Spirit are only one series win away from making the playoffs at back-to-back Majors.

Winning two maps is all that stands between Spirit and the playoffs of the IEM Rio Major after a commanding 2-0 win over Sprout. The Russians now sit on a 2-2 record in the Legends Stage and await their opponent in the final round, which will be played on Tuesday.

The Danish-majority side around Ismail "⁠refrezh⁠" Ali were unable to find an answer for Spirit's T-side aggression led by Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev's eleven opening kills and have now been eliminated from the Major with a 1-3 record.

Patsi led the way for Spirit with 41 kills in the series

The story of Spirit's domination of Nuke started with a triple kill on the pistol round from Pavel "⁠S1ren⁠" Ogloblin, the first of many individual plays that would win them the map. The Russian-majority side didn't capitalize on the momentum straight away, but behind magixx's 14 kills they took the lead 7-4. This would only be a temporary setback for Sprout as they provided a stoic defense in the first half. It was the dependability of Laurențiu "⁠lauNX⁠" Țârlea and refrezh that meant Sprout could even out the score, 7-7, before Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov's four kills in the final round gave Spirit the edge.

The second half started off the same as the first, with a pistol round win for Spirit. Determined to stop Spirit from hitting their stride, Rasmus "⁠Zyphon⁠" Nordfoss won a 1v2 clutch, but it was not enough. Spirit dominated the rest of the half, and in the last round, three kills from Patsi took the remaining wind out of Sprout's sails.

After the landslide second half on Nuke, Spirit continued to showcase their Terrorist-side prowess on Vertigo. Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov ensured that Sprout would not extend the series to a third map, leading his side to an 8-2 lead. Zyphon tried to keep Sprout in the game with 19 kills, but once again his heroics were not enough, as they were down 10-5 at the half.

Spirit's lead only grew at the beginning of the second half. They blew past Sprout in the first three rounds and a 1v2 clutch from Patsi gave them the fourth. At 13-5, Sprout looked to find a way into the game, but it was only a flash in the pan. Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov's side was firing on all cylinders whilst Zyphon stood high above the rest of his team, and despite his 32 kills Spirit won the map 16-8.

IEM Rio Major 2022Best of 3 SpiritMatchpage 2 0 7th November 2022 Sprout 16Nuke 9 16Vertigo 8

Spirit	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Robert 'Patsi' IsyanovPatsi	41 - 29	+12	101.2	1.50
Boris 'magixx' Vorobievmagixx	40 - 30	+10	85.2	1.37
Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakovchopper	38 - 28	+10	79.1	1.29
Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanovw0nderful	39 - 27	+12	79.3	1.28
Pavel 'S1ren' OgloblinS1ren	35 - 28	+7	68.7	1.19

Sprout	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Rasmus 'Zyphon' NordfossZyphon	51 - 38	+13	89.7	1.24
Ismail 'refrezh' Alirefrezh	26 - 38	-12	67.3	0.86
Victor 'Staehr' StaehrStaehr	25 - 38	-13	69.1	0.82
Laurențiu 'lauNX' ȚârlealauNX	29 - 39	-10	61.4	0.74
Fritz 'slaxz-' Dietrichslaxz-	11 - 41	-30	38.1	0.45

Group Legends Stage 3W - 0L FURIA Cloud9 3W - 1L Outsiders fnatic 2W - 1L HEROIC Liquid 2W - 2L Natus Vincere Spirit ENCE MOUZ BIG 1W - 3L Vitality Sprout Bad News Eagles 0W - 3L FaZe Ninjas in Pyjamas Sprout #26 Fritz 'slaxz-' DietrichVictor 'Staehr' StaehrRasmus 'Zyphon' NordfossIsmail 'refrezh' AliLaurențiu 'lauNX' Țârlea Ismail 'refrezh' Ali Age: 24 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1043 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.65 Spirit #12 Boris 'magixx' VorobievLeonid 'chopper' VishnyakovPavel 'S1ren' OgloblinRobert 'Patsi' IsyanovIhor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakov Age: 25 Team: Spirit Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 1138 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.66 Robert 'Patsi' Isyanov Age: 19 Team: Spirit Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 555 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.69 Laurențiu 'lauNX' Țârlea Age: 17 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 325 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.69 Rasmus 'Zyphon' Nordfoss Age: 18 Team: Sprout Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 482 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.67 Pavel 'S1ren' Ogloblin Age: 20 Team: Spirit Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 232 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.65 Spirit #12 Boris 'magixx' VorobievLeonid 'chopper' VishnyakovPavel 'S1ren' OgloblinRobert 'Patsi' IsyanovIhor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov Sprout #26 Fritz 'slaxz-' DietrichVictor 'Staehr' StaehrRasmus 'Zyphon' NordfossIsmail 'refrezh' AliLaurențiu 'lauNX' Țârlea Boris 'magixx' Vorobiev Age: 19 Team: Spirit Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 673 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.63 Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov Age: 17 Team: Spirit Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 225 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.58