IEM Rio: semi-finals day as it happened

Keep up-to-date on what is happening on the penultimate day of IEM Rio.

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Sumary

— Vitality completed the reverse sweep over Cloud9 to advance to the grand final
— Natus Vincere will fight HEROIC later on to determine the second grand finalist.

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That's a wrap! Heroic are through to the IEM Rio grand final
00:51 - Nohte

Natus Vincere looked like they had the comeback going, but for HEROIC it was only a matter of time. The Ukrainian side made it up to nine rounds before HEROIC cracked through NAVI's defenses, but once they made it past the CT side's ranks it was all done: the Danes closed it out with back-to-back rounds, 16-9.

HEROIC will meet Vitality on Sunday at 19:00 to fight for the trophy.

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Did I speak too soon?
00:42 - Nohte

Surely a comeback isn't underway.

A 14-1 lead, HEROIC? Is that really not enough? NAVI are holding strong so far and have yet to drop a round on their CT side, but the margin for error is so slim... can they really do it? It's 14-9.

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This looks done
00:27 - Nohte

HEROIC are in cruise control.

Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev's clutch did nothing to dissuade them as, though NAVI clawed back a 3v5 situation into a 3v3 post-plant in the following round, the Danes prevailed to shatter the Ukrainian team's hopes.

Since then it's all come up HEROIC, and the match looks all but done as they lead 14-1 at halftime.

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s1mple's 1v3 halts Heroic's streak
00:21 - Nohte

A ten-round spree from HEROIC finally came to an end after s1mple clutched a 1v3 from cave, but NAVI look entirely deflated with the chances off pulling off a comeback looking extremely grim.

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stavn on fire as Heroic blaze ahead on Ancient
00:11 - Nohte

Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund was notably absent from the server throughout Overpass, but the same can't be said for Ancient — the 21-year-old boasts a 13-0 K-D and has three rounds with two or more kills as HEROIC lead 7-0 on the CT side.

Can HEROIC end Natus Vincere's seven-map winstreak on Ancient?

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Heroic overcome NAVI in triple overtime on Overpass
23:42 - Nohte

NAVI are going to be kicking themselves heading into their pick of Ancient.

Victory was within their grasp on multiple occasions in regulation and twice in overtime, but HEROIC showed incredible resilience to keep themselves in the series. The Danes managed to take the map over the line on the first chance they had once they reached map point, and can now head into Ancient without the added pressure of needing to win their opponent's map pick.

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It's neck-and-neck in triple overtime
23:33 - Nohte

We're in triple overtime, and loving every minute of it.

It doesn't get any closer than this, and though the individual highlight moments have cooled off, the overall level from both teams continues to deliver.

AND we still potentially have two maps after this? What a treat.

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What was that NAVI?! A fumbled plant sends us to overtime
23:03 - Nohte

Oh no, NAVI. They were so close, and even a 3vs5 situation didn't seem to faze them as Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy found the perfect window to get his team into B. It must have been frustrating, then, when Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov planted open next to pillar and was gunned down, and then Perfecto's attempt to get a last-second plant in was also fumbled.

HEROIC now lead 16-15 in overtime, and NAVI can only be distraught after letting victory slip from their grasp.

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NAVI hit map point on Overpass
22:54 - Nohte

HEROIC have won just two of the last eight rounds, and NAVI have moved swiftly up to map point. Can the Danes prevent their pick from being stolen away, or is s1mple's side about to go into Ancient in the lead?

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npl clutches a 1v3 as NAVI take the lead
22:47 - Nohte

Well, there we go. Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi bails NAVI out of a post-plant situation by gunning down three players to clutch the round and put NAVI in the lead.

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Okay, now it's just lazy scriptwriting
22:45 - Nohte

It's an identical scenario to how the match started at the onset of the second half, but in NAVI's favor this time around: HEROIC won the first two rounds on the CT side following a pistol victory, but the Ukrainian team swept the following four in a row before crumbling to a late smoke from Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck and the pistols of HEROIC.

It's a tie game at 11-11, and we're due for Natus Vincere stealing away the next round in narrow fashion if the first half's script is to continue being followed.

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Highlights aplenty as Heroic cling onto the lead at halftime
22:25 - Nohte

A double entry and quad kill round from Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard? You've got it.

An order of s1mple bailing his team out of a save round with three frags with a saved M4? Sure thing.

How about Perfecto cleaning up a monster push on a gun round with a triple spraydown? We've got that too.

It's a narrow 8-7 lead for HEROIC as they swap to the CT side after an insane battle at the end of the half.

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Heroic lead in gun rounds
22:04 - Nohte

NAVI may have jumped into a 2-0 lead following clean pistol round and anti-eco victories, but those rounds are quickly becoming a fading memory — HEROIC have been successfully making contact plays into bombsites and have won the last four rounds in a row on the T side, with jabbi continuing to shine for the Danish outfit with a 7-2 K-D.

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B1ad3: "We are mentally more ready, in all aspects we are much more ready, and also the main thing is the confidence: now we are more confident"
22:04 - Nohte

Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy shared some words about the upcoming series in short-prematch interview segment highlight from ESL.

"The most frustrating aspect of playing NAVI is probably just s1mple," the Danish captain stated. "I think you just need to be the better team on the day and make sure you make the right moves and give him a good headshot once in a while to keep him down."

"They're trying to be unpredictable, they're trying to be flexible," B1ad3 said." jabbi, when he's feeling the game is very dangerous, but he's unstable. The most stable thing is cadiaN — he's always dangerous."

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The veto is in! We start on Overpass
21:40 - Nohte

1. Heroic removed Anubis
2. Natus Vincere removed Vertigo
3. Heroic picked Overpass
4. Natus Vincere picked Ancient
5. Heroic removed Nuke
6. Natus Vincere removed Mirage
7. Inferno was left over

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NAVI and Heroic to take to the server next
21:13 - GSTK

After a hard-fought and action-packed series between Cloud9 and Vitality, it's now time to look forward to the other IEM Rio semi-final between HEROIC and Natus Vincere.

The two teams will kick off their all-or-nothing bout at 21:45 , where the winning squad will join Vitality in the IEM Rio grand final. The last time these two squads met was at ESL Pro League Season 17, where electroNic's troops prevailed in a two-map affair to advance to the semi-final of ESL's flagship league.

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sjuush: "We really believe that we can win the whole thing"

The Ukrainian-majority roster will be looking to double down and send the Danes packing from the $250,000 competition in Brazil, potentially spurred on by a Brazilian crowd who will resent HEROIC after they eliminated FURIA from the competition on Friday.

Regardless, HEROIC — and sjuush in particular — are feeling confident that they can win IEM Rio outright. The Danes made it to the grand final of the IEM Rio Major in 2022, and will be banking on doing one better this time around. But first, a victory over the ever-dangerous Natus Vincere is required, a team the Danish quintet notably struggle against, losing three out of their four last meetings.

Date	Matches
IEM Rio 2023
22/04/2023	Natus Vincere Finished 0:2 HEROIC	Match

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Vitality complete reverse sweep; progress to IEM Rio title decider
20:55 - GSTK

Vitality do it and halt Cloud9's late-map comeback effort! The squad recovered from a 3-12 deficit on Vertigo to force a third map and flip the game on its head, going on to crush Cloud9 on Overpass, 16-9, en route to a 2-1 victory; it's time for the Franco-Danish ensemble to prepare for the IEM Rio grand final on Sunday.

It was Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut who stepped up for his team on the Overpass decider, pulling off clutch after clutch (five in total) thanks to impeccable aim to ensure Vitality progress to the final hurdle in Brazil.

On the other end, Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov was the only Cloud9 member putting up a positive performance on the third map, ending Overpass with a 28-19 K-D to his name. Everyone else was notably dormant and it cost the team. It's a heartbreaking way for Cloud9 to end their IEM Rio run, and the squad, who are also going to be absent from the BLAST.tv Paris Major, will definitely need time to recover from this loss.

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Vitality nine rounds up at halftime on Overpass
20:31 - GSTK

Cloud9 will be kicking themselves; the Russians are down 3-12 at the break, but it really could have been a lot closer had the team prevailed in a number of half-defining clutches and rounds.

sh1ro narrowly pulled off a 1vs3, his emotions getting the better of him as he punched the desk in anger after Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif defused the bomb with a second or so left.

That Dane came up clutch once more a few rounds later, gunning down three with a saved AK-47 to earn Vitality their 10th; it was a round Cloud9 should have won with their weapon superiority.

Vitality are now heading over their T-side campaign on Overpass, where five rounds separate Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire and company and a spot in the IEM Rio grand final.

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Vitality lock in first-half victory on Overpass decider
20:17 - GSTK

Cloud9 finally get their first round on the board in round seven, doing so on the back of some crisp Desert Eagle shots from Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov — three in total.

The Russians were in a 4vs2 situation the round after, inches away from emptying Vitality's coffers and setting themselves up for some form of a recovery.

Alas, the perpetually excellent ZywOo — now 10-1 — stepped up with a 1vs2 clutch to keep Vitality economically and physically ahead. It's now 8-1, and Vitality are all smiles midway through the first half, knowing they will go into their T-side one-round up at least.

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Vitality keep pressure on; jump out to 5-0 lead on Overpass
20:08 - GSTK

Vitality are off to a strong start on the Overpass, wrestling control of proceedings to race to a quick 5-0 lead on the CT-side.

Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi, who has had a quiet series so far, has started to look more alive and currently sports a 10-3 and 150 ADR performance to get his team's defensive effort rolling.

Cloud9 are understandably looking deflated now, and it's going to take a lot of mental fortitude for the Russo-Kazkh roster to get back in contention.

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Overpass decider gets underway
19:57 - GSTK

Cloud9 will be hoping to shrug off their gut-wrenching loss as we head into the Overpass decider.

The Russians are starting on the T-side, with Vitality on the CT-side. It will be hard for Cloud9 to reset after dropping a 12-3 lead on Vertigo, but it's imperative they do if they wish to be the first team in the IEM Rio grand final.

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dupreeh powers Vitality to victory on Vertigo
19:39 - GSTK

Vitality have done it! They have successfully recovered from 0-10 and 3-12 deficits to close out Vertigo, 19-16, and force a trip to Overpass.

The feat is impressive, but one that would not have been possible if not for Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen, who ended the 35-round map with a 39-24 K-D and 127 ADR. What's more, the Dane went 26-9 on the T-side of regulation, also going 6-0 in opening kills and posting eight multi-kills. He was integral in keeping his team alive.

Cloud9 will be absolutely deflated at this point. They had victory in the palm of their hand, but ultimately couldn't find the four rounds they needed to close the series out. How does a team mentally recover from this?

The series now goes to Overpass. Cloud9 do have a slight edge with a 67% win rate over nine maps played, but Vitality aren't going to roll over easy anymore.

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Cloud9 force overtime on Vertigo
19:29 - GSTK

The game between Vitality and Cloud9 has heated up, as the two teams head to overtime despite the Russians sporting a 10-0 lead at one point.

"So excited, I spilled coffee on the floor," dupreeh allegedly typed into the game chat ahead of the all-important 30th round.

The Dane will need to contain his nerves as we had into extra rounds. Cloud9 will be desperately hoping they can contain Vitality's comeback and close out the series now. apEX's men, on the other hand, will look to keep their recovery going and force an Overpass decider — it's first to 19 now.

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Vitality slowly reduce deficit
19:18 - GSTK

Cloud9 have well and truly crumbled. What began as a 12-3 half for the Russians has been completely whittled down, and now it's Vitality ahead, 14-12, after a monstrous comeback.

dupreeh cracked open the A bombsite with a clean double entry on round 26, getting Vitality onto 14 rounds in the process after the Russian-majority roster retreated with their tails between their legs.

Cloud9 are yet to win a round on the CT-side. In fact, just three defensive rounds have been won throughout the entire map.

The crowd, once near non-existent, has since woken up. The Brazilian fans are appreciating this recovery from Vitality.

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Vitality two rounds behind Cloud9
19:10 - GSTK

Chad "⁠SPUNJ⁠" Burchill is reminding viewers of Vitality's comeback over FaZe on Anubis at ESL Pro League Season 17. apEX and co. were 1-14 down at halftime, but managed to prevail in overtime, regardless.

You can see Vitality waking up now; they're communicating, looking livelier, and shooting sharper.

The French-Danish-Israeli roster have got onto double digits, 11-12, and now sit just one rounds behind Cloud9. dupreeh led his team to victory over BIG on Friday, and he's leading the way on Vertigo at the minute, sitting on a 21-14 performance.

The pressure is all on the Russians at this point — can they close it out after being 10-0 up earlier?

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Vitality slowly reduce deficit
19:04 - GSTK

Vitality, who were down 3-12 at the break, have managed to find some much-needed round wins; they now sit 8-12 down, an improvement on their initial 0-10 start.

Vitality's round wins haven't been clean, but they don't necessarily need to be. With just four rounds standing between the two teams, we're looking at the potential for a Franco-Danish comeback of epic proportions.

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Cloud9 cruising to IEM Rio grand final berth
18:54 - GSTK

Vitality's streak-ending round win in the 11th proved to be the start of a late-half recovery for the Franco-Danish team, who have reduced the deficit to 3-12 half heading into the T-side.

It's beyond clear that Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov and company had a clear plan in mind when picking Vertigo, and the extra day of practice they enjoyed between the group stage and their semi-final bout certainly paid dividends.

While Vitality can be pleased with getting some much-needed rounds on the board, they will also be disheartened by how one-sided the map has been so far.

Cloud9 now sit four rounds away from a swift 2-0 victory over the Bees, and I think it will take a godlike performance from one of Vitality's players for the Russian-majority ensemble to be stopped after such a first-half trouncing.

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Vitality end C9's 17-round streak
18:43 - GSTK

Vitality finally get on the board, much to the delight of the Brazilian fans, who actually made some noteworthy noise for the first time in the series.

The win for apEX and company brings an end to a 17-round streak for Cloud9, but the hard work begins now. It's hard to see a world in which Vitality recover from such a spanking, but anything is possible in Counter-Strike.

ZywOo and Spinx, who were two of the tournament leaders ahead of the matchup, are shadows of their former selves, sporting just eight and six kills, respectively.

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Cloud9 on 15-round streak to crush Vitality's CT-side
18:36 - GSTK

"This is cyber-bullying," commented Alex "⁠Machine⁠" Richardson as Cloud9 extended their lead to 6-0, the Russian-majority troupe spraying apEX down to low health through smokes and walls in an unrelenting display of dominance.

The British caster's remarks do seem appropriate; Cloud9 are now 8-0 up on the T-side, and Vitality are looking more and more lost in the server. What's more, Cloud9 haven't lost a round since the first half of Inferno, now sitting on a 15-round streak over the two maps.

It's not through lack of trying, apEX's troops are switching things up on the defense, but little appears to be working against the well-oiled machine that is Cloud9.

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Cloud9 race ahead at Vertigo outset
18:27 - GSTK

Cloud9 have picked up where they left off on Inferno, driving forward with a piercing T-side to go 5-0 up on their map pick.

Much like the opener, Cloud9 once again pulled a 2vs4 out of their hat, this time courtesy of double kills from HObbit and sh1ro, the latter reducing Magisk down to 1hp before his death.

Vitality aren't down and out just yet, but alarm bells must certainly be sounding as rounds slowly pass on by — will the French-Danish roster be eliminated on the back of a two-map trouncing?

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sh1ro was a key piece in Inferno victory
18:11 - GSTK

Cloud9 as a whole played incredibly well on Inferno, but it was sh1ro who was the server leader. The Russian sniper ended proceedings with a 20-8 K-D and 1.75 rating; his closest peer was HObbit, who finished the 22-round map with a 19-13 K-D and 1.44 rating.

Vertigo gets underway soon.

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Cloud9 complete flawless T-side; send series to Vertigo
18:00 - GSTK

Cloud9 completely blitzed through Vitality's defenses with a flawless T-side to steal Inferno away, 16-6, in what was a beautiful Counter-Strike display from nafany and company.

If it wasn't clean hits of the two bombsites, it was Cloud9's ability to keep their foes' economy in check with impactful kills when Vitality were supposed to be safe, leaving apEX's troops with empty coffers as the rounds flew past.

Vitality will rue not being able to convert their veto choice, and play now makes its way to Vertigo, where Cloud9 sport a 78% win rate over 18 outings in the past three months.

Unless Vitality can come up trumps as the underdogs, it's likely we'll see Cloud9 in back-to-back Big Event grand finals — the last being ESL Pro League Season 17 in March.

"Give them a break," said SPUNJ when Cloud9 were stomping their Franco-Danish competition on Inferno. I doubt the Russian-majority roster will share that sentiment.

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Cloud9 close to stealing Inferno
17:50 - GSTK

Cloud9 are making their way ever closer to winning Vitality's map pick, picking up the first three rounds of the second half to breach double digits and sit four rounds away from outright victory.

A quick hit of the B bombsite nabbed Cloud9 their first pistol round of the series, before back-to-back conversions versus Vitality's low-investment buys kept the Russian-majority lineup ahead.

Vitality, now with rifles in hand, will need to make their presence in the server known if they're to stop Cloud9 running away with things. Spinx and ZywOo, the team's leaders in Rio, are struggling to leave their mark, sitting on 15-12 and 11-12 K-D differentials, respectively, on Inferno at the moment.

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Cloud9 ahead by three at halftime
17:39 - GSTK

Cloud9 have continued to lay down the law on Inferno, adding nine rounds to the board by the end of their CT-side effort.

The Russo-Kazakh roster even turned a 2vs4 situation on its head to give the team their ninth in round 13. Vitality succeeded in adding the final two rounds of the half, but still need to do better in these advantageous situations if they're to come back into this one.

Cloud9 now move over to the T-side on Inferno, and will undoubtedly relish in stealing away Vitality's map pick if they have the chance to.

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Cloud9 nesting small lead
17:30 - GSTK

Cloud9 have recovered from their initial 0-3 start by winning seven of the ensuing eight rounds to sit up by three heading into the first half's dying stages.

There is no standout player on Cloud9 at present — HObbit is leading with 10 kills, but nafany isn't too far behind on seven despite sitting bottom of the leaderboard for his team.

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Quiet atmosphere in Jeunesse Arena
17:20 - GSTK

The energetic atmosphere seen in the Jeunesse Arena on Friday is nowhere to be seen in the early stages of Cloud9 versus Vitality.

Brazilian fans were bellowing at every FURIA win before their eventual elimination, but that loud and booming roar is AWOL in this ongoing matchup.

HEROIC reported being unable to hear each other via TeamSpeak on Friday as a result of the crowd, but I doubt that will be an issue today should the fans remain as muted.

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Neck and neck early on
17:15 - GSTK

Vitality and Cloud9 are kept to within a round of each other after the first five rounds of play.

Cloud9 almost pulled off a low-investment buy in round two, but a triple kill in round two from Spinx prevented his team from suffering an early setback.

Alas, back-to-back holds of the A bombsite from Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov and Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov got Cloud9 on the board, with Vitality now down to pistols heading into the sixth round.

Cloud9 now have a chance to get a small lead going on the CT-side.

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And we're off!
17:04 - GSTK

The first IEM Rio semi-final has officially begun. We get going on Vitality's pick of Inferno, with Cloud9 opting to start on the CT-side.

One of these two teams will be eliminated by the end of the best-of-three; the victor will advance to the title decider in Brazil.

Janko "⁠YNk⁠" Paunović and Sudhen "⁠Bleh⁠" Wahengbam have Cloud9 as their favorites going into the game.

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Cloud9 and Vitality take the stage
17:00 - GSTK

The semi-final is close to getting started, and Cloud9 and Vitality have made their way onto the stage in the Jeunesse Arena.

Spinx and ZywOo, the first and third-highest-rated players at IEM Rio thus far, share a laugh on stage — the pressure of a semi-final doesn't appear to be affecting them just yet.

Can the two keep their superlative form up once play begins?

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The veto has been decided
16:48 - GSTK

The veto is in! The first IEM Rio semi-final will begin on Vitality's pick of Inferno. Play will then make its way to Cloud9's pick of Vertigo, with Overpass being the decider, if necessary.

The semi-final will begin in 12 minutes.

1. Vitality removed Ancient
2. Cloud9 removed Nuke
3. Vitality picked Inferno
4. Cloud9 picked Vertigo
5. Vitality removed Mirage
6. Cloud9 removed Anubis
7. Overpass was left over

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HObbit on upcoming match versus Heroic: "There is no favorite"
16:23 - GSTK

James "⁠BanKs⁠" Banks caught up with HObbit ahead of Cloud9's semi-final matchup versus Vitality at 17:00 .

The Kazakh rifler was modest when quizzed on his team's chances heading into the do-or-die bout.

"There is no favorite," HObbit started. "We are two teams on the same level, and we are two teams that have good players and superstar players. We have also good firepower, so let's see."

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IEM Rio semi-finals day due to begin
16:00 - GSTK

The penultimate day of IEM Rio is due to begin shortly and the doors to the Jeunesse Arena are now open, with fans slowly making their way to their seats in anticipation of two hard-fought series over the next few hours.

Cloud9 and Vitality will take to the stage first, getting the semi-final stage of play underway at 17:00 for a shot at advancing to the best-of-three title decider on Sunday.

Natus Vincere and HEROIC will follow suit shortly after at 20:30 , as the two teams will battle it out in front of the Brazilian crowd to see who will be the second team to earn a grand final berth in at IEM Rio.

Date	Matches
IEM Rio 2023
22/04/2023	Cloud9 Finished 1:2 Vitality	Match
22/04/2023	Natus Vincere Finished 0:2 HEROIC	Match

There is a distinct lack of history between Cloud9 and Vitality heading into this semi-final bout. The two teams have only met once, and that was over a year ago at IEM Katowice 2022, where the Russian-majority roster — then playing under the Gambit organization — prevailed in two straight maps.

However, Vitality currently benefit from the superlative form of Spinx and ZywOo. The Israeli and Frenchman currently sport 1.37 and 1.32 ratings, respectively — the first and third-highest-rated tournament-wide performances so far.

Cloud9, on the other hand, look to sh1ro and his 1.25 event-long rating to carry his team to victory, but the Russian will need to go above and beyond the call of duty if Cloud9 are able to subdue the aforementioned Vitality duo's brilliance in the server so far in Brazil.