MIBR see off ENCE in Anaheim to book rematch with Complexity

MIBR are through to Group B's decider match at DreamHack Open Anaheim following a 2-1 victory over ENCE in an elimination series.

The Brazilians get one more chance to escape the groups in Anaheim following a tense and nervy series as both sides stared elimination in the face. MIBR and ENCE have been far from their prime and entered this series chasing their first LAN victory of the year, so it quickly became clear just how much this match meant in a wider context.

ENCE thought they had thrown a curveball at their opponents in the form of a Nuke pick, but the Brazilians, who had not played the map since May 2019, put in a strong performance and quickly emerged victorious. That ended up being the quickest map of the series, as the Finnish side scraped an overtime victory on Train before Overpass went the way of MIBR in a back-and-forth affair. Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo's side will now get a shot at revenge against Complexity in the decider stage after Friday's game between the two teams saw the Europeans come out on top.

MIBR took advantage of their CT side start on Nuke, romping to a 5-0 lead against an ENCE side that looked off the pace during the early stages. A quad-kill from Jani "⁠Aerial⁠" Jussila in a 2v5 situation then finally put ENCE on the board, with the Finnish team following that up with a successful fast execute.

The Brazilians were unfazed by that reaction and continuously shut out the Finnish offense with some great individual performances, especially from Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga, who ended the CT side with 17 frags. A chaotic end to the half saw ENCE get three more rounds to keep their comeback hopes alive, a trend that continued after the break as rounds kept going back and forth.

After initially struggling to impose themselves on the T side, MIBR took control of proceedings and ran all over the ENCE defense, locking down the map in the 24th round to head into their map pick brimming with confidence.

ENCE got into an early lead on Train but lost their grip on the game once MIBR had money in the bank. The Brazilians began to build a solid lead, but ENCE tightened up their defense and won six of the last seven rounds of the half to head into the break up by three.

The Finnish team added to their lead after a convincing pistol round, but their momentum was disrupted shortly afterward as MIBR won the following round with little more than Desert Eagles. FalleN's side grew in the game after that round and hit match point at 15-13, but a late comeback from ENCE saw the Finnish side equalize the score before running away with the game in overtime.

It all came down to Overpass, where the first half was highly contested from the offset. Neither side managed to gain the upper hand before a late run from MIBR earned them a 9-6 lead. The Brazilian team responded immediately after losing the pistol round and went on a fantastic run, with the scoreline blooming to a 14-8 advantage in their favor. ENCE still attempted a response and piled the pressure on their opponents with a string of rounds, but a comeback was not on the cards, with fer hammering the final nail into the Finnish team's coffin with a 1v2 clutch.