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IEM Rio 2023: Group A Upper & Lower Bracket Finals

IEM Rio 2023 is turning hot as we turn to some of the bigger matches tonight. We are at the business end of Group A. With BIG facing NaVi and NIP going against Heroic, we have two top matchups of this tournament. With high stakes on the line, we take a look at the matches and come up with predictions for these two matchups in group A of IEM Rio 2023.

IEM Rio 2023: Group A

Group A of IEM Rio 2023 started off with some top world-class teams. The likes of Heroic, BIG, MOUZ, NIP and NaVi are all in group A. But now it’s time for the upper and lower bracket semifinals. BIG will be facing Natus Vincere in the upper bracket final first and then Heroic will be going against Ninjas In Pyjamas.

BIG vs. Natus Vincere

Rosters

BIG
  • Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz
  • Josef ‘faveN’ Baumann
  • Karim ‘Krimbo’ Moussa
  • Nils ‘k1to’ Gruhne
  • Marcel ‘hyped‘ Köhn
NaVi
  • Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyljev
  • Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov
  • Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy
  • Valerij ‘b1t’ Vakhovsjkyj
  • Andrij ‘npl’ Kukharsjkyj

Our Prediction

NaVi vs BIG seems to be a bit of a straightforward matchup in our opinion. NaVi has won four of their last five competitive matches while BIG has won only two. The last time the two teams faced each other was at the IEM Rio Major 2022 where NaVi won 2-0. The NaVi team looks stronger on paper and has a better recent form heading into this match. So, we predict a win for NaVi tonight and they’ll be moving forward to the next stage of the tournament.

Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Heroic

Rosters

NIP
  • Fredrik ‘REZ’ Sterner
  • Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin
  • Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen
  • Danyyl ‘headtr1ck’ Valitov
  • Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke
Heroic
  • Martin ‘stavn’ Lund
  • Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møller
  • René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen
  • Rasmus ‘sjuush’ Beck
  • Jakob ‘Jabbi’ Nygaard

Our Prediction

NIP vs Heroic is a bit of a tricky matchup in our opinion. NIP has a better form going into this match winning three of their last five matches. Heroic has a decent form as well winning four of their last six matches. The last time the two teams have faced each other was at the BLAST Premier Fall Finals 2022. Heroic won that matchup 2-1. But it’s NIP that won 3/3 series before that. While this matchup can go any way, we predict a win for Heroic.

Both NIP and NaVi would look forward to making it into the next round of IEM Rio 2023 as they had done so in their first matches. Let’s see what the night has in store for them!

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IEM Katowice 2023 Group A Day 1 Action

IEM Katowice 2023 is running hot as we just got started with group A action today. With the matches already going on as we write this, let’s find out who were the victors on day one. Do check out our previous Katowice 2023 article to learn about this year’s event.

IEM Katowice 2023 Group A

Regarded by many as the group of death, group A is surely delivering us the action CS:GO fans are craving for. With the likes of G2, FaZe Clan, Team Liquid and NaVi in group A, the hype is justified. Group A consists of the following teams:

  • Team Liquid
  • IHC Esports
  • Cloud9
  • Natus Vincere
  • G2 Esports
  • BIG
  • Team Spirit
  • FaZe Clan

Now, let’s check out all the matches of group A of day 1.

Group A Day 1 Matches

G2 Esports vs BIG

Being directly qualified into the group stage, G2’s first opponent was BIG. The Blast Premier World Final 2022 was up against the Roobet Cup 2022 winners. Despite BIG getting the first map pick, it didn’t end well for them. G2 picked up both Anubis and Inferno with a 2-0 clean sweep.

Cloud9 vs Natus Vincere

Meanwhile, G2’s arch rival, NaVi was busy dealing with Cloud9. NaVi showed up on matchday with a clear game plan in mind. That was well reflected in the series between the two teams. On a day where s1mple had barely stepped up, it was the likes of electroNic and b1t that took matters into their own hands. In the end, NaVi walked away with a clean 2-0 win over Cloud9.

Team Spirit vs FaZe Clan

Team Spirit faced the mighty FaZe Clan in the upper bracket quarter finals. Captain Karrigan had an amazing field day leading his team to victory from the front. The team didn’t have to go to a third map and won their series 2-0. They won 16-5 on Ancient and 16-12 on Nuke. Team Spirit will face BIG at the lower bracket quarter finals.

Team Liquid vs IHC Esports

On the last series of day 1 of Katowice 2023 group A, Team Liquid was paired against IHC Esports. IHC showed up but their efforts fell short as Liquid picked up both maps 16-13 and 16-6. The two maps were Iferno and Overpass. IHC will be facing Cloud9 in the lower bracket quarter finals.

Who’s meeting at the upper bracket semifinals?

It’s getting hotter and hotter here at IEM Katowice 2023 group A. Team Liquid is set to face Natus Vincere and G2 will be facing FaZe today. Both matchups are well-balanced and there will be no love lost when the teams will be facing each other. All four of the teams have a terrific shot at winning this major but unfortunately, two will have to take the harder route at the end of the day.

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BIG wins the Roobet Cup 2022

BIG Clan secures their first massive title of the year winning the Roobet Cup 2022. The German team beat FaZe Clan 2-1 at the finals to pick up the title. This is their first trophy since winning the Funspark ULTI 2020 which took place last year.

BIG’s Roster

BIG showed up to the event with their ever strong lineup.

  • Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz (IGL)
  • Nils “k1to” Gruhne
  • Florian “SyrsoN” Rische
  • Karim “Krimbo” Moussa
  • Tizian “Tizian” Feldbusch

The entire roster performed well throughout the event. Even as a stand-in player, k1to turned quite a few heads throughout the tournament. But it was syrsoN who won the MVP of Roobet Cup 2022.

If you wanna put your money into this squad, why don’t you check out our CSGO betting section?

SyrsoN wins MVP

SyrsoN put BIG on the map with his phenomenal performance throughout Roobet Cup this year. The German was awarded the HLTV x BitSkins MVP of Roobet Cup. Over the 14 maps that BIG played on their way to winning the tournament, SyrsoN obtained a 1.23-rated performance. This was SyrsoN’s personal best performance since the PGL Major Antwerp Europe RMR. This isn’t his first MVP, however, as he won his career’s first one at DreamHack Masters Spring back in 2020. While there were quite a few players with higher overall ratings, the AWPer was a crowd favorite in the late-tournament matches. It was Cloud9 in the semifinals and FaZe in the finals that witnessed the wrath of SyrsoN.

BIG’s Journey at Roobet Cup 2022

 

BIG started off their journey facing Entropiq and FaZe Clan at the group stages. The German team picked up two 2-1 wins against both of them progressing to the knockout rounds. They then faced Eternal Fire and maintained their streak of winning 2-1. At the semi-finals, BIG faced their toughest opponents yet. Cloud9 topped Group B and convincingly defeated 9z Team. Despite that, BIG defeated C9 two straight rounds, winning 2-0 and moving onto the finals. Surprisingly, it was FaZe yet again that stood between them and the Cup title.

This is how the results turned out

Map 1: Dust 2 16-13 win for BIG (BIG Pick)

Map 2: Nuke 14-16 win for FaZe (FaZe Pick)

Map 3: Mirage 19-17 win for BIG (BIG Pick)

With $150,000 in the bank, BIG are going home with nothing but smiles on their faces. But the team don’t have time to rest as they’ll be facing Order soon at the IEM Cologne 2022 Play-In.

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