IEM Rio 2023: How the CS:GO competition was experienced in Brazil

This week, from April 17th to 23rd, the Intel Extreme Masters took place in Rio de Janeiro. A total of 16 teams participated in this tournament, between qualified and invited teams, to find the best team in one of the biggest Counter-Strike tournaments.

In Meristation we were invited to this important tournament and this is what happened during the three days of competition where we were spectators of the final rounds.

The Democratization of Esports

It sounds like a broken record to say it, but Esports has become an extremely important event and the Intel Extreme Masters is a reference in a global circuit that takes place 4 to 5 times a year around the world in conjunction with the ESL. The Jeunesse Arena, one of the Olympic venues during the Rio 2016 Games, became the venue for this Esports tournament. From being the venue for the Olympic gymnastics competitions, it became the venue for the finals of this tournament.

But before we go any further, we need to explain a little bit about how these competitions are run for those who do not know the rules. The matches consist of a total of 30 rounds, the first to reach 16 wins wins the match. If there is a tie, the teams go into “overtime” where the best of 6 wins. If there is no tie, more rounds are added until there is a winner. The team that wins two games advances to the next stage.

The visual aspect of the competition makes the viewer aware of the important statistics. The main stage presents a central screen where the game shows the different players, both from their perspective, as in open cameras that show players, trajectories of shots or grenades, in dynamic shots. On the sides of this screen we have the card of the 5 players of the team, where in addition to their photo, the lower part shows the statistics of kills, deaths and assists. To make the show more graphic, every time a player is eliminated, his card is “broken”. On the other hand, in bomb cards, once it is placed, a visual timer with red lights starts to show filling a time bar for the bomb to explode.

Quarterfinals and Local Support

Team Vitality vs. BIG Claw was the first game of the finals that we witnessed, where the first team showed a dominance in the two maps they played, and although BIG came close on the scoreboard, both games ended with a score of 16 - 12 in favor of the yellow team.

The second game was a special one, as Furia, a local team from Brazil and special guest of the tournament, had managed to qualify for this point of the competition. The fans, who had been singing and playing since the previous game, and the strong support for the locals was palpable in the Jeunesse Arena. This was evident in the first game, where Furia proved to be the home team, winning 16-12. Unfortunately, despite two close games, the Danes from Heroic were able to turn the tables and win the next two games 16 - 12 and 16 - 13 to advance to the semifinals.

Last steps to the final

The first semifinal was between Team Vitality and Cloud9, with the blue and white team winning the first game. In the second match, the Russian team was still dominating with a 10 - 1 score, but the yellow team made a comeback and tied the game at 15 - 15, forcing overtime. In the end, Team Vitality took the victory with a score of 19 - 17. This turned the game around and Team Vitality became the first finalist of the afternoon by winning the third game.

The second semifinal pitted Natus Vincere against Heroic. Both teams had a close first match, and although Heroic almost lost, the match went to three overtimes, with Heroic winning 25-22. In the second round, Heroic faced a completely unmotivated NaVi and crushed them in the first half of the match. Although NaVi started to grow for the next few rounds, it was not enough as Heroic won 16 - 9 to advance to the final.

Team Vitality vs. Heroic: The Grand Final

Finally, the day of the final arrived, and Team Vitality received a standing ovation, while Heroic was booed by the local crowd. During the match, the first team started to dominate, but soon the rivals responded, but it was not enough as Team Vitality managed to win 16 - 13.

In the second game, the same story repeated itself, as TV managed to reach the first half of the game with a score of 10 - 5. After the break, Heroic stepped on the gas and tied the score at 11, but Team Vitality managed to shake off their opponent’s reaction and ended up with a score of 16 - 12, becoming the winners of the Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2023.

More than just Esports

In addition to the main event, Intel had a pavilion outside the arena where it presented hardware for the general public. From gaming laptops to PCs of all sizes and colors, what really stood out was the opportunity to test the Intel ARC graphics card, with which the company is trying to position itself as a third party graphics card developer, democratizing some of the technology for those who want to have this component in their PC at an affordable price.