Cloud9 spoil MIBR debut; Astralis overrun compLexity

Cloud9 and Astralis have picked up the final spots in the 1-0 pool in the New Legends Stage following convincing wins over MIBR and Complexity, respectively.

The final mainstream game of the first round brought what has become a classic in the Americas, but it was not the close game that many had expected as MIBR looked well off the pace in their first appearance with the new line-up.

The Brazilian team responded well to a pistol round loss and ran all over Cloud9's A defence in the third round with some stunning Desert Eagle kills. However, the North Americans quickly got back on their feet and shut down any chances of MIBR stringing rounds together or building an economy for the rest of the half, cruising to a commanding 12-3 lead.

More misery was to come for MIBR, who crumbled in the pistol round following a fast mid execute by Cloud9. With their spirits clearly broken, the Brazilians lost control of the A site in the first gun round, giving room for Timothy "⁠autimatic⁠" Ta to plant the bomb over in B before he clutched a 1v2 situation to end the game.

Over on the secondary stream, top seed Astralis made light work of Complexity on Nuke. Those watching certainly raised an eyebrow upon learning that the North Americans had not banned this map, a gamble that quickly backfired as they found themselves on the back foot early on despite taking the pistol round.

Down 1-9, Complexity found some breathing room after putting together a string of rounds, but then Astralis responded in an eco round thanks to three kills by Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz before Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen and Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth overturned a 2v5 situation to make it an 11-4 half.

Now on the CT side, Astralis won the opening four rounds of the half to hit match point. Complexity still attempted to reply, but two rounds were all they could muster as a quad-kill from Xyp9x put the game to rest.