forZe in trouble after two losses at IEM Fall CIS

Two major upsets graced the first day of IEM Fall CIS, with many close games elsewhere.

With the first day of IEM Fall CIS now done and dusted, we can take stock of the first day of games and what exactly they all mean for the RMR standings.

The first result of note came in the second round of games with Unique, currently ranked #72 in the world, defeating the world #13 FORZE on Ancient. The Kazakhstani squad had Aman "⁠ice⁠" Seitkaliyev to thank for their unexpected win, with the rifler posting an eyewatering 100 ADR and 1.52 rating to top the scoreboard by a large margin.

Jerry and co. have work to do to make it to playoffs

IEM Fall 2021 CISBest of 1

FORZE

Matchpage

12

16

29th September 2021

Unique

12

Ancient

16

Unfortunately Unique realistically have very little chance to qualify for the major, as they would need to win IEM Fall at the bare minimum AND have the rest of the tournament shake out in their favour.

FORZE also lost their second game against INDE IRAE, the lowest ranked team at the event. It was a team effort from the underdogs in this map, with the key stat for INDE IRAE being the fact they won 3 clutches to FORZE's 1.

IEM Fall 2021 CISBest of 1

FORZE

Matchpage

11

16

29th September 2021

INDE IRAE

11

Inferno

16

Realistically FORZE do not have to start panicking yet despite their poor form, and not just because there are plenty of best-of-ones left for them to try and win; as they currently occupy the fifth and final qualification spot in the RMR standings, and hold a solid 850 point lead over their nearest challengers, they would need to finish outside of the top-five and be outplaced by a team below them to not qualify.

One of those teams that could outplace FORZE and ruin their qualification hopes is Virtus.pro, who are currently sat in sixth in the RMR standings. Virtus.pro need at the very least a top-five placing at this event, simple as that, and got their campaign off to a solid start with routine wins over K23 and Unique.

IEM Fall 2021 CISBest of 1

Virtus.pro

Matchpage

16

11

29th September 2021

K23

16

Overpass

11

The result against K23 may be key come the end of the event, as they are one of the teams Virtus.pro will be looking to outplace at the event and thus overtake in the RMR standings to qualify for the Major. Helping to knock K23 out in groups would be a huge boost to Virtus.pro's chances.

Elsewhere in the event, Entropiq's win over Akuma could also prove to be vital, seeing as both teams are on a similar amount of RMR points and need to outplace each other, as well as teams like Virtus.pro, K23 and FORZE, to ensure their place in Stockholm.

IEM Fall 2021 CISBest of 1

Entropiq

Matchpage

16

13

29th September 2021

Akuma

16

Nuke

13

Akuma also lost their second game vs Spirit, giving themselves an uphill battle to make it out of groups, and the smart money would be on their chances already having passed.

The current standings are:

Group A

TEAM

M

P

Spirit

2

6

Natus Vincere

2

6

Entropiq

2

6

AVE

2

0

Nemiga

2

0

Akuma

2

0

Group B

TEAM

M

P

Virtus.pro

2

6

Gambit

2

6

INDE IRAE

2

3

Unique

2

3

K23

2

0

FORZE

2

0

Read more

RMR standings breakdown: Where teams need to place to qualify for the Major