The story of the IEM Rio Challengers Stage in photos

Have a look at the best shots from the first Major Challengers Stage to have a crowd of this size.

The IEM Rio Major Challengers Stage has been like no other before, with a group stage crowd that rivaled the energy of some grand finals. To relive it, we have put together the best photos from the event taken by HLTV.org's photographers Josip "brcho" Brtan and Radoslaw "MAKKU" Makuch .

The two have been capturing moments of heartbreak, excitement, and relief over the first four days so that our readers can look back at the monumental Major in all its glory. The gallery features FURIA celebrating with their families, the heartbreak of teams that didn't make it through, and the Brazilian fans saying goodbye to Imperial and 00NATION.

While we usually capture Counter-Strike's storylines in writing, sometimes the best way to truly appreciate a story is with your eyes. So take a moment to look over the IEM Rio Major Challengers stage in photos.

Even before the Challenger stage begun, the atmosphere outside the venue was electric fnx couldn't hold back his excitement in front of the Brazilian fans ZywOo was unleashed against Imperial even with the crowd against him Regardless of Imperial's struggles, the crowd kept FalleN in high spirits GamerLegion got off to an extraordinary start, taking down 9z and Vitality on the first day Despite the rough first day for Imperial, the Brazilian fans embraced their hometown heroes FURIA was the only Brazilian team to get a win on the first day Fnatic were all smiles after day one The crowd was brimming with suspense during the close games of day one Vitality suffered a rough end to day one with a loss to GamerLegion yuurih shared an intimate moment after beating 00NATION 9z ended day one with a win against Imperial The high energy of 9z was matched by the crowd leading to a deafening atmosphere 00NATION had the crowd's support in a tough loss against IHC MOUZ were unstoppable, making it through to the next stage without dropping a match Heartbreak for 00NATION as they went winless Cloud9 had to dig deep to turn things around In an emotional moment, FalleN thanked the Rio fans for all their support The fans showed their respect back to the Godfather of Brazilian Counter-Strike EG was devastated after being eliminated from the Major Old friends reunited in Rio OG went into the final day with high spirits but it would end in heartbreak FURIA made the Legends stage after a shaky start guerri, unable to stand behind his team, celebrates with his players in the crowd It was tight for Vitality, but they made the next stage on the last day Despite such a good start, GamerLegion fell at the final hurdle arT embraces his biggest supporters, his family Imperial may have gone out on the second day but that wouldn't stop FalleN from enjoying the Rio Major Imperial #18 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFernando 'fer' AlvarengaRicardo 'boltz' PrassMarcelo 'chelo' CespedesVinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo 00NATION #27 Marcelo 'coldzera' DavidEpitacio 'TACO' de MeloEduardo 'dumau' WolkmerBruno 'latto' RebelattoSantino 'try' Rigal

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