Cloud9 see off fnatic 2-0

The second semi-final in Valencia featured an intercontinental showdown between Cloud9, without a doubt one of the hottest teams of the moment, and fnatic, who had been made to work hard to beat Ninjas in Pyjamas the day before, this way showing that are perhaps going through a slump in form.

Such conjectures appeared to have been confirmed during the early stages of de_mirage as Cloud9 came out with all guns blazing and stormed to a 6-0 lead, with fnatic looking helpless to stop the North Americans' strategies.

The following round then went fnatic's way, only to be pegged back right after, which left them with absolutely no money to work with. After restoring their economy with a double eco, the Swedes went for a double AWP setup, a move that paid off as they finally managed to string two rounds together. However, Cloud9 came back to haunt them in the dying stages of the half as they brought the scoreline to 11-4 in their favour.

Cloud9 were able to extend their lead in the second half by executing a flawless pistol round. fnatic then provided their fans with glimpses of hope as they picked up a couple of rounds, but there was no stopping the Cloud9 train here. 

Both teams then moved on de_train, where the game went back and forth during the early stages as neither side were able to stamp theur authority on the game. Cloud9 then controlled the tempo of the match as they strung five rounds together, with Mike "⁠shroud⁠" Grzesiek and Jordan "⁠n0thing⁠" Gilbert raising eyebrows thanks a series of great individual actions.

It was at that point, when Cloud9 were building a massive lead, that fnatic started to react, but a five-round deficit still spelled trouble for Markus "⁠pronax⁠" Wallsten's men at the end of the half. 

After a great start to the second half by fnatic, who won the pistol round with ease, Cloud9 got their game going in gun play, which saw them take the scoreline to 13-7. Some crazy AWP actions from Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell powered fnatic to pick up five rounds in a row, but Cloud9 picked themselves up and carved out a 15-12 lead.

Many thought that the North Americans had the game in the bag, but fnatic wreaked havoc in the dying stages to take the game to overtime. Unfortunately for them, a 4-1 lead at the end of the first half was not enough as Cloud9 played a flawless CT side to seal a 21-19 victory that takes them through to the grand final.

FACEIT League 2015 Stage 2 Finals at DreamHack ValenciaBest of 3

Cloud9

Matchpage

2

0

18th July 2015

fnatic

16

Mirage

7

21

Train

19

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating1.0
Mike 'shroud' Grzesiekshroud	56 - 38	+18	-	-	1.32
Jordan 'n0thing' Gilbertn0thing	51 - 34	+17	-	-	1.23
Tyler 'Skadoodle' LathamSkadoodle	51 - 34	+17	-	-	1.22
Sean 'seang@res' Garesseang@res	35 - 46	-11	-	-	0.79
Ryan 'freakazoid' Abadirfreakazoid	33 - 49	-16	-	-	0.66

fnatic	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating1.0
Markus 'pronax' Wallstenpronax	49 - 45	+4	-	-	1.09
Jesper 'JW' WecksellJW	45 - 45	0	-	-	1.07
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjerolofmeister	42 - 47	-5	-	-	0.90
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ	35 - 42	-7	-	-	0.82
Robin 'flusha' Rönnquistflusha	30 - 48	-18	-	-	0.70