BC.Game and Fnatic suffer humbling exits in IEM Rio 2026 Closed Qualifier

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 22/01/2026

BC.Game and Fnatic have fallen out of the IEM Rio 2026 Closed Qualifier in humiliating fashion.

The two rosters were amongst the highest-ranked teams invited to the CQ, but dropped out in joint last place.

No positive signs for new BC.Game roster

BC.Game dropped down to the lower-bracket following a 2-0 loss to Ursa, an obscure Russian/Latvian team who were #185 in the January snapshot of the VRS.

BC.Game went on to face Nemesis, who were assembled from the previous GUN5 core. That core sat at #53 in the January snapshot, marking a big step up in competition.

Still, BC.Game were on paper favourites against the Russian roster, but the team has yet to show a level that can compete with any competent competition.

The majority former-SAW core secured a win on their own map pick of Nuke, a map in which SAW had excelled.

However, it was a return to the mean on Inferno and Ancient as the roster slumped to 13-9, 13-11 losses on the maps to lose the series 2-1.

The former-NAVI duo of Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev and Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov were the only positive players for BC.Game in the series, with the full Portuguese contingent struggling.

That struggle is not a surprise for those who watched SAW in 2025. The roster suffered poor form for much of the season, despite strong finishes at Fissure Playground 1 and PGL Masters Bucharest 2025.

Following their tournament exit, BC.Game now sit as #28 in HLTV’s live VRS simulation, a position which ostracises them from most Tier 1 events.

Without a more positive showing at IEM Krakow, the organisation may have spent millions with little to show for it.

s1mple’s ticket back to Tier 1 may expire before the team has warmed up into its new roster.

Fnatic

Fnatic started their IEM Rio Closed Qualifier campaign with an abject loss to the fully national Polish roster, KOLESIE.

They fell 13-9 on Ancient before losing their own pick of Mirage 13-2 in a total collapse, which saw them win only two T-side rounds.

In the lower-bracket, the ‘seasoned’, ‘veteran’ force of GenOne awaited, featuring notable French players, Nathan ‘NBK-‘ Schmitt, Kévin ‘misutaaa’ Rabier, and Thomas ‘Djoko’ Pavoni.

On the first map, the roster again won only two T-side, this time on Ancient. A victory on Anubis followed, before a brawl on Dust 2 that brought about their elimination.

The international roster fell 16-14 to the majority-French team, in an event which typified the roster’s issues.

In losing Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer, Fnatic are deprived of a defining force for the roster.

They are also still suffering from an imbalance in the roster brought about by the removal of Cai ‘CYPHER’ Watson in favour of Mykyta ‘jackasmo’ Skyba.

Fnatic brought in Pavle ‘Maden’ Bošković to bring more early-round aggression, effectively meaning that jackasmo would have to step up to provide impact later in the round.

That impact was not felt, as the Ukrainian slumped to a 35-52, 0.84 HLTV-rated performance against GenOne.

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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