Outsiders best fnatic, advance to Legends Stage of IEM Rio Major

The Russians came out on top after a two-map series which had polar opposite scorelines.

Outsiders qualified for the Legends Stage of the IEM Rio Major by moving past fnatic 2-0, trouncing the European squad 16-1 on Overpass before narrowly getting the job done with a 16-14 scoreline on Mirage.

Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali and company's path through the Challengers Stage was a relatively hard-fought affair. The side initially fell down to the 0-1 pool with an opening 6-16 loss to MOUZ, before clinching hotly-contested victories over IHC, Vitality, and finally fnatic to reach the Legends Stage.

fnatic still have another shot at progressing to the next stage of the Major as they will play on Thursday in a do-or-die matchup. A win would grant the team a widely-coveted spot in the Legends Stage of the $1,250,000 event, whilst a loss would send the side packing with a 2-3 record — a possibly early end to their first Major appearance since 2019.

fnatic's pick of Overpass played host to the first map of the series, though it was Russians who struck first by drumming up an early 6-0 lead on the CT-side thanks to strong heroics from Evgenii "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev and Jame, who combined for 16 kills to get the ball rolling. This didn't come without controversy, however, as three of fnatic's players' PCs crashed in a 3vs3 post-plant in the sixth round. The round was ultimately restored and once again went in Outsiders' favour.

Things soon went from bad to worse for fnatic, with Petr "⁠fame⁠" Bolyshev now chipping in for his team with 11 frags of his own to propel the Russians to an overpowering 11-0 advantage. Any respite for the European mixture never arrived as Outsiders' superior firepower and uncontested map control enabled the side to complete the flawless half and lead 15-0 by the switch.

Dion "⁠FASHR⁠" Derksen refused to allow his team to go down without a fight, putting up a triple kill in the pistol round to finally get fnatic their first on the board. This was the only round fnatic could muster, however, as they soon dropped the next to a force buy from the Russians, conceding the map 1-16 and going down 0-1 in the series in the process.

The series made its way to Outsiders' pick of Mirage for the second map, with the Russian quintet winning the initial skirmish to get off to a 4-1 start on the T-side. William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman and co. fought valiantly to pull themselves back into the conversation, stringing together four rounds to retake the lead 5-4. The momentum shifted into Outsiders' favour from this point on; the side around Jame harassed the B site time and time again to lock in a 9-6 half by the end of their offensive campaign. fame was the difference-maker for the Russians in the opening part of the map, sitting at the top of the scoreboard by a considerable margin with 19 kills — almost twice as many as David "⁠n0rb3r7⁠" Danielyan's 10.

fnatic's quest to force a third map gained steam at the onset of the second half, as the black-and-orange put a four-round streak up to take the lead, 10-9. Jame's men soon changed the narrative, though, rallying together with four rounds to their opponents' two to take control of the economy and keep their heads narrowly above water, 13-12. A determined fnatic continued to press on, pushing their opponents to the limit as they reached a 14-14 gridlock. When all was said and done, however, Outsiders prevailed, winning a 2vs1 in the 30th round to close out a laborious 16-14 victory. Outsiders had fame to thank for their win over the European roster, with the 19-year-old consistently finding impact alongside putting up 33 frags to carry his side over the line.