IEM Rio Asia Qualifier: Indian teams exit early

IEM Rio 2024's Asian open qualifier kicked off earlier today with almost all teams getting byes in the first round of the single-elimination bo1 bracket. Three Indian teams - Carnival Gaming, VICTORES SUMUS and Project Lethals attended the qualifier. After getting byes in the first round, it was just Carnival Gaming who put up a close fight in contention for a third round appearance.

NomadS vs Carnival Gaming

Carnival Gaming NomadS in a bo1 on Anubis where Ember and clouda popped off as the Indian team recovered from an early deficit to draw the first half 6-6. With little to separate the sides, the game went into overtime where NomadS squeezed out a narrow 16-14 victory.

The game was an absolute frag-fest with players from both teams stepping up, delivering massive impact for their team. For Carnival Gaming, Ember topped the charts with 29 frags to his name at an ADR of 107.

FengDa Gaming vs VICTORES SUMUS

After securing three early rounds on the CT-side of Anubis, VICTORES SUMUS were locked out of the half and eventually out of the game. MatsuokaXizi, HacK1ngzzz and chengking- stepped up for FengDa Gaming, toppling the CT-defense to net a massive 9-3 half for themselves.

A pistol and anti-eco loss in the second half clouded the Indian team's comeback hopes as FengDa Gaming took four in a row to close out Anubis 13-3, eliminating VICTORES SUMUS.

SUBUTAI vs Project Lethals

Starting on the CT-side of Mirage, Project Lethals stood no chance against the firepower of SUBUTAI. Aside from well timed and well placed utility, the Mongolian five-stack kept out-aiming Project Lethals round after round, swarming sites, giving little to no retake opportunities.

After a dominant 11-1 half, SUBUTAI conceded the pistol round in the second half but Project Lethals could not take any advantage as SUBUTAI stole the anti-eco and closed out Mirage 13-2, dropping just a single round per half.

Individual performances set the teams apart as mentalplay1 dropped a colossal 142-ADR game with 22 frags to his name.

Another open qualifier will run in the Asian region with one more closed qualifier slot on the line. The registration for the same can be accessed through the following link:

IEM RIO - AS Qualifier 2

Date: 28th July 2024

The Asia closed qualifier will take place on 1st and 2nd August 2024, featuring two teams from the open qualifier and two invited teams in a double-elimination bracket with all matches running a bo3 setting. The winner of the closed qualifier advances to IEM Rio 2024 which is set to take place in the second week of October.