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IEM Major Rio 2022: Qualifiers, Format, How and Where to Watch

IEM Major Rio 2022: Qualifiers, Format, How and Where to Watch

The stakes are very high in the second half of the competitive year of CS:GO. After the summer break and several weeks with no professional tournaments, players and fans can’t wait to return to the competitive scene again. From August 15, the best teams will compete in the different regional RRMRs for a spot to the long-awaited IEM Rio Major of 2022. The latter will take place from October 31 to November 13, and promises to go down in history. First of all, the Rio Major event in 2020 was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Second of all, it will be the first Major to be held outside Europe and NA.

With so much hype around this contest, it is essential to know several things to make the most of the upcoming tournament! From the format to all the official broadcasting platforms, here is everything you may need to know about how to watch November’s Major and enjoy it to the fullest.

Format Overview

For starters, let’s take a look at the format of the Major event and the schedule of the qualifiers. But before we move to this, it is worth noting that you can find all kinds of information about the IEM Rio Major 2022 format with the given link. This website highlights, among other things, the statistics of players worldwide and separated by country, as well as the records of each match. Below, we will outline the main aspects of the structure for the following Major.

Schedule of the Qualifiers

The dates for the IEM Rio qualifiers in the different regions are as follows:

  • European RMRs: four open qualifiers from Aug 15 to 28.
  • Chinese RMRs: two open and one closed qualifiers from Aug 15 to 28.
  • South American RMRs: three open qualifiers from Aug 15 to 27.
  • North American RMRs: three open qualifiers from Aug 15 to Sep 5.
  • Oceanian RMRs: two open and one closed qualifiers from Aug 15 to 28.
  • Middle East RMRs: two open and one closed qualifiers from Aug 15 to 28.
  • Asian RMRs: two open and one closed qualifiers from Aug 15 to 28.

These Regional Major Rankings will define the best teams from each region that will complete the field to the IEM Rio by joining the squads that earned their region spot due to their good performance at PGL Antwerp 2022.

Speaking of which, we already know the top sixteen teams of the Antwerp event that have their guaranteed presence at the following Major. In this regard, such squads as Natus Vincere, ENCE, Team Spirit, Nip, Heroic, FaZe Clan, FURIA, G2 Esports, Team Vitality, BIG, Imperial, Cloud9, Outsiders, Team Liquid, and Bad New Eagles will not have to compete in the “IEM Road to Rio” qualification process.

Phases of the IEM Major

There will be no considerable changes to the Major format. A total of 24 teams qualifying through different RMR contests will participate in three tournament phases starting from October 31:

  • The Challengers Stage: October 31st – November 3rd
  • The Legends Stage: November 3rd – 8th
  • The Champions Stage: November 10th – 13th

The Major Rio Playoff phase will include the eight best teams, and the winner will be the IEM Katowice 2023 representative. The format of the playoffs will remain the same: a single-elimination bracket with all the matches at the Bo3.

How to Watch Major Rio Live

You can see Major Rio through the official ESL Twitch and YouTube channels. Both are good viable options. On the one hand, the Twitch broadcast allows you to interact with other fans and respond live to the action as long as you are logged in with your official account. On the other hand, YouTube records all the games that are played, including the highlights, so you can enjoy it whenever you want! What is more, due to the large CS:GO community, official broadcasts are usually available in different languages for everyone’s convenience.

Where to Buy the Tickets

As usual, spectators will be allowed to attend the Major event during its Playoff stage, which will run from November 10 to 13 at the Jeunesse Arena. However, the tickets for the event were sold out within one hour after being dropped in May. Thus, the stakes for the contest are very high, and the excitement is living up to its hype.

Depending upon the layout, the Jeunesse Arena has a maximum capacity of around 20,000 seats. This huge demand made players and other notable eSports celebrities ask organizers to shift the venue of the Playoffs to a bigger place, such as a soccer stadium. At the moment, there are no updates according to the venue changes.

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