Triumph stun Cloud9 in Road to Rio opening match

Triumph found success in a three-map series against Cloud9 to kick off their run in ESL One: Road to Rio.

Group A of the North American ESL One: Road to Rio division kicked off with Evil Geniuses and Gen.G securing wins over Orgless and 100 Thieves, respectively, but the most surprising result came in the final match to conclude as Triumph succeed in pulling off an upset over Cloud9.

With just over a week of practice under their belts since the addition of Rahul "⁠curry⁠" Nemani and Paytyn "⁠junior⁠" Johnson, Triumph were able to notch an opening map win on Vertigo to kick off their series against Cloud9, and recovered from a battering on Inferno to edge out a 16-14 win on the series decider, Train.

Grim helped guide Triumph to victory with a 1.20 rating

Triumph came out of the gates swinging on their pick of Vertigo, blazing ahead to a 7-2 start on the defense before Cloud9 began to claw back. A string of four rounds towards the end of the half gave Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou's troops some breathing room, with a subsequent pistol round win following the side swap granting them a seventh round, but Alan "⁠Shakezullah⁠" Hardeman and company remained steadfast as a force-buy reply gave them the momentum they needed to assume control of the proceedings and take the map, 16-11.

The tables quickly turned on Inferno, with Triumph's pistol win to kick off the map being one of the few rounds the team managed to garner on the CT side. A crucial 1vs4 clutch by Ricky "⁠floppy⁠" Kemery kept Cloud9 in control for much of the map, resulting in the team putting up an 11-4 half before they quickly closed things out on the defense with a 16-9 victory.

A back-and-forth brawl marked the start of Train, with the two teams each taking three rounds to kick off the map. Another trio for Cloud9 gave the team a stellar start on the T side, leading 6-3, but Triumph battled back towards the closing moments of the half with a string of six rounds to assume control at 9-6.

The situation took a grim turn for Triumph in the second half as, after taking the pistol round for themselves, they fell to a force-buy from Cloud9 in round seventeen. Now with momentum in their favour, floppy and the combined AWPs of Aran "⁠Sonic⁠" Groesbeek and Josh "⁠oSee⁠" Ohm helped Cloud9 win seven of the ensuing eight rounds for a 13-11 lead, but it was there that a critical loss to a pistol buy from Triumph turned the tides of the map. With their economy crushed at a crucial moment, Cloud9 could do nothing but watch as Triumph rallied back, giving up only one additional round as they closed out Train 16-14 to edge out a series victory.

ESL One: Road to Rio - North AmericaBest of 3

Triumph

Matchpage

2

1

22nd April 2020

Cloud9

16

Vertigo

11

9

Inferno

16

16

Train

14

Triumph	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Michael 'Grim' WinceGrim	64 - 51	+13	85.5	70.7%	1.20
Rahul 'curry' Nemanicurry	57 - 59	-2	78.7	70.7%	1.04
Alan 'Shakezullah' HardemanShakezullah	49 - 49	0	65.1	73.2%	1.03
Gabe 'Spongey' GreinerSpongey	57 - 53	+4	66.0	69.5%	0.98
Paytyn 'junior' Johnsonjunior	46 - 48	-2	60.9	70.7%	0.96

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Ricky 'floppy' Kemeryfloppy	69 - 57	+12	92.7	72.0%	1.32
Ian 'motm' Hardymotm	60 - 51	+9	76.5	79.3%	1.15
Josh 'oSee' OhmoSee	52 - 49	+3	62.3	69.5%	1.01
Aran 'Sonic' GroesbeekSonic	45 - 53	-8	59.4	68.3%	0.94
Johnny 'JT' TheodosiouJT	34 - 64	-30	55.2	64.6%	0.71