The Major in Brazil was announced in 2020, and this news made a lot of noise even then. However, that tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19 and returned only in 2022. Now, the IEM Rio Major has ended, we got the champion, and the teams are gradually leaving Rio. So how did the Brazilian Major go?

Amazing Audience

There were no such loud crowds at any previous LAN tournament, and the atmosphere on the stage energized players and even viewers on Twitch. One of the most significant innovations was allowing the audience to watch group stages. The stands have already appeared at the Challengers Stage, which is an excellent decision because, from the first day of the IEM Rio Major, it felt like a big tournament, and the Brazilian players from the first stage could play in front of a noisy home audience. The sound level meter showed 114 dB When measuring the volume at the Jeunesse Arena, which says a lot.

Empty Stands During the Playoffs

Only one Brazilian team made it to the playoffs of the IEM Rio Major, and, as a result, one of the main problems of a large stadium was revealed. The Brazilian public was not interested in watching other teams, so during all matches without FURIA, the hall was very quiet and deserted, which spoiled the atmosphere. The first semi-final match between MOUZ and Outsiders was incredibly disappointing, as the stadium was only 30% full.

And, of course, we should mention the reasons for such fans' behaviour. The Brazilian community got the idea that the event was the merit of the Brazilians and was created only for them. This was evident in the Brazilian fans' tweets and was especially apparent in the MOUZ vs Outsiders match mentioned above. Many fans also openly disrespect the teams by cheering for FURIA in matches where Brazilians did not participate.

Alexandre gaules Borba is primarily to blame for this. ESL has allocated a separate lounge area near the stadium for him. In addition to the disrespect towards young teams, many Brazilians did not come to the stadium with purchased tickets if there were no teams they were interested in on stage. Still, they remained in the lounge area, which greatly spoiled the atmosphere of the major.

Unpredictable Results

This major surprised us not only with out-of-game factors but also with the matches' results. It all started with RMR, which couldn't pass Astralis and G2, who everyone was waiting for at the Major. After that, the audience was surprised by the group stage, where only NAVI and Cloud9 made it to the playoffs, who were eliminated in the quarterfinals lately. Such unpredictability raised interest in the matches and made it possible to look at new faces and young blood.

The most striking example of young blood was MOUZ. Most MOUZ players were in the academy yesterday, and today they already played in the semi-finals of the major. It was also interesting to see FURIA, which made it this far for the first time, and Outsiders, who finally found their game and started accelerating from the Challengers Stage.

No Top Clubs In the Playoffs

This leads to one of the main drawbacks of the tournament - the lack of giants in the later stages. Interesting storylines were ruined even before the playoffs started because of this. The confrontation of s1mple vs ZywOo ended back in the Legends Stage when Vitality was eliminated with a score of 1-3. FaZe moved further away from the Grand Slam, failing in the 0-3 bracket. NAVI also took time to show their best game: an uncertain exit from the Legends Stage with a score of 2-3 and relegation in the first playoff match. Many viewers expected the rise of Liquid and Cloud9, but they also fell short. As a result, this significantly blurred the impressions of the IEM Rio Major and affected the tournament's viewership.

Incredible Highlights

There were many bright moments at the IEM Rio Major: constant clutches, multi-kills and victories in "dead" situations. Let's remember stavn's 1v4 clutch, 1v3 situation from Jame and one of the decisive fame's clutches in the tournament's final. The tournament's best players showed excellent play, but was the high gaming level the reason for that?

Low Gaming Level in Playoff

Unfortunately, IEM Rio Major has not become a stronghold of high-end Counter-Strike. This Major became a good show, but the noisy audience greatly influenced the individual performance of the players. This had a powerful effect on NAVI. We never saw s1mple in the tournament, although he was in good shape. Cloud9 also fell under the negative influence, which, after the Legends Stage, were the tournament's favourites and fell apart in the quarterfinals. The same factor can explain the significant number of highlights because, upon closer examination, a vast number of mistakes on the part of the losing team led to a bright moment.

Outcome

The Brazilian Major became a big deal in 2020, and in 2022 it became a real Counter-Strike celebration in Rio. IEM Rio Major added fans to the group stages, which turned out to be a great decision and gave a great atmosphere not only to the teams but to the viewers on Twitch, and the fantastic audience made this decision even better. However, the same audience showed disrespect for the teams that deserved attention. Also, at this event, we saw many exciting moments that will be imprinted in our memory for a long time. But simultaneously, the teams' gameplay level fell due to the pressure of the arena. IEM Rio Major turned out to be a somewhat controversial tournament, but it will become a part of Counter-Strike history and will be remembered by fans. ESL will hold another tournament in Brazil next year, and let's hope that the organizers will take into account the mistakes of the IEM Rio Major.