OG through to IEM Rio Europe RMR

OG have secured their berth to the IEM Rio Europe RMR event after making it through the first open qualifier, beating Portuguese Family in the fifth-place decider match in 2-0 fashion with wins on Vertigo (19-16) and Dust2 (16-8).

The victory marks a successful start to Abdul “⁠degster⁠” Gasanov‘s first event with OG as a full-time member, building upon the team’s 3-4th place finish at the BLAST Premier Spring Final when he stood in and helped them reach the semi-finals with wins over Natus Vincere and ENCE.

The early qualification relieves some pressure on the international composition ahead of the start of the BLAST Premier Fall Groups, on which they can now put their full attention as they review their mistakes from their recent matches. Although OG secured their spot at the RMR, their path through the open qualifier was anything but clean, with the team missing out on their first chance to qualify after falling 1-2 to Falcons in the main bracket.

That series saw the new-look French lineup pick apart nexa‘s troops on Vertigo, catching them out with re-aggression on the CT side round after round. Although OG recovered by taking their own pick of Mirage, their defense on the Overpass decider left much to be desired, with Falcons running away with an 11-4 lead at halftime before closing things out 16-11.

OG‘s woes on Vertigo continued in the fifth-place decider match against Portuguese Family, who had the international composition up against the ropes and were mere moments from taking the map over the line; however, a 1vs3 clutch from degster kept his team in the running, allowing them to fight back into overtime and snatch away the victory.

Dust2 was a less contentious affair as OG wasted little time in wrapping things up, but the team will have much to revise as they prepare to face much more substantial opposition in their BLAST group on Friday. Their first opponent in Copenhagen will be Vitality, who will be making their debut with Lotan “⁠Spinx⁠” Giladi at 13:00 .

The team list for the two Europe RMR events currently looks as follows: