The best Pick’ems for the Rio Major legends stage

William Davis Published 04/11/2022

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players who listened to our Rio Major challengers stage pick’ems already have a free souvenir token, and the legends stage is now up for speculation.

CSGO players who followed our challengers stage pick’ems have already secured a silver coin, the legends stage is an opportunity to advance to gold. Upgrading the coin also grants a free souvenir token, so there are plenty of reasons to research your picks. Here are our pick’ems for the CSGO Rio Major legends stage.

The best pick’ems for the CSGO Rio Major legends stage

First up is our pick for which teams will go 3-0 at the Rio Major legends stage. FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere are both the top teams heading into the event, and both teams also stomped their European RMRs. FaZe is slightly more consistent in group stages, though the later phases of the tournament may flip to Natus Vincere. We choose FaZe to go 3-0 with the guns of Håvard “rain” Nygaard and Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken. 

As for our Rio Major pick’ems to advance, we choose the following teams to break out of the legends stage.

• Natus Vincere
• Heroic
• Team Liquid
• Bad News Eagles
• Outsiders
• FURIA Esports
• Cloud9

Natus Vincere needs no introduction, and no one would argue with picking Na’Vi to go 3-0. A rough finish at ESL Pro League keeps it out of our 3-0 slot, but it’s hard to imagine Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev leaving Rio this early. Team Liquid is another famous team who should be able to cruise through the legends stage. Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski played well above average at the RMR, where Liquid won 3-0.

Bad News Eagles shocked the community by going 3-0 in the challengers stage, and it’s hard to doubt the team will advance into the legends stage. Outsiders has somehow found its Brazilian fanbase, and the squad’s slow methodical pace should earn a ticket to the playoffs. FURIA is the sole remaining South American team, but it has a solid chance to make a podium run. Lastly, Cloud9 has been in a bit of a rut lately, but a podium finish at ESL Pro League 16 sparks confidence.

As for our 0-3 pick, we regrettably have to call out Sprout. The squad barely squeezed into the RMR in third place, and its recent international results don’t look very promising. If you think Sprout has what it takes to win a match, Team Spirit is another lower-ranked team at this stage of the event.

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