Posts

,

IEM Rio 2023: Group A Upper & Lower Bracket Finals

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

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!

/by
,

NIP & NaVi Begin IEM Rio 2023 With Wins

You know what the best part is about competitive Counter-Strike? The fact that there’s almost always a top tier tournament going on. With the IEM Rio 2023 kicking off today, that means another tournament full of action, drama and much more! Good news for NIP & NaVi fans is that their teams started off the tournament picking up wins.

NIP & NaVi Wins Their Opening Matches

NIP vs Imperial Esports

Rosters

NIP
  • Fredrik ‘REZ’ Sterner
  • Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin
  • Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen
  • Danyyl ‘headtr1ck’ Valitov
  • Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke
Imperial Esports
  • Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo
  • Ricardo ‘boltz’ Prass
  • Vinicius ‘VINI’ Figueiredo
  • Marcelo ‘chelo’ Cespedes
  • Jhonatan ‘JOTA’ Wilian

Map Picks & Bans

  1. Imperial removed Vertigo
  2. Ninjas in Pyjamas removed Overpass
  3. Ninjas in Pyjamas removed Inferno
  4. Imperial removed Nuke
  5. Imperial removed Anubis
  6. Ninjas in Pyjamas removed Ancient
  7. Mirage was left over

The Match

It was Mongolia vs the rest of Europe in the first match of IEM Rio 2023. With Mirage being the battleground, both teams looked to move to the upper bracket semifinals from group A.

The Ninjas started off the map winning the first two pistol rounds. But Imperial responded right after picking up the next 3 rounds without flinching. It was then NIP’s turn to pick up consecutive rounds as they won the next 4. For the rest of the first half, it was pretty much NIP domination. The first half ended 11-4 in favor of Ninjas in Pyjamas. In the second half, there was little to show from the side of Imperial Esports. They won only one round in the second half as NIP finished off the map 16-5. It was Brollan that really stood out on NIP’s first match of the tournament.

NaVi vs The Mongolz

Rosters

NaVi
  • Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyljev
  • Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov
  • Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy
  • Valerij ‘b1t’ Vakhovsjkyj
  • Andrij ‘npl’ Kukharsjkyj
The Mongolz
  • Garidmagnai ‘bLitz’ Byambasuren
  • Sodbayar ‘Techno4K’ Munkhbold
  • Baatarkhuu ‘Bart4k’ Batbold
  • Tuvshintugs ‘ANNIHILATION’ Nyamdorj
  • Chinguun ‘hasteka’ Bayarmaa

Map Picks & Bans

  1. TheMongolz removed Ancient
  2. Natus Vincere removed Anubis
  3. Natus Vincere removed Inferno
  4. TheMongolz removed Vertigo
  5. TheMongolz removed Overpass
  6. Natus Vincere removed Nuke
  7. Mirage was left over

The Match

For NaVi vs The Mongolz, Mirage was the playground once again. NaVi started off their IEM Rio 2023 run winning the pistol rounds against Mongolz. They followed it up by winning three more rounds at a stretch. But it was now time for Mongolz to respond. For the rest of the first half, it was total domination from the Mongolian side. Their aggression and tactics outshined the entire NaVi roster. The first half ended 8-7 in favor of the NaVi side. NaVi were looking at an imminent upset if they were to let this continue. However, they did turn things around in the beginning of the second half. They consecutively picked up the first four rounds in the second half regaining their lead over their opponents. The Mongolz could do very little after as NaVi soon picked up the map. The match ended with NaVi winning on Mirage 16-9. Gotta feel bad for bLitz who put up an impressive show for the Mongolz.

The two victors of the opening matches, NIP & NaVi will be facing each other tonight later on. The winner of that matchup will be moving onto the upper bracket finals from group A.

/by
,

NaVi vs NIP at Blast Premier Spring Groups 2023

We are back with CS:GO action and it’s getting hot at Blast Premier Spring Groups 2023. Day 3 of the tournament saw one of the most exciting matches which was NaVi vs NIP. How did the action turn out and more importantly, who won? Find out only at Gamopo!

NaVi vs NIP

Rosters

Natus Vincere

  • Denis “electroNic”  Sharipov (IGL)
  • Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
  • Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
  • Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi
  • Andrii “npl” Kukharskyi

Ninjas In Pyjamas

  • Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen (IGL)
  • Fredrik “REZ” Sterner
  • Hampus “hampus” Poser
  • Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin
  • Danyyl “headtr1ck” Valitov

Map Picks & Bans

  1. Ninjas in Pyjamas removed Nuke
  2. Natus Vincere removed Vertigo
  3. Ninjas in Pyjamas picked Inferno
  4. Natus Vincere picked Mirage
  5. Ninjas in Pyjamas removed Ancient
  6. Natus Vincere removed Anubis
  7. Overpass left

The Series

Map 1 (Inferno)

NaVi started off well on Inferno winning the pistol rounds. However, NIP was quick to respond picking up the next three rounds. Till the end of the first half, things kept going back and forth. However, advantage NIP as they were up 7-8 on their own map pick. But NaVi did well to recollect themselves from the start of the second half. Five straight round wins saw them picking up frags after frags. They continued to remain untouched as they picked up their map pick 16-9.

Map 2 (Mirage)

Map 2 between NaVi vs NIP was where the real action took place. NaVi started off well picking up the first round but NIP was quick to respond. NIP’s latest recruit, headtr1ck was annihilating everyone from the start of the map. The first half ended 7-8 in favor of NIP on NaVi’s map pick. NIP continued to bulldoze over their rivals from the beginning of the second half. But NaVi did a great job at coming back later tying the score line 15-15 and heading into overtime. In overtime, NIP looked determined to pick up the map. They won the first three overtime rounds and while NaVi showed some resistance, it was too little too late! NIP picked up their fourth overtime round and won 17-19 on Mirage.

Map 3 (Overpass)

Overpass was the remaining map that both teams tried to ignore. Right off the bat, NaVi looked determined to wrap up the series in their favor. Picking up from Mirage, s1mple was reminding everyone why he was the best picking up one frag after the other. But it was not just s1mple, the entire roster looked well coordinated and flawless in terms of strategies executed. The first half ended 11-4 in favor Natus Vincere. Second half saw NIP’s efforts go in vain as NaVi continued to dominate. The map ended 16-8 in favor of electroNic’s team.

 

With NaVi vs NIP over at the Blast Premier Groups 2023, Natus Vincere walks away with a win. While it was not a walk at the park for NaVi, NIP was far behind in terms of quality of strategies executed. Talking about the IGLs, electroNic surely put in a shift but the same couldn’t be said about Aleksib. S1mple continued to be himself even though he was slow in the first half of Inferno. Well, that’s what you expect from the number one CS:GO player in the world. All aside, if there’s any positive that can be taken away from the series, it’s the two young guns- headtr1ck and npl. Both have thoroughly impressed the audience with their energetic performance. We hope to see more of that in the future!

NaVi will be facing G2 next at the Group C upper-bracket final. The two teams faced each other not too long ago in the quarter finals of ESL Pro League Season 16. G2 came out on top beating their arch-rivals 2-1 but later conceded to the champions, Team Vitality in the semi finals.

 

 

/by