Every Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) fan has probably heard of the World Championship: a CS:GO tournament organized by the Pro Gaming League and sponsored by Valve and Intel. For the first time ever, the Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022 tournament will be held in South America, specifically in Brazil’s capital Rio de Janeiro, in 2022—with one million dollars in prize money!
After qualifying with Regional Major Rankings (RMR), the best teams will go on to fly to Rio and fight on a set of selected maps. Half of the prize pool ($500,000) will be awarded to the winning team. Second place will receive $150,000, with third and fourth place receiving $70,000 each. Many fans would love to be the top CS players - but without guidance like our tips it might be a hard ordeal.
Postponed games
This world championship in CS:GO was originally planned to take place in Rio de Janeiro in 2020, but it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event was first moved from spring to fall, and then it was canceled entirely. Both ESL and Valve stated openly that they had not abandoned the idea of holding the Major solely in sunny Brazil, but had simply postponed it. We do, however, finally get to see the tournament in beautiful Rio this year.
The Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major Championship in 2022 will be held from October 31 to November 13, with the RMR group selection taking time before that. The final four days of the festival will be open to the public at the Jeunesse Arena, which opened in 2007 and can hold up to 15,000 people. It has previously hosted major e-sports events such as the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational in League of Legends and the Season 8 Pro League finals in Rainbow Six: Siege.
What is the game plan?
Twenty-four teams selected in the RMR group phase will advance to the CS:GO World Championship, where they will compete for a $1 million prize pool. The Challengers phase will feature sixteen teams, while the Legends final phase will feature eight teams. Of course, the IEM Rio Major 2022 will be streamed on Twitch.
To qualify for IEM Rio Open, the Regional Major Ranking series will be used. The IEM Road to Rio will take place from October 3 to 9 and will visit three continents: Europe, America, and Asia. More information on invitations, the RMR group system qualifiers, and specific dates will be provided later by PGL. Individual and national teams have already been mentioned: follow this website to learn more about the RMR eliminations and the teams!
IEM Rio Major - The finals: RMR group structure and plans
In 2022 there are places for 16 European teams, two Asian teams and six American ones. They will be selected during the Road to Rio in October. However, unlike in traditional sports, many teams in e-sport are international – like the famous FaZe Clan.
The tournament is divided into three formats: Challengers—a preliminary stage is a sixteen-team Swiss tournament: a system in which multiple duels are held, and the teams with the most points advance. In the Legends format, Challengers replace the eight weakest teams. Then, in the Legends format, another Swiss tournament is held between the 16 teams.
The eight teams from the Legends format advance to the tournament proper, which is a knockout single-eliminations bracket. The winner takes half of the pool—and, of course, deals like sponsorships. They also automatically qualify for the next tournament.
IEM Rio Open: A fantastic e-sports festival
The Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major organizers tweeted that fans have high hopes for the upcoming competition. According to ESL, all tickets for the event were sold out in less than an hour, which is comparable to how quickly tickets for The International Dota 2, League of Legends World Championship, and other well-known world championships sold out.
The 2023 IEM is set to take place in the large industrial Polish city of Katowice – unless something changes. For now, we’ll be waiting for the international winner of the tournament.
