Favorites continue to deliver as Outsiders and Vitality go 1-0

Group B of the European RMR has kicked off with two convincing wins going the way of the favorites.

Wins by Outsiders and Vitality kicked off group B of IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR with wins against Monte and FANTASY, respectively. Both matches were played on Dust2, with both favorites limiting their opponents to single digits.

Outsiders swept Monte with a 16-9 scoreline, Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali being the main reason for their win with a 24-9 K-D. The reigning ESL Pro League champions had an even easier time of it, starting the game off with a 10-5 CT side which they converted into a 16-6 victory. Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut kept up his MVP-winning form from EPL in this game, putting up a 1.91 rating.

Outsiders and Monte got their tournament underway on Dust2, and it was Monte who got the better start with a pistol round win and following conversion. Their economy soon ran out, however, and Outsiders started justifying their favorite tag, giving themselves a five-round lead at the interval.

Hristiyan "⁠REDSTAR⁠" Pironkov ran out of time for the defuse after almost closing out a 1vs3 situation, putting Outsiders in the driver's seat to close out the game. Monte put together a four-round streak near the end of the half but weren't able to apply enough pressure to worry Outsiders, who closed out the map 16-9.

Vitality and FANTASY met on the same map, with FANTASY taking a shock lead after winning the pistol round. They were ahead for just one round, however, as Vitality raced into double digits before FANTASY's late resurgence put the halftime score at 10-5.

FANTASY got their second pistol round of the game to start their Terrorist side, with Vitality striking back with the force buy once again. It was smooth sailing for them after that, winning six rounds in a row to advance to the 1-0 pool.