Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás, Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman and Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro all topped a map each to guide MOUZ to victory over fnatic.

The first team to qualify for the Legends Stage in Rio is MOUZ as their academy products rose to the occasion to secure a 2-1 victory over fnatic. This convincing run to the Legends Stage serves as evidence that MOUZ were right to lean so heavily on their academy project in recent times.

MOUZ have struggled to find consistency with their youthful side, promising showings here and at ESL Pro League contrasting with shaky form at the RMR and ESL Challenger Rotterdam. Regardless, here at one of the most important events of the year, Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong's side rose to the occasion and punched their ticket to the Legends Stage in style.

MOUZ posted a strong 3-0 record to progress

As for fnatic, they will be left lamenting a poor showing on the heavily favoured CT side of Ancient, as otherwise they matched MOUZ's level throughout the series. They will still be amongst the favourites to progress, particularly considering they will have two more attempts.

fnatic started poorly on the T side of their map pick, Vertigo, with MOUZ running out to a 6-0 advantage before the boys in black and orange could answer. Despite the best efforts of Nico "⁠nicoodoz⁠" Tamjidi, who was the one bright spot for fnatic in the first half, his squad continued to fall behind. At a 2-10 deficit fnatic switched to dry contact plays, netting them the final three rounds and a respectable offensive half.

A pistol win for MOUZ set the map up for a quick finish and despite fnatic grabbing a few rounds on the bounce when they did get guns in their hands, dexter and co. duly closed out Vertigo 16-8.

Inferno began with MOUZ picking up the pistol, torzsi grabbing a bizarre 2k with the knife in the process, and converting to a 3-0 lead. Once the guns came up however fnatic were imperious on their defence. Such was fnatic's dominance MOUZ only managed three isolated rounds, and headed into the second half at a 6-9 deficit.

Another pistol win and follow up was about all MOUZ could manage on their defence as they capitulated to the fnatic attack, with the trio of Dion "⁠FASHR⁠" Derksen, William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman and Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson getting much of the heavy lifting done. The score eventually ended 16-9, sending the series to the decider of Ancient.

A clean 4-0 start from MOUZ on their defence spelled trouble for fnatic, but somehow mezii and co. managed to piece together some isolated round wins, often on half-buys and often due to individual heroics. MOUZ's profligacy ruined what began as a convincing half, and fnatic were able to get to a solid six rounds heading into their own defence.

MOUZ made it a clean sweep of pistol rounds to kick off their offense and quickly rattled off another three on the bounce, putting their opponents under immense pressure. Unfortunately for fnatic they could not find the answer, and they eventually fell to a 9-16 defeat, sending them to the 2-1 pool and sending MOUZ through to the Legends Stage.

IEM Rio Major 2022 Challengers StageBest of 3 MOUZMatchpage 2 1 1st November 2022 fnatic 16Vertigo 8 9Inferno 16 16Ancient 9

MOUZ	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
David 'frozen' Čerňanskýfrozen	54 - 36	+18	86.6	1.29
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsástorzsi	59 - 45	+14	79.0	1.27
Dorian 'xertioN' BermanxertioN	59 - 53	+6	87.5	1.21
Jon 'JDC' de CastroJDC	45 - 47	-2	72.0	1.04
Christopher 'dexter' Nongdexter	43 - 54	-11	63.4	0.90

fnatic	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nico 'nicoodoz' Tamjidinicoodoz	49 - 49	0	75.8	1.07
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ	51 - 52	-1	72.0	0.97
Fredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenroeJ	42 - 54	-12	70.7	0.94
William 'mezii' Merrimanmezii	47 - 52	-5	69.3	0.89
Dion 'FASHR' DerksenFASHR	42 - 57	-15	68.6	0.84

Group Challengers Stage 3W - 0L MOUZ 2W - 0L Bad News Eagles GamerLegion 2W - 1L FURIA BIG Outsiders fnatic 9z 1W - 2L OG Evil Geniuses Vitality Grayhound 0W - 2L Cloud9 IHC Imperial 00NATION Jon 'JDC' de Castro Age: 22 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 565 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.67 Dion 'FASHR' Derksen Age: 26 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 776 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.68 Nico 'nicoodoz' Tamjidi Age: 22 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 772 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.62 Freddy 'KRIMZ' Johansson Age: 28 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1832 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.64 MOUZ #9 Ádám 'torzsi' TorzsásDorian 'xertioN' BermanJon 'JDC' de CastroChristopher 'dexter' NongDavid 'frozen' Čerňanský Dorian 'xertioN' Berman Age: 18 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 256 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.66 Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás Age: 20 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 522 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.61 fnatic #19 Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonDion 'FASHR' DerksenNico 'nicoodoz' TamjidiFredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenWilliam 'mezii' Merriman Christopher 'dexter' Nong Age: 28 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1048 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.67 William 'mezii' Merriman Age: 24 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 564 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.63