MIBR pass North test to reach lower bracket final in Montpellier

MIBR are through to Group B's lower bracket final at the ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals following a hard-fought 2-1 victory over North.

MIBR came out of the gate looking scary and took a 6-0 lead on Mirage off the back of some amazing plays by Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga, who secured the B site in the pistol round with a trio of kills and proceeded to clutch the fifth round against three North members.

The Danes then finally found their footing, picking up four rounds in a row, but the game continued to be a one-sided affair as the CTs simply could not cope with fer's aggression, with MIBR taking a 10-5 lead into the break.

Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David kicked MIBR further into the lead with a triple kill in a messy pistol round. North still tried to get back into the game, but their spirits were broken after giving up a 5v3 advantage, and the game came to a close without them winning a single round on the Terrorist side.

Next up was Inferno, a map where MIBR had been dominated by MOUZ during the first day of the tournament. Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo's troops were in control during the early stages of the game as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but then North kept finding gaping holes in the Brazilian defense and won eight of the remaining ten rounds thanks a solid display by Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså, who boasted 43% of his team's frags.

North were constantly put on the back foot during the early stages of the second half as any round that they won was immediately countered with a round by MIBR, with the scoreline blooming to a 13-11 advantage in the Brazilians' favour. It looked like MIBR had the game under control, but North tightened up their defence and won five rounds in a row to take a 16-13 win.

Overpass, the decider map, began with a dominant start by North, who picked up the initialy six rounds of the game with a strong defence. MIBR finally woke up after a timeout, and they kept the tempo high during the final stages of the half, bringing the deficit to a solitary round.

Now playing on the offensive side, North further added to their lead as they took the pistol round and the next two. But once the Brazilians had money to work with, the landscape of the game changed dramatically. FalleN's charges kept a very tight defence and prevented their opponents from stringing rounds together, eventually taking the map at 16-13.