by In a surprising turn of events at IEM Rio 2024, both Astralis and Eternal Fire faced early elimination after losses to Virtus.pro and The MongolZ, respectively.
Astralis, who had previously defeated Eternal Fire in the opening round, fell victim to two consecutive 0-2 defeats against HEROIC and Virtus.pro.
A glaring concern for the Danish Counter-Strike squad has been the form of Nicolai “device” Reedtz, the AWPer, who recorded an average rating of just 0.84 since Casper “cadiaN” M?ller took over as in-game leader.
It's @virtuspro that deal the knockout blow to @AstralisCS as they 2-0 them and they are eliminated from #IEM Rio.
19-16 Ancient
13-9 Mirage pic.twitter.com/KnamUpG0jG— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 9, 2024
Eternal Fire, having previously made back-to-back finals at BetBoom Dacha and ESL Pro League S20, also exited the tournament after defeats to Astralis and The MongolZ.
The match between Virtus.pro and Astralis began on Ancient, where the Russian team initially surged to a 7-2 lead.
Although Astralis closed the gap to just two rounds by halftime, Virtus.pro was able to secure the map in double overtime, overcoming multiple map point opportunities.
The second map, Mirage, saw Virtus.pro quickly establish a 12-8 lead, eventually winning 13-9 after a clutch 1v2 from Denis “electroNic” Sharipov sealed Astralis’s fate.
The MongolZ faced Eternal Fire in a three-map series filled with lopsided results.
The Mongolian team dominated Anubis with a 13-2 victory before Eternal Fire struck back on Mirage with a 13-8 win, bolstered by a strong counter-terrorist side.
However, Inferno saw The MongolZ regain control, winning decisively 13-4 to eliminate Eternal Fire.
They strike hard and true as we see @heroicgg beat @TeamVitality 2-0 to advance straight through to the #IEM Rio 2024 Semi-Finals!
13-11 Mirage
13-5 Abubis pic.twitter.com/KM4m4lhexF— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 9, 2024
Meanwhile, HEROIC and FURIA Esports advanced to the semi-finals after winning their respective groups’ upper bracket finals.
HEROIC defeated Team Vitality in a two-map series (Mirage 13-11, Anubis 13-5), showing resilience by rallying from a 2-10 deficit on Mirage to clinch the map in regulation.
FURIA, the hometown heroes, took down the world’s No.1 team, Natus Vincere, in convincing fashion with a 2-0 series win (Nuke 13-10, Mirage 13-5), powered by an outstanding performance from Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato, who boasted a 1.56 rating across the series.
.@mousesports take down @FaZeEsports 2-1 on their way to the #IEM Rio 2024 Playoffs ??
13-7 Dust 2
14-16 Mirage
13-7 Nuke pic.twitter.com/e0b79ImxvC— Intel? Extreme Masters (@IEM) October 9, 2024
Just two playoff spots remained up for grabs, and it would be MOUZ and Virtus.pro who secured their places after victories against FaZe Clan and The MongolZ, respectively.
MOUZ’s win against FaZe marked their first success in Counter-Strike 2 against the team after seven prior attempts.
Despite FaZe’s comeback to claim Mirage, MOUZ maintained composure and closed out the series on Nuke.
Virtus.pro secured their spot in the playoffs with a dominant 2-0 victory over The MongolZ, claiming the opening map (Ancient) 13-10 before smashing their Mongolian opponents 13-3 on Dust2.
IEM Rio 2024 quarter-finals
- Virtus.pro (+230) vs Natus Vincere (-333.33) | October 11 @ 12pm BRT
- Team Vitality (-208.33) vs MOUZ (+150) | October 11 @ 3:15pm BRT
