Rio Major opens with a South American loss
The games have finally started in Brazil, as 9z and GamerLegion took the stage to open the hostilities. The map veto saw Inferno being left over ultimately by the Europeans, as the South Americans chose to start on the CT-side.
The game started off poorly for Lucas "nqz" Soares and his team, with GamerLegion winning the T-side pistol on a 1v3 situation for Isak "isak" Fahlén. The team that eliminated G2 managed to put together eight straight rounds, after answering all 9z's attempts to get into the game. Up until that point in the game, it seemed like Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek and GL had 9z figured out, but round nine showed a different 9z. After that round, GamerLegion continued its spree. The score was getting more and more hopeless for the South Americans but the Brazilian crowd was far from quiet. The fans were loud all game long, from the pistol round until the very end of the half, which had 9z down 1-14.
The second half saw 9z winning the T-side pistol as well and the following, after nearly losing it against a force buy from GL. A comeback was still far away, but it was still possible too. On the back of the amazing crowd pushing them forward, 9z was able to win good rounds, turning the impossible comeback into an improbable one. Nicolás "buda" Kramer was the most active player from 9z's side, with 18 kills after 21 rounds, which saw GL getting to their 15th. Round 22 had GL coming back to their first-half form, looking solid. The game ended 16-6 for the Europeans, as the mountain was too high to climb for 9z.
The European squad has been looking ferocious ever since the European RMR and they will certainly be contenders in the fight for a spot in the Legends Stage.
9zGamerLegion| 9z |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nicolás 'buda' Kramer |
18 - 16 | +2 | 98.9 | 77.3% | 1.25 |
 Franco 'dgt' Garcia |
15 - 15 | +0 | 79.8 | 72.7% | 0.99 |
 David 'dav1deuS' Tapia Maldonado |
15 - 16 | -1 | 60.0 | 68.2% | 0.89 |
 Lucas 'nqz' Soares |
9 - 13 | -4 | 34.5 | 54.5% | 0.66 |
| Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez |
7 - 15 | -8 | 60.1 | 50.0% | 0.58 |
| GamerLegion |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mihai 'iM' Ivan |
19 - 10 | +9 | 100.3 | 68.2% | 1.48 |
 Nicolas 'Keoz' Dgus |
18 - 14 | +4 | 86.5 | 72.7% | 1.32 |
 Isak 'isak' Fahlén |
15 - 12 | +3 | 72.9 | 68.2% | 1.25 |
 Kamil 'siuhy' Szkaradek |
14 - 17 | -3 | 71.4 | 81.8% | 1.17 |
 Frederik 'acoR' Gyldstrand |
9 - 11 | -2 | 35.9 | 72.7% | 0.86 |
