Liquid were able to win just two rounds in their Major opener.

After a day of respite, the Major is back in full swing with the start of the Legends Stage. MOUZ continued their impressive form from their flawless Challengers Stage against Liquid, beating them 16-2 on Inferno. The only North American representative now drops to the 0-1 pool and will hope to reset before their next test later in the day.

In the backstage game, Spirit and Bad News Eagles met on Ancient. The Russian squad showed no sign of rustiness, defeating the Kosovar lineup with a comfortable 16-8 scoreline. Spirit came back from losing the first half 7-8 with a flawless Terrorist side, with Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov's 1vs3 clutch proving crucial for the Russian side.

JDC put up a 2.24 rating against Liquid

MOUZ began Inferno in incredibly dominant form, winning the first nine rounds before the North Americans could answer back with the help of Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis's triple-kill. That did little to change the momentum of the game as the European combine continued to look like the superior team, winning all but two rounds in the entire half. Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro and David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský were the stars on the offense, putting up 20 and 19 kills, respectively.

Liquid showed no sign of life in the second half, failing to win a single round to lose the game 2-16. The North Americans proved to be far from the team that made the final of ESL Pro League Season 16 in October and will need to improve quickly if they want to progress to the playoffs.

IEM Rio Major 2022Best of 1 MOUZMatchpage 16 2 5th November 2022 Liquid 16Inferno 2

Ancient was the map of choice in the battle between Spirit and Bad News Eagles, with the Russian squad starting the map with a 4-1 lead. Bad News Eagles answered back and found themselves tied up at four rounds, Genc "⁠gxx-⁠" Kolgeci winning a 1vs2 clutch. The map remained incredibly close and Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov was next to step up by winning two clutch situations, with the teams going into the second half separated by the slimmest of margins.

Once the sides switched, expectations were high for Bad News Eagles considering their performances on the CT side in Rio. They failed to live up to the billing, however, as Spirit won nine straight to start their IEM Rio campaign in style.

IEM Rio Major 2022Best of 1 SpiritMatchpage 16 8 5th November 2022 Bad News Eagles 16Ancient 8 Group Legends Stage 1W - 0L MOUZ Spirit 0W - 0L FaZe Ninjas in Pyjamas Sprout Natus Vincere ENCE HEROIC BIG Outsiders FURIA Vitality Cloud9 fnatic 0W - 1L Bad News Eagles Liquid Jon 'JDC' de Castro Age: 22 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 567 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.67 Spirit #13 Boris 'magixx' VorobievLeonid 'chopper' VishnyakovPavel 'S1ren' OgloblinRobert 'Patsi' IsyanovIhor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakov Age: 25 Team: Spirit Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 1131 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.66 Bad News Eagles #23 Sener 'SENER1' MahmutiFlatron 'juanflatroo' HalimiDionis 'sinnopsyy' BudeciGenc 'gxx-' KolgeciRigon 'rigoN' Gashi David 'frozen' Čerňanský Age: 20 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 1254 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.64 Liquid #3 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJosh 'oSee' OhmKeith 'NAF' MarkovicMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Mareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Age: 23 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 1143 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.70 MOUZ #9 Christopher 'dexter' NongDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýÁdám 'torzsi' TorzsásDorian 'xertioN' BermanJon 'JDC' de Castro Genc 'gxx-' Kolgeci Age: 23 Team: Bad News Eagles Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 425 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.60 Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov Age: 17 Team: Spirit Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 218 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.58