The South American mix of 9z took down Marcelo “coldzera” David and Epitácio “TACO” de Melo’s 00 Nation 19-16 today in the first round of the IEM Rio Major Americas Regional Major Ranking (RMR), despite being down 14-7 in the second half.
It looked like 00 Nation would run away with an easy victory on Overpass until 9z started winning rounds fueled by an impressive individual showing from Brazilian AWPer Lucas “nqz” Soares, who went on to finish the CS:GO game with 30 frags in total. The South American mix won eight consecutive rounds to reach map point territory before 00 Nation, and even though the Brazilians took the game to overtime thanks to coldzera and TACO’s efforts, they seemingly didn’t have the energy to stop 9z’s momentum in the extra rounds.
This victory would not be considered an upset if 9z had won in other circumstances, but given that 00 Nation had such a large advantage in the second round, there’s no other way to describe it. It’s also an important victory for the South American mix because 00 Nation are one of their direct rivals in the fight for one of the six IEM Rio Major spots up for grabs.
As for 00 Nation, this heart-breaking defeat adds more pressure on the players. None of their players qualified for the PGL Antwerp Major, the first Valve-sponsored event of the year, and to not play at IEM Rio Major would be a disaster, especially for Major winners like TACO and coldzera.
The first round of the Americas RMR will finish after Los + oNe vs. Team Liquid and the second round will be played today as well.
