Valiance shock mousesports at Europe Minor

MOUZ have been denied a spot in the Europe Minor double-elimination playoffs after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Valiance in Group A's decider match.

Fresh off beating OpTic 2-0 in the elimination match, MOUZ entered the decider encounter seeking against Valiance after losing to the Serbian side on the first day of the tournament. But the European mixture looked surprisingly off the pace, despite opening both maps with 5-0 leads, and will miss their first Major after eight appearances in a row.

A strong start from MOUZ saw them take the first five rounds on Train on the CT side without breaking a sweat. The No.4 team in the world seemed to have the game under control, but all of a sudden they ran out of steam. Valiance set up a very tight defence and kept the Terrorists at bay, with a quad-kill by Otto "⁠ottoNd⁠" Sihvo in the final capping off a great half from the Finnish player and earning his team a narrow one-round lead.

MOUZ came from the break determined to turn things around and won the opening three rounds to retake the lead. However, once the gun rounds came in, Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong's side began displaying the same problems that had almost cost them the opening map against OpTic earlier in the day.

After buying up, Valiance won six rounds without response, putting the CTs in danger of getting blown out. MOUZ then found a lifeline as they took two rounds in a row, but their hopes were soon shattered as the Serbian side retook control of proceedings, locking down the map at 16-12 - an impressive scoreline for a team that had lost both pistol rounds.

Cache surprisingly followed the same pattern as Train as MOUZ jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the CT side. This time around, Valiance's first round win was immediately countered, but the Serbians were gifted a way back into the game as they won an eco round followed by a successful 3v4 retake in a round that looked to be all but lost. With Rokas "⁠EspiranTo⁠" Milasauskas leading the charge, Valiance began to mount a comeback, eventually grabbing an 8-7 lead before the sides switched.

Now playing on the Terrorist side, Valiance began the second half at a blistering pace, hitting match point without dropping a single round. With no margin for error, MOUZ still attempted a response, but it was simply too little, too late, as they would lose the following round after wasting a man-advantage - a round that perfectly showcased just how disconnected the ESL One New York champions looked in this series.