MIBR win Brazilian clash to move on in ECS Group B

MIBR live to fight another match at the ECS Season 8 Finals after besting Sharks in a quick two-map series.

The Brazilian giants lived up to their billing of favorites as they convincingly dispatched their fellow Latin American rivals, who could not repeat their lively performance against Astralis and were outplayed and outfought in a one-sided series. MIBR were in control from the offset on Vertigo, where Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe produced a brilliant performance, but left it late to secure the map as Sharks responded valiantly in the second half after finding themselves chasing a massive lead. It was more of the same on Train, this time with Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo as a protagonist, as MIBR raced past their opponents to set up a rematch against fnatic in the decider stage.

MIBR got off to a flying start on Vertigo and dismantled the Sharks defense during the early stages of the half, keeping their opponents' economy constantly in the red. It was only when Sharks were down 1-9 that they were able to put together a string of rounds, but MIBR refused to take their foot off the gas and went into the break with a commanding 12-3 lead.

More misery was to come for Sharks, who blew a 4v2 advantage in the pistol round, but they were able to recover immediately on a force buy and began their comeback, led by an inspired performance from Leonardo "⁠leo_drk⁠" Oliveira. Little by little, they began to chip away at their deficit, but their hopes suffered a major blow in the 24th round as kNgV- pulled off three quick kills with a Desert Eagle to put MIBR on map point.

Unfazed by that setback, Sharks pressed on in search of overtime and pinned the CTs against the ropes, but they would fall short of finding an equalizer as MIBR locked down the map in the 29th round.

MIBR took control of proceedings from the get-go on their map pick and stormed to a quick 9-0 lead on the CT side, with FalleN showing glimpses of his old form with the AWP. Sharks still attempted a response but they could muster just two rounds, leaving them with another mountain to climb after a disastrous first half.

Jhonatan "⁠jnt⁠" Silva's charges battled back on the CT side and kept MIBR's players at bay during the early stages of the half, but MIBR would not let a repeat of the first map happen and quickly wrapped things up to book a spot in Group B's decider stage.