Vitality vs Imperial Esports at CS: GO IEM Rio Major 2022 - Predictions, head-to-head, livestream details, and more

One of CS: GO's most anticipated events, IEM Rio Major 2022, is set to commence in the next few hours. The upcoming tournament will kick off with its Challengers Stage, where 16 CS: GO teams will compete for a total of 8 spots on the Legends Stage of the Major.

On Day 1 of the IEM Rio Major 2022, one of Brazil's very own, Imperial Esports, will take on one of Europe's finest, Team Vitality, in the opening match of the Challengers Stage. A victory in this best-of-one series will grant the winners a favorable position in the Challengers Stage table, with the team requiring just two wins out of their next four matches to qualify for the Legends Stage.

Every match of the IEM Rio Major Challengers and Legends Stages will be held in front of a live audience at the Riocentro, Rio de Janeiro. The Champions Stage of the tournament will be held live at Jeunesse Arena, with the Grand Finals scheduled for November 13, 2022.

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Team Vitality vs Imperial Esports in CS: GO - Who will win their opening match of IEM Rio Major 2022 Challengers Stage?

Predictions

Currently, both Vitality and Imperial look strong as they head into their opening match of the IEM Rio Major 2022 Challengers Stage. While both teams are not in their best form at the moment, they have a wide array of talent within their rosters, with past performances proving all the players' individual capabilities in CS: GO.

Vitality replaced misutaaa with Spinx earlier this year in August, after which the team witnessed incredible results. They defeated some of the best teams in the world to win the ESL Pro League Season 16, which ended earlier this month. Along with that, Vitality has incredible talent in the form of high impact players such as ZywOo and Magisk, who can aid them in their tournament run.

Similar to Vitality, Imperial also went through a roster change recently, which witnessed the Brazilian Counter Strike veteran fnx transitioning to a coach and streamer role. His replacement, chelo, is a promising talent who is expected to bolster the team's tournament run as they compete in front of a home crowd. Furthermore, two-time CS: GO Major champions, Fallen and fer, are among the most successful players in this tournament, and are expected to guide their team to success.

Imperial does have an advantage over Vitality since they will be competing in front of a live Brazilian audience. Additionally, this matchup will be a best-of-one series, improving Imperial's chances of putting on a momentum-driven performance that can push them to victory. Although Vitality's European roster has performed better in recent times, Imperial's home advantage gives them a better chance of success in this best-of-one matchup.

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Head-to-head

Interestingly, Team Vitality and Imperial Esports are two prominent CS: GO teams that are yet to face each other in an official matchup. Fans will be excited to see the two top rosters compete against each other on a grand stage such as the IEM Rio Major 2022.

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Recent results

Vitality qualified for CS: GO's IEM Rio Major with a Challengers status by securing a 5th place finish at the Road to Rio: European RMR B. They maintained a score of 3-1 in the group play, defeating teams like FANTASY, Monte, and MOUZ, while only losing to BIG.

Team Vitality later lost to Heroic in the tie-breaker for the #3 spot, missing out on an IEM Rio Major Legends status by a small margin. Most recently, Vitality took part in the BLAST Premier: Fall European Showdown 2022, where they finished in 3-4th place after a semi-finals defeat to Astralis.

Imperial Esports earned their Contender status for CS: GO's IEM Rio Major by finishing the Road to Rio: American RMR in 6th place, securing the final Major slot for the Americas region. They maintained a score of 3-2 in the group play, defeating teams like Isurus, LOS oNe, and Nouns Esports and losing only to 9z and 00NATION.

Imperial defeated paiN Gaming and Complexity in the tie-breaker to claim the 6th qualification spot for the IEM Rio Major 2022. Most recently, Imperial competed in the FiReLEAGUE 2022: Global Finals, where they managed to finish in 3-4th place after a semi-finals loss to paiN Gaming.

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Potential lineups

Vitality

• Dan "apEX" Madesclaire (IGL)
• Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
• Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen
• Emil "Magisk" Reif
• Lotan "Spinx" Giladi
• Danny "zonic" Sørensen (Coach)

Imperial

• Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo (IGL)
• Fernando "fer" Alvarenga
• Ricardo "boltz" Prass
• Vinicius "VINI" Figueiredo
• Marcelo "chelo" Cespedes
• Lincoln "fnx" Lau (Coach)

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When and where to watch

Fans of Counter Strike can catch the 2022 Rio Major action live on ESL CS: GO's official Twitch handle. With matches running simultaneously, viewers will have to tune into the A stream to watch Vitality vs Imperial today.

Vitality will take on Imperial on October 31, 2022, at 9:45 am PDT / 6:45 pm CET / 10:15 pm IST in the opening match of the IEM Rio Major 2022 Challengers Stage. Fans can also watch Cloud9 vs Fnatic, which will take place simultaneously on Stream B.