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Cloud 9 secures IEM Rio Major playoffs spot
Just a couple of days ago, Cloud 9 experienced one if not the worst start out of any team at the IEM Rio Major, falling into the 0-2 class, and just 1 best of three away from flying back to Europe. However this is where true stars arise, and Cloud 9 absolutely shined as the first team to secure a playoff spot out of the Legends stage.
C9 battled against surging Heroic in another best of three series. This series could mean the coveted playoff spot for the C9 roster, with promotion to playoffs on the line they looked to play at their peak. Both Heroic and Cloud 9 were predicted by fans to make deep runs at this event, and through the legends stage, Heroic did look like an absolute unit coming into this matchup. The Danish squad was coming off 2 swift victories over other Challenger teams, with a 16-9 win over Outsiders and a 16-2 victory against Fnatic.
Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov and teammates knew the heavy pressure of Heroic play style, but for the first time at this tournament, C9 was fully prepared and ready to slay the Danes. Cloud 9 started with a 9 round streak on T side Vertigo, one of the most CT sided favored maps in the current pool. An 11-4 half going into their CT side almost guarantees a win on this map. C9 would go on to close it rapidly with a 16-9 victory. With Dmitriy “sh1ro” Sokolov being the MVP of the first game, with 28 kills, 10 deaths, and a whopping 1.84 rating.
Game 2 was placed on Inferno, a map C9 has had a 50% win rate in the last couple of months. This match was extremely close, with an 8-7 half for Heroic, but C9 managed to come back again in the T side. C9 won 9 out of 10 T side rounds and secured their playoffs spot with a 16-9 victory on Inferno.
What has really helped Cloud 9 make this run has been their true stars actually stepping up each time a best-of-three series comes. Throughout the Challengers stage and elimination best of threes, we saw Ax1Le keep his team alive.
Even once C9 arrived at the Legends stage, the pressure was still there for him to continue performing at the highest level. Tough matchups and early deficits were part of their matches against FaZe Clan and NAVI, but it was Ax1Le who rose up to the situation again and pushed C9 to where they are now.
Now Cloud 9 knows they are capable of withstanding a lot of pressure against any kind of opposition. We expect them to make an ever deeper run throughout the IEM Rio Major competition.
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