IEM Katowice 2018Cloud9 knock SK out; Astralis clinch semifinal spot over Liquid
Cloud9 edged SK out in three maps, staying alive and securing a quarterfinal spot while eliminating the Brazilians. On the other stream Astralis beat Liquid in three maps to clench a direct slot into the semifinals at the Spodek Arena.
The bout featuring Cloud9 and SK kicked off on Cache, with the North American side taking the first round of the map as Tarik "tarik" Celik connected four USP-S headshots. With 3-0 on the scoreboard, the first gun round came about as SK set up a default which ended up with a split B push, but a ready Cloud9 stopped the Brazilians for a 4-0 lead going into another anti-eco. The Brazilians got on the board on the sixth round, and despite losing the following, were able to take B to get a second round on the board on the following forcebuy. Despite a slow start, SK were able to bring it back to 6-6. After having taken the lead for the first time in the half, the Brazilian side was unable to hold it, as Cloud9 stopped an A split for 8-7 at the switch.
Despite going into the second half with the lead, Cloud9 were unable to hold on to it, and SK having won the pistol round quickly gained control early on in the second half. The North American squad weren’t able to win a round in the half until Jake "Stewie2K" Yip and Timothy "autimatic" Ta got a triple and a double, respectively, to get on the board, but the Brazilians, unrelentless, didn’t let up and won every single round until the end of the half, taking a 16-9 victory on map number one.
The second map, Mirage, which was Cloud9’s pick started with them taking the early lead on the attacking side, 3-0, but were unable to stop a 3vs3 retake by SK on the first gun round, as Epitacio "TACO" de Melo, Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo, and Marcelo "coldzera" David won the round out to get on the board. The following round saw Cloud9 execute on A, and after winning it, reset SK fully. Down 1-6, SK were finally able to get equipped and build an economy, winning three in a row. The half went down to the wire, with 7-7 on the board in the last round, which SK were able to bang out with a great 4-man A-site retake.
The second half started going the way of SK, who won the pistol round and quickly set themselves up with a hefty 11-7 lead. Cloud9 won the first gun round, in large part thanks to a triple by tarik, and then followed it up to maim the Brazilian’s team economy. With the momentum on their side, Cloud9 were able to bring it to a tie, 12-12, despite losing a 5vs5 A retake when trailing by one, 10-11. The North American side then went on to close out the map with an impeccable end of the half, winning out 16-12.
The last map of the series, Inferno, started out with Cloud9 taking the lead on the defending side after stopping a B push from the Brazilian squad, but an A play by SK and a solid afterplant got the match back to a draw, 1-1. With the money in their favour, SK then won the following two rounds before Cloud9 could buy. FalleN and coldzera then closed out a 2vs2 afterplant on B to keep their streak going. After that, it was smooth sailing for SK who took a huge lead exploiting Cloud9’s defenses for an 11-4 lead at the half.
The second half was very different, as there it was Cloud9 who took the reins, winning the pistol round and following it up five times before SK could even get on the board, to keep their lead, 12-10, but Cloud9 won the crucial following round after a B execute and a successful afterplant defense. SK, who saved two guns but got reset, put all of their chips on the following round, but Cloud9 were successful bombing the A site to tie it up, 12-12, and force SK on a save round. Having the momentum and the economy going their way, Cloud9 kept exploiting SK, and despite losing a round, a huge double through coffins to kill the defending defusers by Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham got his team on match point, which was crystalized in the next round as the North Americans took the map and series.
Cloud9K - D
+/-
ADR
KAST
Rating
67 - 53
+14
95.5
73.2%
1.30
66 - 53
+13
84.9
72.0%
1.21
47 - 55
-8
63.7
72.0%
0.97
41 - 45
-4
57.8
72.0%
0.96
38 - 59
-21
53.8
72.0%
0.74
SKK - D
+/-
ADR
KAST
Rating
54 - 47
+7
75.8
74.4%
1.21
57 - 48
+9
78.4
69.5%
1.11
54 - 57
-3
72.8
74.4%
1.05
52 - 53
-1
64.9
63.4%
0.92
48 - 54
-6
63.9
64.6%
0.91
Astralis looked like they were going to take the early lead out of the gate on Inferno, as they were able to win the pistol round on the defending side, but a second round forcebuy from Liquid got the Americans ahead as they were able to get two of their own. The Danes were able to win an eco to tie it up, which got the match off to a back-and-forth start, and despite a 1vs3 ace clutch by Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken in the sixth round, Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander & Co. eventually made their way to a first half 10-5 win as Nicolai "device" Reedtz showed a glimpse of his old self.
The second half quickly brought Liquid back up to a draw as the American side took the first four rounds of the defending side before losing a round and resetting Astralis. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski & Co. managed to tie the match up, 11-11. With the momentum on their side and Astralis failing to come up with ideas to break down Liquid’s defenses. Down 12-15, device tried to win a 1vs3 on B, but after two headshots was unable to clutch the last 1vs1 out as Keith "NAF" Markovic closed the map out for Liquid, 16-11.
Nuke kicked off with Liquid taking the CT pistol round with doubles by NAF and EliGE, but Astralis won the force buy as Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth opened the round with the CZ75 and gla1ve and Emil "Magisk" Reif got doubles before and after planting, respectively, to bag the round. The Danes then quickly took off, as they had early in the first map, and controlled the pace of the half from the Terrorist side, which they closed out 11-4.
Winning the second pistol round of the map, this time on the defending side, it was a walk in the park for the Danes, who, with Magisk at the helm with 105 ADR and a 1.180 rating, were able to close out the map giving up just one round in the half, 16-10.
The third map of the series also started back-and-forth, as Astralis were able to win the second round force on the defending side after losing the pistol round on Overpass. With the 3-1 lead, the first gun round saw Liquid play main but the Americans rotated towards B after losing two players thanks to a double by Lucas "steel" Lopes and went on to win the round. Astralis then took the lead in the early half, with a solid defense, and although Liquid were able to get a round here or there, the Danes closed the half with a hefty 10-5 lead.
The second half started with a 5vs5 afterplant on A, but despite getting three fast entries, the North Americans were unable to close the round as gla1ve and Magisk cleaned out the site to defend the bomb. The Danes then went on to cleanly win the half, 16-5, to bag the map, match, and semifinal berth.
AstralisK - D
+/-
ADR
KAST
Rating
61 - 36
+25
88.2
77.1%
1.41
61 - 39
+22
82.3
81.4%
1.30
49 - 42
+7
82.5
78.6%
1.22
52 - 43
+9
84.7
80.0%
1.19
42 - 41
+1
72.9
71.4%
1.08
LiquidK - D
+/-
ADR
KAST
Rating
51 - 50
+1
81.3
65.7%
1.05
44 - 49
-5
66.8
67.1%
0.94
38 - 53
-15
66.3
62.9%
0.81
42 - 57
-15
58.8
60.0%
0.80
26 - 58
-32
51.0
55.7%
0.64
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