Gambit to IEM Shanghai playoffs over BOOT-d[S]

Gambit beat BOOT-d[S] in the Group B decider match, 22-19 on Train and 16-10 on Nuke, to make it to the playoffs at IEM Shanghai.

BOOT-d[S] won the first pistol round on the CT side on Train as Leslie "⁠Bobosaur⁠" Soen managed to get a last-second defuse. The Singaporean team were then able to follow it up on the anti-eco, but an A play by Gambit got the match back within one. BOOT-d[S] then got the lead, but an ace from Dauren "⁠AdreN⁠" Kystaubayev on a crucial buy round got it back to 2-3 and put the Asian team on a full eco. It looked like BOOT-d[S] were going to take said eco, getting into a 3vs1 late in the round, but AdreN was then once again able to turn the tables, winning the clutch and tying it up.

The match quickly went the way of the Kazakh-Russian team as Gambit found the way to break through the defenses and take advantage of the economic advantage making it all the way to 10-3 before losing the two last rounds of the half. Having won the pistol round on the defending side, Gambit cleared the way for a smooth second half, but BOOT-d[S] had different plans as they won the forcebuy with Anthony "⁠ImpressioN⁠" Lim getting two deagle kills to close the round in his team’s favor.

The match then went the way of the Singaporean side who were able to bring it all the way to 11-11 with the CIS side going into an eco. Both teams then traded rounds, keeping it 12-12, BOOT-d[S] then took it up to 14-12. After losing a round, a great quad kill by ImpressioN got his team on match point, but two rounds in a row by Gambit stopping attempts by the Singaporean team on B and then on A the following round brought the match to overtime.

Going down by one after the first three rounds, a 1vs2 clutch by Benedict "⁠Benkai⁠" Tan gave his team a 17-17 tie in the first round of the second half of OT. After following it up and taking the lead, BOOT-d[S] weren’t able to take it home and the match went into double overtime. It was finally Gambit, the most experienced of both teams who were able to take the map, 22-19.

Gambit kicked off Nuke with a play down ramp on the offense, winning the round after successfully defending a B afterplant situation. After having won the two following rounds and the first gun round, it looked likes smooth sailing for the CIS team, but BOOT-d[S] managed to win a forcebuy against a play on A to get on the board, 4-1. The match quickly turned around, as BOOT-d[S] then won the following four rounds to take a 5-4 lead, their first one on this map.

The match stayed close as both teams traded rounds several times for a 7-5 partial in favor of BOOT-d[S]. The Singaporean team finally were able to take the lead into the half, but Gambit quickly got ahead by winning the three first rounds on the CT side to make it 10-8. The CIS side quickly got comfortable taking a 12-9 lead and forcing BOOT-d[S] to take a pause ahead of an eco round. It was the Gambit show from there on out, as they were able to put up a wall giving up just one round before closing the map and series, 16-10.