GamerLegion qualified for IEM Rio against the odds just one month after making deep changes to the lineup. Can they now upset the more established competition at the Major?

The IEM Rio Major is full of organizations that boast rich and vibrant stories within Counter-Strike, from the 18 Major attendances of Natus Vincere to the three-time Major winners of fnatic, there's a plethora of teams looking to add another notch onto their already esteemed legacies. GamerLegion's situation is vastly different, the organisation is set to make its first-ever appearance at a Valve-sponsored event in Rio, while three of its players will be playing in their Major debuts.

The European mixture qualified for the IEM Rio Major less than a month after the announcement of the additions of Frederik "⁠acoR⁠" Gyldstrand, Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek, and Nicolas "⁠Keoz⁠" Dgus — a remarkable achievement considering some of the tenured squads like G2 notably fell short. They accomplished this feat thanks to a successful, hard-fought campaign through the IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR A event, where they ended with a 3-2 record. They suffered gut-wrenching overtime losses to both FaZe and Spirit at the Major-qualifying tournament, but got the job done against Aurora; one of the biggest teams at the event, G2; and the Ukrainians of B8.

Limited Major experience

Just two of GamerLegion's members have any experience at a Major, acoR and Keoz, who played for MOUZ and Syman at the PGL Major Stockholm 2021 and StarLadder Major Berlin 2019, respectively. The remaining three players, Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan, Isak "⁠isak⁠" Fahlén, and siuhy, alongside coach Ashley "⁠ash⁠" Battye, all lack the vital pedigree.

Keoz made his Major debut over three years ago in the Challengers Stage of the StarLadder Berlin Major, where his Syman side narrowly missed out on a spot in the Legends Stage with a 2-3 record. The team showed promise despite their inability to advance further, comfortably defeating the then-No. 2 ranked Vitality before sending FURIA packing after a 2-0 thrashing, the Brazilians also a top 10 team at the time.

The Danish AWPer's run with MOUZ was a more successful one than his Belgian teammate's, advancing to the Legends Stage after a top-eight finish in the Challengers Stage with wins over Sharks, Renegades, and BIG. The Legends Stage was a different kettle of fish for the European combine, however, with the side bowing out of the main stage in 12-14th place with a 1-3 record, their sole win coming against an ENCE who were still a few months away from their future 2022 peaks.

The rebuilding phase

GamerLegion's newest project began with the decision to overhaul their roster back in June, cutting ties with Alfred "⁠RuStY⁠" Karlsson, Sean "⁠eraa⁠" Knutsson, and Patrik "⁠Zero⁠" Žúdel after a period of stagnation. Striving to make the lineup more competitive, GamerLegion retained the services of long-term members iM and isak, who had been a part of their ranks for well over a year at this point, before searching further afield to fill the newly-created voids.

The first recruit came in the form of siuhy, who made the jump to GamerLegion's new project after plying his trade with MOUZ NXT for over a year. The Pole was an instrumental piece of the academy roster's unrivalled success, leading his squad to four consecutive first-place finishes at WePlay Academy League Seasons 1-4.

siuhy had demonstrated his ability to be a more than capable leader at the academy level, winning these four events on the trot even as some of his better players, Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás and Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro, were promoted to the main team around him. The 20-year-old quickly established himself as having a strong voice in his new team, telling HLTV that he "had a big say in who we're picking up and who we want to play with," when explaining the reasoning behind GamerLegion's signings.

acoR joined at the same time as his Polish IGL. For the Dane, it was a shot at redemption, coming into his second consecutive stint with a European mix after his less-than-ideal showing with MOUZ the previous year. There, acoR had only averaged a modest 1.03 rating — a far cry from his 1.15 rating during his yearlong tenure with MAD Lions. The Danish AWPer regained his footing with the new squad, putting up a stellar 1.26 rating in the short time he's been with the German organisation. What's more, the 25-year-old hasn't skipped a beat when competing on LAN either, averaging a 1.21 rating at the RMR event, miles above any of his teammates.

Keoz, who split his time in the French and CIS regions, signed with the English-speaking team back in August after being a part of Falcons, from where he got removed to make space for the arrivals of Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt and Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier. The 21-year-old Belgian has put up a solid 1.06 rating since joining the team.

This revamped GamerLegion is a completely different roster to the organisation's inaugural lineup, which featured the likes of Adil "⁠ScreaM⁠" Benrlitom, Kévin "⁠Ex6TenZ⁠" Droolans, and Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser. While that iteration of the team had battle-hardened veterans like the aforementioned Belgians, this one is one of the most youthful rosters at the Major with an average age of 22.6 years.

That inexperience and younger age could be their kryptonite when going up against some of the more storied opposition in attendance at the Major, but for now, the squad is on an upwards trajectory, going from the open qualifiers to the Major itself within a month of their signing. The players now look ahead to the $1,250,000 tournament eager to forge their own paths into the world of high-tier Counter-Strike.

Too little time to set high expectations

GamerLegion have been on the up ever since the completion of their roster overhaul back in August and the team jumped all the way to No. 29 on the world ranking, breaking into the top 30 for the first time since April. Regardless of this relatively quick break into the upper tiers of play, alongside their impressive feat of making it to the Major within a month of the team's formation, it's still unlikely for the European mix to make a deep run in Brazil.

They have shown themselves capable of going toe-to-toe with some of the bigger names in the game, like giving FaZe a bloody nose at the RMR, but it's doubtful that a team mostly made up of Major rookies will find a way to carry this momentum far in what will be the biggest test of their careers, especially considering the fact that this will be most of the players' first showing in front of a sizable crowd.

Instead, a high placing in the Challengers Stage is the most plausible, with their opening match-up against 9z set to be one that could go in the Europeans' favor to get their Major campaign off on the right foot. "Even though we are a brand new team at the start of our journey, it still means the world to us," commented the team's coach, ash, about how it feels to qualify for the Major.

"It's the biggest event that everyone dreams to attend, and as at the RMR, we just want to approach each game one at a time and take in the experience. We know from our previous games that we have the ability to advance to the next stage, but we have to keep the same mentality and take nothing for granted."

Much like the roster's expectations for the Major-qualifying event in Malta, they will ultimately be playing to garner much-needed experience to put some legs under this project; any other concrete objectives could end up hindering more than helping. Be as it may, GamerLegion are going into their biggest test to date as a resounding success, already accomplishing a feat that previous rosters failed to do for years.

Other IEM Rio Major team profiles

IEM Rio Major profile: fnatic
IEM Rio Major profile: 9z
IEM Rio Major profile: Bad News Eagles
IEM Rio Major profile: Outsiders
IEM Rio Major profile: Vitality
IEM Rio Major profile: Imperial
IEM Rio Major profile: FURIA
IEM Rio Major profile: IHC
IEM Rio Major profile: BIG
IEM Rio Major profile: Ninjas in Pyjamas
IEM Rio Major profile: MOUZ
IEM Rio Major profile: Sprout
IEM Rio Major profile: Spirit
IEM Rio Major profile: 00NATION
IEM Rio major profile: ENCE
IEM Rio Major profile: Liquid
IEM Rio Major profile: Grayhound
IEM Rio Major profile: Heroic
IEM Rio Major profile: OG
IEM Rio Major profile: Natus Vincere
IEM Rio Major profile: Evil Geniuses
IEM Rio Major profile: Cloud9
IEM Rio Major profile: FaZe

Check out HLTV.org's IEM Rio Major hub