ESL One: Road to Rio qualifiers have been running for quite a while now. At the time of writing, certain regions wrapped up their games and we can see who are the biggest winners and losers of the next CSGO Major. In this piece, you will find out who pulled the biggest upset and who simply did not perform to their full potential so do not miss out.
ESL One: Road to Rio Winners and Losers
In order to make things simple for you, we will breakdown this recap to regions. Like this, you will have a faster insight into things you are interested in. Let's get straight into it, shall we?
ESL One: Road to Rio - Asia
From our perspective, one of the biggest upsets occurred in the Asian Road to Rio qualifier. Everyone thought that TYLOO will run over everyone there and claim that #1 spot with ease. However, this did not happen and TIGER got the better of the Chinese CSGO roster. Despite this being a competitive game, Batbayar "kabal" Bat-Enkh simply had it his way by delivering 71 kills over the course of three maps.
ESL One: Road to Rio - Europe
By far the most competitive region. A total of 16 teams fought hard in order to grab their spot in the only CSGO Major in 2020. Newly formed teams such as Dignitas and c0ntact simply had no chance against top dogs. Surprisingly, fnatic came in 6th in their group in one of their worst showings so far this year.
On top of that, Vitality does not have a lot to brag about either. Despite a couple of solid results, Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and co. were unable to qualify for the upper bracket. However, they will look for their chance in the lower bracket where they await their opponents.
One of the biggest surprises in Group A is Heretics. This French-based CSGO squad qualified for the playoffs and they will look to prove their worth against top contenders.
Group B is also filled with surprises. First and foremost, mousesports is already eliminated as they claimed the 6th spot in their group. Alongside mousesports, Danish powerhouse, North is also out of ESL One: Road to Rio qualifier. Both GODSENT and Copenhagen Flames booked tickets for the lower bracket while G2 and FaZe dominated everyone in their group as they wait for their opponents.
ESL One: Road to Rio - CIS Qualifier
One of the biggest surprises came in a couple of hours ago. #2 ranked CSGO team in the world was eliminated from CIS Road to Rio qualifier. In their do or die match, Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev and his squad suffered a 2-0 defeat to Hard Legion. Even though both maps were quite competitive, Ukrainian esports organization was on the receiving end of things.
Alongside Na'Vi, forZe is also eliminated from the event as they were unable to book a single win. From the top contenders, former AVANGAR roster (now Virtus.pro) was able to qualify for the upper bracket by the skin of their teeth. Spirit and Hard Legion booked their tickets for the upper bracket while Nemiga, Syman, Winstrike and VP will look to prove their worth in the lower bracket.
ESL One: Road to Rio - NA
Even though there are a couple of matches left in the North American Road to Rio qualifier, we can already provide you with an insight into the biggest losers and winners. First and foremost, EG is already out of this event as they looked really bad.
It is also important to mention that MiBR is out of the event as well. When it comes to surprises, no one expected Gen.G to defeat everyone, but here they are, topping their group. Furthermore, Liquid barely pulled through just to suffer a defeat in the semifinals to FURIA who topped group B.
The stage is set for the grand finals where FURIA will look to represent Brazil in ESL One: Rio Major. However, they will have a tough task in front of themselves as Damian "dapps"Steele and his team Gen.G are also playing on a really high level right now.
