BIG Edge Past K23 To Secure IEM Rio Major Spot

BIG secured a spot at the IEM Rio Major after winning their decider match in the 2-2 pool of the European RMR’s Group B. They did so against K23 in a series that went the full distance and then some, with overtimes on two of the maps, including the Dust2 decider.

The Germans’ gauntlet was cleared after victories over Sangal and Vitality in the best-of-ones, followed by series losses to ENCE and Heroic. K23‘s elimination on the other hand came after victories over HEET and Monte and losses to Falcons and MOUZ.

BIG made it through the Swiss RMR despite missing faveN

Timur “⁠clax⁠” Sabirov and Vladislav “⁠FinigaN⁠” Usov got K23 ahead on the attacking side of Inferno. Five rounds went to the Russian squad before BIG, but K23 showed that they were in control of their map pick by taking a 10-1 lead. Johannes “⁠tabseN⁠” Wodarz and company finally linked three rounds late in the half, but lost the last round before the switch.

BIG won the second pistol round on the A site, completely shifting the momentum with an eight round streak to lead 12-11, but weren’t able to take it past the line as K23 woke up to win four rounds before BIG took it to overtime. One was not enough, and by the second K23 secured their map 22-20 off the back of a clax triple defending the A site.

K23 won the first pistol round of Mirage on the CT side, but BIG didn’t falter with guns in play to get ahead on their map pick. Nils “⁠k1to⁠” Gruhne led the way with 17 kills in the half and 102.7 ADR as the Germans hit double digits, 10-5.

FinigaN and his men didn’t give up on the attack, winning the second pistol round and bringing it to within one, 9-10. Back-and-forth rounds put BIG up against the wall heading into the late stages of the map, but the German squad held steadfast to win the map out 16-11 and force a decider.

Raijin had an impressive 85 frags in the series despite his team’s loss

K23 won the first pistol round of a map for the third time in the series, but they were immediately contested in the following round as BIG won the forcebuy to start building an economy on the defense.Two B hits brought it back to 3-3 as the two brawled for dominance all the way to the half, which the Russians led 8-7.

BIG once again won a forcebuy after losing the pistols, regaining the lead early in the second half, a lead they held onto heading into the final stretch of the series. Up 12-10, a post-plant misplay by the Germans put their Major qualification at risk as K23 struck, but neither team could pull ahead by the 30th round.

Overtime was a completely different game, in which BIG dominated the T-side with three straight rounds, which they converted into victory in their first second half round on the defense to win 19-16 and clinch their spot at the Major.