mousesports overcome MAD Lions; advance to ICE Challenge grand final

After losing the first map, Vertigo (16-13), MOUZ bounced back in the semi-final series and took Dust2 (16-4) and Nuke (16-12) to defeat MAD Lions in London.

MOUZ didn't have an easy time against Nicolai "⁠HUNDEN⁠" Petersen and his men in the semi-final, but have nonetheless managed to secure the win in the semi-finals of the $250,000 ICE Challenge. Going into the tournament, Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong noted that their first goal in 2020 is to get back to the level they had last year, with tomorrow's grand final against the winner of GODSENT - Natus Vincere another opportunity to work on their form and gain confidence.

Starting off the map as Terrorists, MAD Lions were in control of Vertigo in the early stages, with a quick A strategy in the pistol transpiring into a 6-2 lead once they managed to stabilize in the first gunrounds. Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen then got a hold of the AWP and spearheaded four out of the next five rounds with a couple of multikills and key openings, helping MOUZ climb back to just a one-round deficit by halftime.

The Danes sped away at the beginning of the second half with six unanswered round, courtesy of a flawless defense led by Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck on B and Frederik "⁠acoR⁠" Gyldstrand on A, but reaching map point proved difficult. A clever boost in T spawn gave mouz an entry into B, which they used to get back into contention with five rounds straight, but MAD Lions didn't let them complete the comeback thanks to a clean ramp defense, soon securing a 16-13 victory.

Dust2 looked to go a similar way when the two teams went back-and-forth at the beginning of the first half with neither able to establish good economy. Having been fairly quiet on Vertigo, Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker changed that on Dust2 when he began stepping up at 4-4, leading MOUZ to a dominant defensive half, after all. MAD Lions could not stop the onslaught and soon the match was over when a 12-round streak gave the European mixture a 16-4 win.

acoR's triple in the pistol gave MAD Lions the early lead on the T side of Nuke, but MOUZ star trio then activated, first equalizing the score at 4-4 and then pushing their team into the lead. David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský was standing out particularly as MOUZ managed a 9-6 finish, but another pistol going MAD Lions' resulted in the teams being even again, 9-9.

HUNDEN's team edged into the lead, 11-10 but three rounds in a row going the way of karrigan and co. broke the Danish side's money and eased their way to a 15-12 lead. MAD Lions were unable to put up a final stand, dropping the following round and seeing MOUZ take the 2-1 series victory.