The second CS:GO<\/em> Major of the year has been finalized. Valve and ESL were in charge of the action at IEM Rio Major, the first event of this magnitude ever held in Brazil, home of some of the most passionate Counter-Strike<\/em> fans.<\/p>
The IEM Rio Major had a $1.25 million prize pool and had a live audience for all stages of the competition: Challengers Stage, Legends Stage, and Champions Stage. ESL also set up a fan fest featuring the famous CS:GO<\/em> Brazilian streamer Alexandre “Gaules” Borba, who acted as the host and provide commentary for the matches.<\/p>
Related: All CS:GO<\/em> teams qualified for IEM Rio Major<\/a><\/strong><\/p>
The 16 Challengers and Contenders teams started the competition in the Challengers Stage and the top eight advance to the Legends Stage, where the eight teams that earned Legend status in the Regional Major Ranking (RMR) waited. These two stages used a Swiss system format<\/a> that lasted four days each.<\/p>