IEM Rio 2023 is turning hot as we turn to some of the bigger matches tonight. We are at the business end of Group A. With BIG facing NaVi and NIP going against Heroic, we have two top matchups of this tournament. With high stakes on the line, we take a look at the matches and come up with predictions for these two matchups in group A of IEM Rio 2023.
IEM Rio 2023: Group A
Group A of IEM Rio 2023 started off with some top world-class teams. The likes of Heroic, BIG, MOUZ, NIP and NaVi are all in group A. But now it’s time for the upper and lower bracket semifinals. BIG will be facing Natus Vincere in the upper bracket final first and then Heroic will be going against Ninjas In Pyjamas.
BIG vs. Natus Vincere
Rosters
BIG
- Johannes ‘tabseN’ Wodarz
- Josef ‘faveN’ Baumann
- Karim ‘Krimbo’ Moussa
- Nils ‘k1to’ Gruhne
- Marcel ‘hyped‘ Köhn
NaVi
- Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyljev
- Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov
- Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy
- Valerij ‘b1t’ Vakhovsjkyj
- Andrij ‘npl’ Kukharsjkyj
Our Prediction
NaVi vs BIG seems to be a bit of a straightforward matchup in our opinion. NaVi has won four of their last five competitive matches while BIG has won only two. The last time the two teams faced each other was at the IEM Rio Major 2022 where NaVi won 2-0. The NaVi team looks stronger on paper and has a better recent form heading into this match. So, we predict a win for NaVi tonight and they’ll be moving forward to the next stage of the tournament.
Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Heroic
Time to book your tickets @heroicgg 👋 pic.twitter.com/rL5ws971lt
— NIP CS (@NIPCS) April 19, 2023
Rosters
NIP
- Fredrik ‘REZ’ Sterner
- Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin
- Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen
- Danyyl ‘headtr1ck’ Valitov
- Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke
Heroic
- Martin ‘stavn’ Lund
- Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møller
- René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen
- Rasmus ‘sjuush’ Beck
- Jakob ‘Jabbi’ Nygaard
Our Prediction
NIP vs Heroic is a bit of a tricky matchup in our opinion. NIP has a better form going into this match winning three of their last five matches. Heroic has a decent form as well winning four of their last six matches. The last time the two teams have faced each other was at the BLAST Premier Fall Finals 2022. Heroic won that matchup 2-1. But it’s NIP that won 3/3 series before that. While this matchup can go any way, we predict a win for Heroic.
Both NIP and NaVi would look forward to making it into the next round of IEM Rio 2023 as they had done so in their first matches. Let’s see what the night has in store for them!
