Natus Vincere hand pro100 first loss at Road to Rio - CIS

Natus Vincere handed pro100 their first loss in Group B competition Wednesday at the ESL One: Road to Rio - Commonwealth of Independent States event. Na'Vi won 16-10 on Inferno and 16-7 on Dust II to move into a share of first place in Group B at 2-1 with pro100 and Virtus.pro, who swept Syman Gaming with a 16-2 blitzing on Mirage and a 16-8 win on Inferno.

In Wednesday's other Group B tilt, ESPADA collected their first victory with an easy sweep against Hard Legion Esports. ESPADA won 16-6 on Dust II and 16-2 on Overpass. The two CIS groups will play on alternating days through Sunday. Group A resumes with three matches on Thursday.

The ESL One: Rio Major, a $2 million Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, originally was scheduled to be held May 11-24 in Rio de Janeiro, but was pushed back to Nov. 9-22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The regional qualifying events for Europe, North America and South America started April 22, with the Asia and Oceania regions kicking off Wednesday. The teams are competing for a total of $255,000 in the online tournaments, as well as for Regional Major Ranking points to be applied toward berths at the ESL One: Rio Major.

The CIS event has 12 teams divided into two groups for round-robin play consisting of best-of-three matches. The winner of each group advances to the semifinals of the single-elimination playoffs, with the second- and third-place finishers advancing to the quarterfinals. All playoff matches are best-of-three. The CIS champion will receive 350 Pro Tour points and $15,000 of the $50,000 prize pool. The runner-up will receive 200 Pro Tour points and $10,000.

Thursday's ESL One: Road to Rio - CIS schedule: Group A

Winstrike Team vs. Gambit Youngsters forZe vs. Team Unique

Team Spirit vs. Nemiga Gaming ESL One: Road to Rio - CIS standings through Wednesday, with win-loss record and point differential:

Group A 1. Team Spirit, 3-0, +44

T2. Nemiga Gaming, 2-1, +22 T2. Winstrike Team, 2-1, +18

T4. Gambit Youngsters, 1-2, -9 T4. forZe, 1-2, -12

6. Team Unique, 0-3, -63 Group B

T1. Natus Vincere, 2-1, +21 T1. Virtus.pro, 2-1, +21

T1. pro100, 2-1, +2 T4. ESPADA, 1-2, +3

T4. Syman Gaming, 1-2, -14 T4. Hard Legion Esports, 1-2, -33