The IEM Rio Major 2022 brought a Counter-Strike Major to Brazil two years after the cancelled 2020 event, with crowds from the first stage onwards. It was won by Outsiders, the Virtus.pro players competing under a neutral name, who beat Heroic 2-0 in the final. On the item side, Rio added two storage units full of stickers and produced the last Dust II Souvenir package until late 2024.
The tournament
ESL organised the Major under its Intel Extreme Masters brand from October 31 to November 13, 2022. It delivered the event ESL had promised Brazil when ESL One Rio 2020 was cancelled. Valve's announcement described it as "the first CS:GO Major in Brazil" with "live audiences from start to finish", unlike Stockholm and Antwerp, whose first two stages were played in studios.
- Challengers Stage (October 31 to November 3) and Legends Stage (November 5 to 8): two 16-team Swiss groups with best-of-one matches, except best-of-three games for advancement and elimination. Liquipedia lists the Riocentro convention centre as the venue.
- Champions Stage (November 10 to 13): an eight-team single-elimination bracket, all best-of-three, at the Jeunesse Arena, the venue planned for 2020.
The 24 teams qualified through Regional Major Ranking events. The prize pool was $1,250,000, with $500,000 for the winner. The map pool was the same as at Stockholm and Antwerp: Ancient, Dust II, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass and Vertigo.
Who Outsiders were
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, ESL banned organisations it said had ties to the Russian government from its events, and named Virtus.pro and Gambit. HLTV reported that Virtus.pro's ultimate ownership led to Sogaz, a state-run insurance company targeted by European Union sanctions. Virtus.pro rejected the decision and said it was not connected to the government, but allowed its players to compete under a neutral name, without representing the organisation, its sponsors or their country. From ESL Pro League Season 15 in March 2022, the team played as Outsiders, the name it also used at PGL Antwerp 2022.
The lineup that won in Rio was not the one that started the year. Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis joined Team Liquid in October 2022, and Timur "buster" Tulepov was registered as the substitute and did not play. Two newer players, David "n0rb3r7" Danielyan and Petr "fame" Bolyshev, played alongside the three Virtus.pro veterans. HLTV noted that Rio was fame's first Major.
| Outsiders | Role |
|---|---|
| Dzhami "Jame" Ali | Captain and AWPer, HLTV MVP |
| Aleksei "qikert" Golubev | Player |
| Evgenii "FL1T" Lebedev | Player |
| David "n0rb3r7" Danielyan | Player |
| Petr "fame" Bolyshev | Player |
| Dastan "dastan" Aqbaev | Coach |
In January 2023, when Virtus.pro posted a video unboxing the trophy, ESL's Michał "Carmac" Blicharz responded that "VP did not win the title at IEM Rio", as Dexerto reported. In March 2023, after the organisation had been sold to new owners, BLAST and ESL lifted their bans and the team returned as Virtus.pro.
Outsiders' run
Outsiders came to Rio with Contenders status, so they started in the Challengers Stage and had to get through both Swiss stages. They lost one Legends Stage match to Heroic, 16-9 on Overpass, and still reached the playoffs. Several favourites did not: the reigning champions FaZe went out in the Legends Stage, along with Vitality and Team Liquid.
In the playoffs Outsiders beat Fnatic 2-0 (16-11 on Inferno and 16-8 on Mirage) and then MOUZ 2-1 in the semi-finals. Heroic beat Team Spirit 2-0 and then ended FURIA's run in front of their home crowd, winning the deciding map 16-5 after taking Ancient 19-17 in overtime. FURIA had knocked out Natus Vincere in the quarter-finals.
The final on November 13 was short:
| Map | Picked by | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Mirage | Outsiders | Outsiders 16-12 Heroic |
| Overpass | Heroic | Outsiders 16-5 Heroic |
HLTV gave its MVP medal to Jame for an average rating of 1.30 from the Legends Stage onwards, and its match report called the title a "magical underdog run".
| Place | Team | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Outsiders | $500,000 |
| 2nd | Heroic | $170,000 |
| 3rd–4th | FURIA, MOUZ | $80,000 each |
| 5th–8th | Cloud9, Fnatic, Natus Vincere, Team Spirit | $45,000 each |
Stickers and storage units
Valve's announcement on October 21, 2022, "The Long Road to Rio", put team stickers, player autographs and the Viewer Pass on sale. Team and autograph capsules came in paper, glitter, holo and gold, as at Antwerp, and 50% of the proceeds went to the players, teams and organisations. Each team capsule held eight teams plus the IEM logo.
| Group | Teams |
|---|---|
| Legends | ENCE, FaZe Clan, Heroic, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Sprout Esports, Team Liquid, Team Spirit |
| Challengers | 9z Team, Bad News Eagles, BIG, Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, MOUZ, OG, Vitality |
| Contenders | 00 Nation, FURIA, Fnatic, GamerLegion, Grayhound Gaming, IHC Esports, Imperial Esports, Outsiders |
The champions came from the Contenders group, as did the semi-finalists FURIA, while Heroic held Legends status.
On October 26, Valve added two limited-time storage units. According to Valve's release notes, the paper version, listed in game as the Rio 2022 Storage Unit with Paper Stickers, came with 145 paper stickers: every paper player autograph and every paper organisation sticker from the set. The glitter version held the same 145 stickers in glitter. Like any storage unit, they could also be used to store other items.
On November 15, Valve released the Rio 2022 Champions Autograph Capsule with FL1T, fame, Jame, n0rb3r7 and Qikert in paper, glitter, holo and gold. The same post announced a change to how teams would be invited to the RMRs for the next Major. The champions' stickers carry "Champion" in the name, which separates them from the same players' autographs in the Contenders Autograph Capsule.
Our guide to Major sticker capsules explains how the proceeds were divided.
Souvenirs
Viewer Pass holders earned a Souvenir Token with every coin upgrade, up to three through the Pick'Em Challenge, and could buy more. Valve said Souvenirs "feature gold stickers of the teams and map of the match you selected". The seven packages used the same collections as Stockholm and Antwerp, from the 2021 Mirage Collection with its AWP | Desert Hydra to the 2018 Nuke Collection. See our Souvenir packages guide for how they worked.
Five days after the final, on November 18, Valve took Dust II out of the Active Duty map pool and added Anubis, saying the change would decide the maps of the 2023 Paris Major. That made the Rio 2022 Dust II Souvenir Package the last Dust II package until Shanghai 2024. The BLAST.tv Paris 2023 Major had an Anubis package in its place.
Collecting Rio 2022 items
- Read the full name. Rio 2022 items end in "Rio 2022". Nothing from the cancelled 2020 event uses Rio in its name.
- Look for the Champion tag. Each Outsiders player has a regular autograph and a separate Champion version, so check which one a listing is for.
- Know the finishes. Teams and players come in paper, glitter, holo and gold, with no foil.
- Check a Souvenir's stickers. The gold team stickers and the gold map sticker show which match it came from, such as Outsiders against Heroic on Mirage or Overpass.
- Search by sticker. The sticker filter on Buy lets you look for weapons carrying a specific Rio 2022 sticker.
Sources
- Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022 — Liquipedia
- Outsiders defeat Heroic 2-0 to win IEM Rio Major — HLTV.org
- Jame claims IEM Rio Major MVP award — HLTV.org
- Virtus.pro lineup to compete in ESL Pro League as Outsiders — HLTV.org
- ESL and BLAST lift their bans on Virtus.pro — HLTV.org
- ESL chief surprised as Virtus.pro claim IEM Rio CS:GO Major trophy — Dexerto
- The Long Road to Rio — Counter-Strike blog (Valve)
- Release Notes for 10/26/2022 — Counter-Strike blog (Valve)
