Vitality - winner of IEM Rio 2023
/The IEM Rio 2023 has come to an end. Sixteen participants from CIS, Europe, Asia and Latin America competed for a combined prize pool of $250,000 and a ticket to IEM Cologne 2023 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro from 17 to 23 April. The tournament was won by Vitality that defeated Heroic 2-0 (16:13 - Vertigo; 16:12 - Inferno) in the grand final.
Danish-French side Long opened the championship with a surprise defeat at the hands of OG (17:19). But after that zonic was able to return to the lower reaches of the standings, beating MIBR (2:0), FaZe Clan (2:0) and OG (2:1).
Once in the play-offs, Vitality first beat BIG (2-0), then secured a 2-1 victory over Cloud9 to advance to the grand final. Here, the team managed to beat Heroic (2-0) to clinch the IEM Rio 2023 title.
ZywOo proved to be the most valuable player of the championship as the Vitality sniper finished with a 1.31 rating and the Frenchman was also the second best player of the grand final, Ledge only to Magisk. This is the 14th MVP award of ZywOo's career and the first this competition season.
Results of IEM Rio 2023
- 1st place: Vitality - $100,000 + trip to IEM Cologne 2023.
- 2nd place: Heroic - $42,000
- 3-4 place: Cloud9 and Natus Vincere - $20,000
- 5-6 place: BIG and FURIA - $10,000
- 7-8 place: OG and Ninjas in Pyjamas - $6,000
- 9-12 place: FaZe Clan, fnatic, MongolZ and 9INE - $5,000
- 13-16 place: MIBR, MOUZ, 9z and Imperial Esports - $4,000