FURIA, HEROIC sail into IEM Rio semifinals

FURIA Esports and HEROIC charged into the semifinals of the Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 event by emerging as group champions on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro.

Natus Vincere, Team Vitality, Virtus.pro and MOUZ all wrapped up quarterfinal berths as group play concluded.

FURIA swept Natus Vincere 2-0 in the Group A upper-bracket final, and HEROIC topped Team Vitality 2-0 in the Group B upper-bracket final.

MOUZ edged FaZe Clan 2-1 in the Group A lower-bracket final, while Virtus.pro downed The MongolZ 2-0 in the Group B lower-bracket final.

In the Group B lower-bracket semifinals contested earlier Wednesday, Virtus.pro defeated Astralis 2-0, and The MongolZ eliminated Eternal Fire 2-1.

The $250,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with two double-elimination groups of eight teams. The best-of-one opening matches in both groups were played Monday. All ensuing group matches were best-of-three.

The winners of Groups A and B advance directly to the playoff semifinals. The group runners-up will move to the quarterfinals as the high seeds, and the third-place teams will advance to the quarterfinals as the low seeds.

The playoffs are a single-elimination bracket where all matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final Sunday.

The winning team will take home $100,000 and earn an automatic berth into IEM Katowice 2025.

On Wednesday, FURIA Esports handled Natus Vincere 13-10 on Nuke and 13-4 on Mirage. Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato led FURIA's all-Brazilian roster with 36 kills and a plus-15 kill-death differential. Ukraine's Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov finished with 37 kills and a plus-10 K-D differential for Natus Vincere.

HEROIC downed Vitality 13-11 on Mirage and 13-5 on Anubis behind 41 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential from Denmark's Rene "TeSeS" Madsen. Israel's Lotan "Spinx" Giladi amassed 35 kills for Vitality.

MOUZ opened with a 13-7 win on Dust II before FaZe Clan captured Mirage 16-14 in overtime. On the decisive third map, Nuke, MOUZ prevailed 13-7. Hungary's Adam "torzsi" Torzsas produced 61 kills and a plus-17 K-D differential for MOUZ. Estonia's Robin "ropz" Kool compiled 59 kills and a plus-10 K-D differential for FaZe Clan.

Virtus.pro rolled past The MongolZ 13-10 on Ancient and 13-3 on Dust II. Denis "electroNic" Sharipov registered 36 kills and a plus-11 K-D differential for Virtus.pro's all-Russian squad. Ayush "mzinho" Batbold posted 30 kills and a plus-3 K-D differential for The MongolZ's all-Mongolian roster.

In the Friday quarterfinals, Team Vitality will oppose MOUZ for the right to face FURIA Esports in a Saturday semifinal. Natus Vincere and Virtus.pro will clash, with the winner moving on to a Saturday matchup with HEROIC.

IEM Rio 2024 prize pool

1. $100,000, qualification to IEM Katowice 2025

2. $42,000

3-4. $20,000

5-6. $10,000

7-8. $6,000 -- FaZe Clan, The MongolZ

9-12. $5,000 -- Complexity Gaming, Team Liquid, Astralis, Eternal Fire

13-16. $4,000 -- Imperial Esports, paiN Gaming, 9z Team, G2 Esports

--Field Level Media