The level of the game has been raised for more than ten years by CS:GO professionals, who keep becoming better and raise the skill ceiling with each competition. The IEM CS:GO Rio Major 2022 starts on October 31. The standard has been raised, and the stakes are higher than ever.

The enthusiastic home crowd, its love of the game, and the atmosphere it will generate are the main reasons why the Brazilian Major is expected to be one of the best in history.

It will be challenging to follow every game, let alone every participant, with 24 teams scheduled to compete in Rio de Janeiro. But there are those that, for a variety of reasons, you shouldn’t miss in action.

Team Liquid – EliGE & Yekindar

Since a few months ago, Team Liquid has been improving, placing highly in important CS:GO competitions and moving up the list of the top international teams. Their success has been largely attributed to Mareks #YEKINDAR Gainskis and Jonathan #EliGE Jablonowski.

EliGE was able to shine once more, demonstrating that he is one of the greatest North American talents in history, while YEKINDAR’s presence also allowed EliGE to take on new responsibilities as a rifler.

According to the stats, the player has clocked 1.24 impact and 83.6 average damage over the last three months, serving as the second pillar of Liquid’s impressive victories. Liquid has once again emerged as NA’s greatest chance at winning the biggest event, with their sights set on the IEM CS:GO Major 2022, thanks to the powerful combo that helped the team move up to third in HLTV’s rating for the first time since February 2020.

S1mple

Oleksandr #s1mple Kostyliev is the most renowned player among the GOATs of CS:GO.

The Ukrainian has been first or second in HLTV’s top 20 rankings of the year for the past four years as a consequence of his multiple victories and MVP awards. He hasn’t lost any of his form recently, accumulating 1.36 impacts, 86.3 damages, 0.85 kill participations, and only 0.64 deaths each round over the last three months, according to the official stats.

S1mple consistently turns up when it counts. He has been the decisive force in all of Natus Vincere’s finals finishes over the past few years, amassing tremendous stats and taking down many rounds by himself. He made it possible for NAVI to establish themselves as one of the greatest teams in CS:GO history, and he intends to maintain his dominance in Rio.

Broky

The FaZe Clan roster features superstars who can take the game on their shoulders and who also synergistically complement one another. Helvijs #broky Saukants, though, stood out among the others in recent weeks.

In the Europe RMR A, where the team went 3-0 and earned the Legends Status at the Rio Major, the Latvian was FaZe’s top player. However, the international team had a difficult journey because they had to compete in seven overtimes over five different maps. Broky shone out in every series, taking decisive rounds with his AWP. Overall, he was the seventh-best player at the competition.

SunPayus

Alvaro #SunPayus Garcia led the scoring in two of the three ENCE sets in the RMR, helping the new ENCE team easily secure a Legends Spot in the Major. The Spanish player was the standout of his last squad, the Movistar Riders, and his excellent and aggressive AWPing style secured him a spot in ENCE.

Can he still succeed on this, his stage still, and guarantee his team’s place in back-to-back semifinals? It should be achievable if SunPayus keeps performing at his incredible level.