IEM Rio 2024 is almost upon us, bringing 16 of the best CS2 teams from around the world to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to duke it out for their share of a hefty $250,000 prize pool. It’s one of the premier CS2 events of the year, especially with a spot at IEM Katowice 2025 on the line for the winner.
Of all the teams involved, who has the best shot of taking the W? Let’s find out in our IEM Rio 2024 power rankings!
Credit: ESL
IEM Rio 2024 Favorites
Looking at the teams attending IEM Rio 2024, it actually seems to be one of the most stacked CS2 tournaments of the year so far. The only real heavy-hitter we’re missing is Team Spirit. Of the top teams at this event, we think G2 are most likely to come out on top. Mostly, it all comes down to the individual form of NiKo, m0NESY, and malbsMd. That trio firing all at the same time can win any event, despite Snax’s fragging, as seen at the BLAST Fall Final 2024. Winning back-to-back events is a big ask, but there’s no reason to believe that trio can’t carry them over the line.
Also, keep MOUZ in mind as potential favorites for this event. They looked tired as they bombed out of ESL Pro League Season 20 in mid-September, but they’ve had a few weeks to recover as they were not involved in the latest BLAST event. This could be a huge blessing for MOUZ, who are looking to pick up their second tournament win of the year in Rio. It’s a great opportunity for the young team to gather some momentum as the ramp-up towards the Major continues.
Here are our CS2 power rankings for the teams at IEM Rio 2024:
- G2
- NAVI
- Team Vitality
- MOUZ
- FaZe Clan
- Team Liquid
- Eternal Fire
- Complexity
- The MongolZ
- Heroic
- Virtus.pro
- FURIA
- Astralis
- 9z Team
- paiN Gaming
- Imperial Esports
Obviously, you can’t count NAVI out, either. In our opinion, they’re the best CS2 team in the world, but their five back-to-back Grand Finals could prove to be a curse in Rio. We think the team will show some signs of fatigue at this event, but if they manage to be at their best, then yes, obviously, they could win IEM Rio 2024.
G2 come in on the back of a big trophy win. Credit: BLAST
IEM Rio 2024 Underdogs
You’ve seen the favorites; how about some underdogs? At IEM Rio 2024, keep an eye on Team Liquid. There are some small signs that Twistzz‘s IGL honeymoon period is over and done with, but there’s too much firepower on this team to write them off completely. Look, we don’t think they’ll win the entire thing, but a deep Playoffs run would be a positive result in Brazil.
Credit: Michal Konkol | BLAST
Our second underdog is Astralis. Let’s be honest, their debut showing with cadiaN at the BLAST Fall Final 2024 was pathetic. But with no practice, and the furore over cadiaN being allowed to play in place of br0, it was an impossible situation. Now, with a little practice under their belt, we expect to see more from Astralis. Like Liquid, we don’t expect to see them win the event – just do some damage and give us some glimpses of the potential of an Astralis led by cadiaN.
