Favorites qualify for RMR
Day two of the second North American IEM Rio RMR qualifier has wrapped up, seeing favorites Evil Geniuses and ATK lock down spots for the upcoming Americas RMR in October. Although these two were the favorites to qualify, their paths did not come without difficulty, as both sides survived serious scares en route to Stockholm.
Evil Geniuses finished off the first day of the qualifier with a terrifying match against Limitless, in which Bobby "stamina" Eitrem's side dragged the game to overtime before EG managed to close it out. EG looked to distance themselves from that performance in their quarterfinal against oNe, as they got off to a flying start to claim an 11-4 lead at the half. A pistol round win to start the second half propelled EG forward to match point with a 15-5 scoreline, but the North American side struggled to close out the map as oNe slowly but surely brought it back. EG finished it off in the end, but not before oNe managed to nearly eliminate their lead, with the final score reading 16-13.
EG's win over oNe set the team up against BHOP in their qualifying BO3. EG once again started strong early on, leading 7-1 at one point on their opponent's pick of Inferno, but their lead rapidly began to slip away as BHOP's offense became more robust, with EG finishing the half with a narrow 8-7 lead. EG were unshaken by BHOP's perseverance, as they stretched their lead with a six-round streak on the offense to put them within two rounds of closing out the map. BHOP looked to replicate what oNe had nearly done in the previous map, as the ECL side strung four rounds together to crack double digits, but EG were determined to not let the game fall away as they stole away their opponent's pick 16-11.
EG's pick of Ancient began in a similar fashion to Inferno, with EG posting a solid lead early before BHOP whittled away at it. This time, however, thanks to an absolutely unreal 2.48 CT-side rating from Brett "brett" Rhein BHOP was able to take the lead for the first time in the series, as BHOP locked down a 9-6 lead on the defense. Not only that, but a pistol round win in the second half allowed BHOP to extend this lead even further with a 12-6 scoreline. Despite brett's best efforts, EG's defense proved to be too formidable, as Sanzhar "neaLaN" Iskhakov led his men in securing a ten-round streak, closing out their pick 16-12 to firmly secure their place at the IEM Rio Americas RMR.
Evil GeniusesBHOP| Evil Geniuses |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte |
54 - 34 | +20 | 95.9 | 70.9% | 1.40 |
| Timothy 'autimatic' Ta |
45 - 37 | +8 | 79.3 | 70.9% | 1.16 |
 Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov |
32 - 26 | +6 | 62.2 | 80.0% | 1.12 |
 Sanzhar 'neaLaN' Iskhakov |
36 - 37 | -1 | 77.6 | 69.1% | 1.10 |
 Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
31 - 35 | -4 | 72.5 | 78.2% | 1.01 |
| BHOP |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brett 'brett' Rhein |
57 - 40 | +17 | 121.5 | 61.8% | 1.53 |
| Brody 'BeaKie' Kelly |
36 - 40 | -4 | 61.5 | 58.2% | 0.80 |
| Paul 'aris' Wilson |
33 - 41 | -8 | 66.9 | 61.8% | 0.77 |
| Christopher 'Swahn' Swahn |
21 - 38 | -17 | 41.5 | 67.3% | 0.70 |
| Silas 'silas' Marrufo |
21 - 43 | -22 | 59.0 | 60.0% | 0.70 |
ATK's day one experience was far less stressful than EG's, as their closest match of the day, against Arctic Ace, had some breathing room as the international squad bested their opponents 16-11. ATK even managed to finish on a high note as they thoroughly trounced Unjustified in the Round of 16, sending their fellow ECL side packing with a 16-5 scoreline. ATK's quarterfinal against Mythic proved to be quite a challenge, however, as the game was marked by a number of back-and-forth streaks for both squads, with ATK eventually reaching match point at 15-10 before Mythic marched onward to force overtime. Despite Erik "fl0m" Flom near forty kills, ATK managed to shut down the stream team in double overtime, 22-20, to keep their hopes at reaching Stockholm alive.
ATK's semifinal brawl against Strife proved to be a very interesting series, as ATK kicked things off by completely obliterating Strife on the latter squad's choice of Mirage. A phenomenal defense from ATK, powered by Jonathan "b0denmaster" Bodenmalm and Ian "motm" Hardy, allowed for ATK to post a dominant 14-1 half, before the team swiftly closed things out 16-2. Being on the back foot seems like an understatement for Strife heading into ATK's pick of Overpass, but Strife put together a fantastic defense of their own thanks to David "J0LZ" Jolin to claim a 12-3 score in the half.
It was beginning to seem that the two sides were set to trade their map picks in equally dominant fashions as Strife picked up the second pistol round to take a 14-3 lead, but ATK were not dissuaded as they strung together eight rounds to narrow Strife's lead to a mere three rounds. In the end, Strife were able to replicate their showings in the first half to finally close out their opponent's pick 16-11, taking the series to Vertigo.
Things were fairly close to start on Vertigo, with the two squads trading strings of rounds before ATK found their footing on the defense and ran away with the rest of the half to post an 11-4 lead. Not only that, but ATK laid claim to the second pistol round, which allowed the international side to put themselves just two rounds from reaching Stockholm. Now on the defense, Strife began to muster a response that netted them a few rounds, but with the momentum on the side of ATK there was little Strife could do as ATK finished things off 16-9 to move on to the IEM Rio Americas RMR.
StrifeATK| Strife |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keller 'SLIGHT' Nilan |
45 - 45 | +0 | 60.4 | 62.9% | 0.93 |
| Jordon 'jitter' Ruggiero |
46 - 52 | -6 | 74.3 | 58.6% | 0.92 |
| Ethan 'reck' Serrano |
44 - 53 | -9 | 71.0 | 61.4% | 0.88 |
| Matthew 'd4rty' Paplawskas |
36 - 54 | -18 | 60.8 | 64.3% | 0.79 |
| David 'J0LZ' Jolin |
36 - 58 | -22 | 68.6 | 58.6% | 0.74 |
| ATK |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
62 - 40 | +22 | 92.7 | 85.7% | 1.42 |
 Jonathan 'b0denmaster' Bodenmalm |
59 - 40 | +19 | 90.2 | 80.0% | 1.41 |
 Rhys 'Fadey' Armstrong |
56 - 41 | +15 | 82.1 | 74.3% | 1.19 |
| Gareth 'MisteM' Ries |
45 - 43 | +2 | 69.7 | 72.9% | 1.03 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
40 - 43 | -3 | 64.8 | 71.4% | 0.95 |
With EG and ATK's qualifications, the team list for the IEM Rio Americas RMR is currently:
Liquid
00NATION
Complexity MIBR Squirtle Squad
ATK O PLANO North American Qualifier #3
FURIA
9z Imperial paiN Evil Geniuses ARCTIC
Isurus North American Qualifier #3
The stakes are now the highest they have ever been, as only two spots remain at the IEM Rio Americas RMR. Squads who will be on the hunt for one of these two valuable spots in the next qualifier will likely include oNe, Strife, Mythic, timbermen, Brazen, BHOP, and Vendetta, just to name a few. These teams, and many others, will not have long to prepare as the final qualifier is slated to begin tomorrow, September 3rd. Teams interested in signing up may do so here.
