Cloud9 see off Winstrike to grab New Legends Stage spot

Cloud9 have booked the final spot in IEM Katowice's New Legends Stage after picking up a 2-0 victory over Winstrike.

The final match of the New Challenger Stage began on Winstrike's map pick, Nuke, with the CIS side starting the brighter of the two teams after taking their Terrorist pistol. It was a solid start from the Eastern European team, but they struggled to find openings once the game reached the gun rounds, ending the half with only four rounds in the bag.

Now playing on the Terrorist side, Cloud9 picked up the pistol round following a 1v2 clutch by Fabien "⁠kioShiMa⁠" Fiey to further add to their lead. Winstrike responded with AUGs in the third round and put together a string of rounds, but their comeback attempt would soon be halted. The North Americans upped the pace and ran all over their CIS opponents, winning three rounds in a row to lock down the map at 16-7.

Overpass, the map that followed had a chaotic start as Cloud9 took the pistol round but lost the subsequent anti-eco after being caught off-guard across the map. Winstrike used that momentum to carve out a 3-1 lead, but C9 refused to let the game get out of hand, winning six of the following seven rounds after dictating the pace of the game.

The situation was starting to look bleak for Winstrike, but then the CIS side tightened up their defence to secure the remaining four rounds of the half and keep their qualification hopes alive.

Winstrike picked up where they left off and took the pistol round in stunning fashion with just one player lost in an A execute. After buying up, Cloud9 went on a solid run and hit 14 rounds following some great individual plays, most notably a 1v2 clutch by kioShiMa.

With their hopes hanging by a thread, Winstrike brought Cloud9's streak to an end following a trio of kills by Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov in the B site. C9 eventually hit match point, but the CIS team replied immediately with a quad kill by Georgi "⁠WorldEdit⁠" Yaskin, resetting the Americans' economy, and kept pressing on to restore parity at 15-15.

Carrying their momentum into overtime, Winstrike took the first round, but then it all fell apart for the Russian side as Cloud9 won four rounds without response to put the game and the series to bed.