Imperial outlast Complexity to seal final IEM Rio Major spot

Imperial defeated Complexity in a barnstormer of a game, winning Inferno (16-13) and Overpass (22-20) on either side of a loss on Nuke (11-16). With the win, the Brazilian legends qualify for the Major held in their home country, where they will hope to capture the crowd’s imagination yet again.

Imperial traversed the Swiss System with a 3-2 record, beating Nouns, TeamOne, and Isurus, before getting consecutive best-of-three victories against paiN and Complexity to earn the spot through the sixth-place decider bracket.

Imperial began inferno in cracking form, winning the pistol round on the offense to secure themselves a 5-1 lead. A short resurgence by Complexity followed as they reduced the margin to two, but Imperial didn’t let them back into the game, with Vinicius “⁠VINI⁠” Figueiredo and Fernando “⁠fer⁠” Alvarenga converting a 2vs5 situation in the final round of the half to set the score at 11-4.

Once the sides switched, Complexity found a new lease of life with a six-round streak, almost taking the lead for the first time on the map at 10-11. Imperial adapted to their opponent’s playstyle after that, engaging in an exciting back-and-forth affair where neither team was able to run away with the map. Gabriel “⁠FalleN⁠” Toledo found impact with the Big Green round after round and eventually led his team to a 16-12 win, as the series moved to Complexity‘s map pick of Nuke.

Complexity started Nuke on the Terrorist side, going up to a quick 3-0 lead. Due to the close nature of the rounds, however, Imperial needed just one round win to break the economy of the North Americans, going 5-3 up in the process. They kept the upper hand in the economy all through the first half, enabling them to switch sides three rounds in the lead.

The start of the second half was a scrappy affair, with teams trading rounds on their way to a tied-up score at 11-11. After that, Ricky “⁠floppy⁠” Kemery bailed out Complexity with a beautiful 1vs3 clutch, as they won five rounds in a row to force out the decider of Overpass.

Marcelo “⁠chelo⁠” Cespedes started Overpass like a man possessed, racking up 15 kills in the first seven rounds as his team found themselves 5-1 up. The Brazilians were ahead during the entire half, with chelo and FalleN converting a 2vs4 situation that solidified their position, switching sides with a three-round lead.

The second half didn’t start the way the Brazilians envisaged, as Complexity won the pistol and converted it to a lead before FalleN got an ace on the A site to get Imperial their first. An all-out brawl ensued, with Justin “⁠FaNg⁠” Coakley winning two clutches, while chelo and FalleN continued to deliver on the CT side. The teams proved inseparable, meaning overtime was needed to determine the victor.

Once in overtime, Imperial needed two attempts to close out the game, eventually winning 22-20 to secure a spot at their home Major.

The full IEM Rio Major team list is now known and looks as follows: