The return of Marcelo “coldzera” David and the debut of 00 Nation to a CS:GO Major didn’t go nearly as they and the crowd expected. 00 Nation are the first casualty of IEM Rio Major following a thrilling 1-2 defeat to the all-Mongolian team IHC.
00 Nation recovered from a 14-12 deficit in Ancient and won by 16-14 thanks to Eduardo “dumau” Wolkmer consistent fragging capability and Santino “try” Regal’s heroics at the end of the map. The Brazilian team had the chance to close it out on Inferno after they recovered again, this time from a 12-3 disadvantage, but IHC proved stronger in OT and tied the series with a 19-16 victory.
After two incredibly close first maps, it looked like Overpass was going to be a walk in the park for IHC. The Mongolian team were up 14-5 and facing a full-eco when dumau made a graffiti-esque ace clutch on the B bombsite to push 00 Nation to their third recovery in the best-of-three series. The Brazilians fought all the way to overtime, only to lose again by 19-16 and be eliminated by IHC.
The crowd at Riocentro venue chanted for 00 Nation during the whole series, giving them the motivation they needed for all three comebacks. It was expected that many fans would be left in despair after IHC knocked coldzera and Epitácio “TACO” de Melo’s side from IEM Rio Major, but they surprised the players, the broadcast talent, and everyone at home with a wholesome ovation, shouting the names of all 00 Nation players.
00 Nation’s captain TACO was visibly emotional during the post-match interview with André “Liminha” Kenzo and Fillipe “bt0” Moreno. He said he was sad about the loss but also happy for having the opportunity to play in the first Brazilian Major.
While 00 Nation have been knocked out from IEM Rio Major, IHC remain alive to fight in at least one more best-of-three series. The home crowd will now turn their attention to support Imperial, who’ll play Cloud9 to avoid elimination from the $1.25 million event in Brazil.
