Heroic on Top of the World With Great Runs in IEM Rio 2023 and Major RMR

G2 fall from grace as the world of Counter-Strike finds a new king for itself

It has been a jam-packed month with several RMRs taking place for the Major and the recent IEM event in Rio that saw the participation of 16 teams from around the globe. These tournaments gave us plenty of games to shake up the world ranking of Counter-Strike, with numerous upsets and new superpowers emerging from the shadows.

9INE are one of the underdogs that surprised the world with their performance in the European RMR, where the Polish roster enjoyed a 3-0 record, beating G2, BIG and Vitality in an unbelievable winning spree. This show of domination with three upsets has landed them in the Legends Stage of the upcoming Paris Major.

The top 30 global rankings have seen significant updates, as many teams surprised us by moving up the ladder while some familiar names had to give up their spots. After holding onto their number 1 spot since February, G2 are no longer the statistically best team in the world, with Heroic snatching this title with their recent performance. Even though the Danes couldn’t take the IEM Rio 2023 trophy, their recent streak of wins against some of the best teams has landed them this spot.

This month started with a 3-0 record for Heroic, as they ran through underdog squads like Monte and Aurora and qualified for this year’s Major. But the European RMR didn’t conclude the Heroic supremacy, as they came into IEM Rio 2023 looking for blood. We saw the Danes reach the final of this event after dominating teams like NAVI and FURIA. Vitality finally stopped them at IEM’s Grand Final, but the Danish squad shouldn’t be too upset with a 5-2 record.

The excellence of Vitality in this year’s IEM Rio isn’t too surprising, as the roster has been considered to have great potential, with multiple Major winners on the team along with a competent AWPer. However, even with such a stacked roster, they couldn’t reach the skill ceiling in the past. The luck switched for the roster in these last two months, as the players finally reached up to their hype with a 14-3 match record and a Grand Final win at IEM Rio 2023.