” Golubev
- Dzhami “Jame” Ali
- Evgeniy “FL1T” Lebedev
- David “n0rb3r7” Daniyelyan
- Pyotr “fame” Bolyshev
- Dastan “dastan” Aqbaev (Coach)
The Rio champion roster was first assembled in May of 2022 with the arrival of n0rb3r7 and fame. It entered the major as a dark horse contender after a smaller championship at DreamHack Rotterdam 2022. While a consistent contender, Outsiders was a very uncommon prediction to win the whole event. Including Virtus.pro’s previous major in 2014, the organization has now added a second major trophy to its cabinet.
The Heroic roster that met the champion in the grand final consisted of the following players.
- Martin “stavn” Lund
- Casper “cadiaN” Møller
- René “TeSeS” Madsen
- Rasmus “sjuush” Beck
- Jakob “Jabbi” Nygaard
- Richard “Xizt” Landström (Coach)
Rio Major grand finals crowd draws controversy
After low expectations from the greater CSGO community, the crowd for the Rio Major grand finals was packed and very active.
During the playoffs of the Rio Major, CSGO fans began noticing considerably smaller crowds for matches between foreign teams. The semifinal game between Outsiders and MOUZ was particularly criticized. The exploding crowd during Furia and Heroic didn’t help. Fans offered many theories on the crowd situation by blaming the fan fest, certain personalities, and even nationalism.
However, the crowd for the Rio Major grand finals was anything but quiet. Portuguese chants filled the stadium whenever The Wave of flashlights died down. There were considerably fewer shirtless men in the crowd compared to the Furia games, but this would have been considered a great turnout at any other major.
As for how the crowd will affect future CSGO tournaments in the country, ESL has already announced another Intel Extreme Masters event to take place in Brazil sometime during 2023. Hopefully, that tournament will not feature an outdoor fan fest during crucial playoff matches.
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