0-3NATION eliminated by IHC

IHC were maybe favorites to be eliminated without a win, alongside fellow APAC representative Grayhound. However, the Mongolian side showed a fight against the #8 ranked team Outsiders, and despite ultimately losing it hinted at their desire to put a win on the board. Meanwhile, 00 Nation came into the tournament being the most favored out of all the Brazilian teams, minus FURIA but had failed to reach anywhere near the level of play that saw them overcome teams like Complexity to make it to Rio.

The match would take place first on Ancient, the pick of 00 Nation, and one they have a 75% win rate on heading into the match. IHC are no slouch on it either with a 56% win-rate but from over double the amount of games that the Brazilians had played.

IHC had the benefit of starting on the much favored CT-side and out of the gate, they raced into a lead thanks in large part due to the performance of 17 year old Sodbayar "Techno" Munkhbold, who sat at 12-3 after the first eight rounds. The IHC momentum was halted at 5-0 and they dropped four in a row before securing another round for themselves.

The two teams traded back and forth rather evenly for the rest of the half, which would only favor the Brazilians when they switched to the CT-side in the second half with just a one-round deficit. 00 Nation lost the pistol round but a brilliant Marcelo "coldzera" David round with the Deagle gave the Brazilian fans something to cheer about.

00 Nation struggled just as much as IHC had on their CT-side, failing to string together rounds in a meaningful way, and in the 24th round they were nearly brought to their knees by a Deagle buy from the Mongolian side.

It continued to be back and forth but the Brazilians managed to make the most of the huge support behind them especially their star rifler Eduardo "dumau" Wolkmer who was on the precipice of dropping 30 kills as the team reached match point. The Brazilians were able to close out map one against a weak buy on IHC.

The next map would be IHC's pick of Inferno, a map 00 Nation currently have a 100% win rate on. It started off well for the Brazilian side and with the power of the Brazilian crowd behind them, they took the opening two rounds. However, the Mongolian team showed their prowess on the classic map closing out a tough 3v3 post-plant to ensure they put their first round on the board.

IHC went on an eight-round win streak on their T-side, exploiting the A site of the Brazilian side consistently to find their openings. 00 Nation managed to find their third round but Techno was once again on top form finding a 3k in mid to reclaim the momentum from the home side.

IHC continued to silence the Brazilian crowd storming to a 12-3 half on the less favoured T-side. Economy is king on a map like Inferno and any comeback for the Brazilians would require restricting the CT's ability to fully invest. 00 Nation got the ball rolling in the right direction securing the first three rounds of their T-side.

00 Nation managed to ride the Brazilian crowd in a stunning comeback all the way up to 13-14 but the time ran out for them to give up map point to the Mongolian side. However to the crowds delight 00 Nation managed to bring it to overtime and with all the momentum they had to go down as favourites to take it.

The two teams traded out rounds at the start of OT, but it would be IHC taking the one round advantage into the second half. The Mongolian team would finally close out the map and take the Brazilian team to a deciding map on Overpass. IHC took the pistol and converted the next two rounds on the CT-side but failed at the first gun round.

IHC must have been inspired by their Inferno performance because they shut-down the T-side of 00 Nation, they raced into a 7-0 lead against the Brazilian side, silencing the crowd. 00 Nation put up two rounds back to back to try and find a foothold in the game and it was the unlikely Epitacio "TACO" de Melo leading the way on eight kills.

Techno continued to lead the way for the Mongolian side with 14 kills after just eleven rounds. The pain continued for 00 Nation as they failed to find a single round until the last round of the half, with the IGL of IHC turning up the heat as Garidmagnai "bLitz" Byambasuren sat at 22-8 at the end of the half.

Once again 00 Nation would have to fight from a long way back to try and stay alive at their home Major, they were on course to hold the undesirable title of the first Brazilian team to be eliminated. 00 Nation once again got the comeback off to a good start with them securing the first two rounds of the CT- side but as soon as IHC got guns it was all in the Mongolians favor once again.

IHC were gifted match point as the Brazilian team were forced to save in order to try and scrape together some cash for the final round, they somehow managed to lose against the almost full USP buy. The Brazilians then put up a last gasp fight bringing the score to 11-14, they nearly managed to throw a 4v1 but closed it out to bring the game tantalisingly close.

There was some serious choke energy going on with IHC allowing the Brazilian team to tie the game 14-14, thanks in part to a crucial 2v2 win by coldzera and TACO. IHC finally broke the Brazillian hold and gave themselves one shot at match point but failed to take it and in front of a raucous Brazilian crowd it would be impossible to bet against 00 Nation taking it in overtime.

dumau was doing everything to pull the Brazilians over the finish line, finishing out the 30 rounds with 28 kills, whilst bLitz had 30 for himself. IHC got their own back with a 2v2 of their own, taking a slender advantage into the second half of OT. IHC shutdown the 00 Nation T-side to take the match win and joining Grayhound in ruining everyone's pick'ems.

For IHC it is a massive statement to manage to pick up a win even if it took them four and a half hours to manage it. 00 Nation would become the first team to be eliminated from the Rio Major. A stinging result for a team whose RMR displays had given fans hope that they might make a surprise run in front of their home crowd.