Friends turned foes at RMR
With the IEM Rio Americas RMR just around the corner, there are a number of players who could potentially find themselves against their old teams/teammates. Depending on the results, some of these battles could even happen in the most important match-ups in the tournament. Let's take a look at a few of the potential spicy reunions fans can be looking forward to.
Michael "Grim" Wince (Complexity) vs Liquid
Starting off with the two best NA teams at present, both of whom will be coming into the RMR full to the brim with confidence after great showings at the recent ESL Pro League 16. Grim spent almost the entirety of the online era on Liquid after strong showings in North America on teams such as Triumph. However, his first stint in tier-one competition was extremely rough was a mess, especially towards the end of his run with Liquid, something that would be hardly fair to lay the blame at Grim's feet. He was put in bad roles, in a dying team and the result was a young rifler looking bereft of confidence, certainly not helped when Jake "Stewie2K" Yip openly admitted to Grim not being the team's first choice replacement and criticizing his work ethic.
Grim has since stated, in an interview with Dexerto before the Antwerp Major, that the comments upset him and he was working hard to prove the North American legend wrong on his new team Complexity. It might have taken the majority of the year and a roster move, but finally Complexity look to be able to live up to that challenge, and it is in no small part thanks to the 21-year-old's newfound form. Grim posted his best statistical performance ever (for A tier+ tournaments) at Pro League with a 1.19 rating.
In order for a Liquid vs Complexity match-up to happen both teams would have to win their first two games in the Swiss group, and the other favorites would have to win their first-round matchups. The fact that Josh "oSee" Ohm would also be playing against his former teammates, also acting for qualification, and with Grim clearly using his Liquid failure to fuel his fire. amps up the hype for the clash of the two best teams in the region.
Ian "motm" Hardy (ATK) vs Complexity
motm may never have played for the Complexity organization but he will certainly feel he has a point to prove when ATK come up against the Complexity team. motm spent nearly two years under the stewardship of Johnny "JT" Theodosiou, first with ATK and then during a stint on Cloud9 as well. It was after the Cloud9 experiment, when the team joined Extra Salt, that motm was eventually replaced by Edgar "Marke" Maldonado. The move left motm to wander the wilderness of the NA ECL scene with stints on High Coast, Triumph and Secret Club before he found a home on ATK.
Whilst Complexity have tested themselves against some of EU's best at Pro League, ATK will be facing a jump in competition level and it is yet to be seen how they will fare against tougher opponents. JT and Ricky "floppy" Kemery would also be playing against their old organization. If this wasn't enough to convince you that this would be a match-up to tune into, then we have the added spice of some South African on South African action in JT playing against ATK's Rhys "Fadey" Armstrong and Gareth "MisteM" Ries.
Viewers won't have to wait for long to get to watch this spicy match-up as the two teams will face off against each other in the first round, in what is probably set to be one of the more competitive openers in the qualifier.
Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa (oNe) vs 00 Nation
Whilst both Grim and motm have had time to heal their grievances with their past teammates, for malbsMd the failure of his first foray into international Counter-Strike is still painfully fresh. The Guatemalan talent had spent the past two years with the perennial ECL team oNe, and despite only posting a 1.09 average rating during this time, his performances were impressive enough for former #1 player in the world Marcelo "coldzera" David to take a chance on the teenager on his new 00 Nation team.
coldzera's first attempt at building a young squad around him flattered to deceive, and although malbsMd showed moments of promise and even had the exact same rating during his time with the team as he did on oNe, he found himself out the door six months into the project's existence. malbsMd quickly went about setting his experience from playing the European tier-two scene to use and came back to oNe on fire. Since rejoining the team the young star has jumped to a 1.26 rating and helped power the side to RMR and BLAST Fall Showdown qualification.
The combination of his massive improvement since leaving and typical South American fire will make this match-up extra special and a must-watch. If coldzera's 00NATION slip up against 9z in their opening match and oNe can't cause a shock upset against Liquid, viewers could see this South American clash as early as round two (providing the rest of the favorites win their openers).
Henrique "HEN1" Teles (MIBR) vs the rest of Brazil
With all the tomfoolery that has surrounded HEN1's career, it is often easy to forget that he was #16 in the world in 2020 and a Major finalist in 2017 with the infamous Immortals team. Whatever your thoughts on the Brazilian AWPer are, it is hard to deny his talent and if it wasn't for his unique approach to team hopping there is no doubt he could have been one of the best Brazilian players of all time.
After his extremely successful period on the Immortals team, HEN1 found himself on a floundering Luminosity before jumping ship in 2019 to FURIA. His stay on FURIA was again fairly successful, and despite being restricted to North American competition for a large portion of his tenure due to the online era, the team notched up three noteworthy trophies, including an IEM New York North America win, where they bested Liquid in the semifinals with HEN1 dropping a casual 1.36 rating on their way to the title.
So it came as a shock when HEN1 decided his future lay with Vito "kNgV-" Giuseppe's first iteration of O PLANO. HEN1 was soon on the move again after the team failed to post any notable results, playing six matches back in Brazil for his brother's team ELES. After a couple of months at the start of the summer of 2022 on the doomed GODSENT lineup, HEN1 managed to find his way into MIBR.
Throughout all these moves HEN1 has had no shortage of teammates with players from 00NATION, O PLANO (the new one), FURIA, oNe, and Imperial all having played with the rogue AWPer at some stage in his career. HEN1 is set for an immediate reunion as MIBR are playing kNgV-'s newest O PLANO iteration in the first round of the RMR, it is safe to say that this won't be the last time HEN1 will have to be on the server against former teammates at this tournament.
These are just a few of the spicy match-ups we could get at what is a story-filled RMR. To briefly mention a few others viewers might also get to watch; Keith "NAF" Markovic play against Evil Geniuses who he nearly joined at the end of 2021, legend Gabriel "Fallen" Toledo against a number of former teammates, and Rafael "saffee" Costa against what was his first professional team in paiN.
