The IEM Rio 2023 finals are just around the corner, the last tier-1 tournament before the major, where Vitality and Heroic will face each other today. In an exclusive commentary for Cover.gg, Fedor KvaN Zakharov gave a prediction for the upcoming match and highlighted the weak points of the teams that could easily cost them the championship.

Teams’ shape

ZywOo, for the first time in a long time, has a virtual second star in the form of lurker Spinx, whose firepower and consistently high performance can really be relied upon. Right now, this duo can be called the deadliest in all of professional CS:GO. Yesterday's comeback against Cloud9 charged the team up and gave them confidence.

The situation with Heroic is slightly different - there was never one player who carried the game all the time. Everything depended on their preparation for the opponent in terms of strategies and excellent grenade and smoke executes. However, failures in individual play in the match against Vitality are unacceptable - things can easily get out of control.

Map veto

Heroic's statistics on Overpass could have been impeccable if it weren't for their performance against BIG and The MongolZ. Vitality, too, handed yesterday's Inferno to Cloud9 too easily. Nevertheless, considering the insta-bans of both teams, the picture is simple enough - both teams have three strong maps and two not so strong ones. Over a long distance, the win rate on "good" maps is better for the Danes, but only slightly, so it is highly unlikely that the outcome of the match will be predetermined at the map selection stage.

KvaN's prediction for the IEM Rio 2023 final

Vitality is currently in "FaZe mode." They can lose their pick without a chance, or they can make a comeback from a 1:14 score. In finals, they are a super dangerous opponent against whom every round needs to be played until the end.

On the other hand, Heroic have already won against the stadium and "shut" NAVI 2:0.

Ideally, Heroic should win, but we all remember that something breaks down for the Danes in the finals, and they cannot win the title. Nevertheless, I give a 55 to 45 chance in favor of Vitality.

Fedor KvaN Zakharov

READ MORE: Cloud9 and Imperial ended up in the same group at the Brazy Party tournament with a prize pool of $333,000

The grand final featuring Vitality and Heroic in a bo3 format will start at 8:00 PM. The winner will advance to IEM Cologne and receive $100,000.

Two hours before the start of the match, there will also be a CS2 show match featuring Team Brazil and Team Rest of The World, with s1mple and GeT_RiGhT being as participants.

IEM Rio 2023 is taking place from April 17 to 23 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The teams are competing for a prize pool of $250,000. You can follow the schedule and results of the championship here.