BIG move past 9z to qualify for Legends Stage

The South Americans have one last chance to qualify for the next stage in the 2-2 pool.

BIG have secured their qualification to the Legends Stage of IEM Rio 2022 after sweeping 9z in the 2-1 qualification match. The Germans squad easily claimed their opponents' pick of Nuke (16-4) before bringing home the series on Dust2 (19-15).

Fatih "⁠gob b⁠" Dayik's men's journey through the Swiss group included victories over crowd favorites FURIA and the Australian team Grayhound before their match against 9z. Their only loss came against Bad News Eagles who went on to sweep the first phase of the Major with a 3-0 record.

9z started off the qualification series against BIG on the T side of Nuke, but it was a match to forget for the South Americans. The Germans took the opening pistol and then proceeded to dominate the match on the defensive side, cruising to a 12-1 lead. Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa and Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne topped the scoreboard before the break with 1.56 and 1.49 ratings respectively. Maximiliano "⁠max⁠" Gonzalez's team only managed to claim two rounds late in the half to salvage a 3-12 scoreline going into the break.

The situation for max and company only got worse after switching sides as BIG stole the second pistol round on the back of a Elias "⁠s1n⁠" Stein double-kill with the P250 on A. The 20-year-old showed his prowess with the pistol again in the last round as BIG rushed the A bombsite with a force buy, and the young German took down four more to close the map 16-4.

Dust2 initially proved more fruitful for 9z as they strung six consecutive rounds on the CT side once rifles were brought out, but their success was short-lived. It took a few rounds for BIG to find their composure again, but once Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische came alive, the Germans ran away with the half. The 26-year-old registered a 1.90 rating and nine AWP kills to power his team to a 9-6 T side.

BIG took the fourth consecutive pistol round of the series and briefly extended their advantage to 11-6 before 9z were able to get on the board. The attackers slowly got back in contention thanks to Lucas "⁠nqz⁠" Soares and max's impact frags late in the match, forcing BIG into overtime.

The Germans swept through the rounds in extra time with a flawless CT side and quickly closed the series 19-15 with a push on the A bombsite. The trident of k1to, Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz, and syrsoN was too much for 9z to handle as they led the way in terms of firepower for BIG despite the antagonism from the crowd.