MIBR defeat North; to face Astralis at ECS final in Arlington

MIBR have made it through to the final after beating North in three maps: Train (16-2), Inferno (8-16), and Dust2 (16-9).

MIBR won the first round of the match on the CT side of train. North were able to plant the bomb on B in the second round, but were unable to defend it against the American side’s weapon superiority. The Danes were able to take the third round with five AKs, but MIBR then defended an A play on a forcebuy to keep their superiority, 3-1. MIBR then took a 7-1 lead with a solid defense before North could take a second round as Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo was just short defusing the bomb after winning a 1vs1 against Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye.

MIBR once again took the reins of the half, looking flawless as North kept running into a wall, unable to build up an economy. The American side finally closed it out, 13-2 before a 1vs2 afterplant clutch from Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David gave MIBR the second pistol round. They then followed up with an anti-eco to get on match point and took it 16-2 in the first gun round.

The second map, Inferno, was a different story, as North were the ones that came out strong early on, winning the CT side pistol round and taking a 4-1 lead after the first five rounds, resetting MIBR and keeping them on the back foot economically. A great round on a forcebuy by coldzera including a 1vs2 afterplant with a Galil kept MIBR in the game, however, making it 2-4. Inferno quickly turned into North’s playground, just as Train had been MIBR’s, as they increased their lead to 8-2 after Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and Nicklas "⁠gade⁠" Gade won a 2vs2 retake against Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik and coldzera on B.

MIBR were able to get a third on the board after an A execute, but North kept dominating on the defense, resetting the Americans and closing out the half 12-3. The second pistol round saw Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip charge down Banana taking down Philip "⁠aizy⁠" Aistrup and Kjaerbye thanks to a well-timed flash by FalleN. One more frag by the Californian player and two by coldzera put an end to North’s B push attempt. The Danes were then able to get the three first gun rounds to make it to match point, but MIBR didn’t give up, winning three of their own. Finally, North took it, with cadiaN dealing the final blow with a knife kill on FalleN.

Dust2 started off with North taking the CT side pistol round, but MIBR evened it right out with a forcebuy the following round. Doubles by FalleN and coldzera then trumped a triple by gade, which Stewie2K was able to follow up with an eco-bash ace to make it 3-1 for his team. MIBR then took complete charge of the map, winning round after round and building up a massive economy as North struggled on the CT side.

North were able to get another round off of the back of doubles by cadiaN and Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså before trading rounds with MIBR, but it was the Brazilians who went to the half with a massive 12-3 lead as coldzera got revenge on cadiaN with a knife kill to close out the half. MIBR then took the pistol round, further increasing their lead, but North were able to take the forcebuy and start to mount a comeback winning the anti-ecos and the first gun round, making it 7-13.

North made it to nine, but MIBR were then able to buckle down and win two in a row, to make it to 15-9. There was then a 3vs3 in the following round, but it was finally the Americans who were able to stop the attack on A to clinch a spot in the final, 16-9.