Gambit beat Cloud9 in ESL Pro League

The 'Colossus' drew first blood in the series but could not close it out.

Gambit came back from a map down to defeat Cloud9 2-1 and keep a perfect record in ESL Pro League's Group C before Sunday's crunch match with fellow CIS side Natus Vincere in a rematch of the IEM Katowice quarter-finals.

It was yet another frustrating match for the 'Colossus', who showed plenty of fighting spirit as they recovered from an 11-1 deficit on Overpass and secured the map with a near-flawless CT side. But just like in many other instances, the international team merely showed flashes of potential, and they now find themselves in a must-win situation against the Brazilian trio of TeamOne, FURIA and MIBR to have a shot at the playoffs.

Gambit came out with fire in their bellies and took control of proceedings from the off on Overpass as they looked to end a losing streak on the map. Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov set the pace early with a trio of frags in the pistol round and a quad-kill in the first gun round, and then Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov and Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov joined the party as the CIS team cruised to an 11-1 lead before Cloud9 salvaged something from the half with some late rounds.

sh1ro put in a series-high 1.33 rating and racked up 22 AWP kills

Cloud9's comeback hopes were dealt a huge blow when they lost the pistol round with little resistance, but they forced their way back into the game with a successful B stack in the following round. The tide shifted in Cloud9's favour after that round, their defence looking impenetrable as they won 11 rounds without response to secure the map in dominant fashion, with William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman raising eyebrows with a 2.15 CT rating, six opening duels and a 129 ADR.

Gambit were unfazed by the Overpass disaster and came back swinging on Vertigo, one of Cloud9's worst maps. The rounds that the 'Colossus' edged out in the first half were few and far between as the Russian team took a 10-5 lead, with HObbit sitting at the top of the scoreboard (2.07 rating, 119 ADR). Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin still tried to rescue Cloud9 in the second half with two clutches, but the team's inability to string rounds together persisted, and soon a comeback was beyond them.

sh1ro and Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov fired Gambit into an early lead on Dust2 as they clutched a 2v4 situation in the pistol round, with Cloud9 answering back with two in a row once they had money to work with. After that highly-contested initial period, the rest of the half was a one-way street as the CIS team tore the Cloud9 defence apart for an 11-4 scoreline. The 'Colossus' still put some rounds together after switching to the T side, but then Gambit went on a 5-0 run once they had guns in hand to wrap things up.

ESL Pro League Season 13Best of 3

Gambit

Matchpage

2

1

20th March 2021

Cloud9

12

Overpass

16

16

Vertigo

8

16

Dust2

7

Gambit	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolovsh1ro	63 - 44	+19	88.6	77.3%	1.33
Abay 'HObbit' KhassenovHObbit	58 - 53	+5	86.3	76.0%	1.27
Sergey 'Ax1Le' RykhtorovAx1Le	59 - 48	+11	82.6	76.0%	1.25
Vladislav 'nafany' Gorshkovnafany	54 - 48	+6	79.7	77.3%	1.22
Timofey 'interz' Yakushininterz	48 - 42	+6	64.9	77.3%	1.07

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Ricky 'floppy' Kemeryfloppy	52 - 59	-7	84.5	66.7%	0.97
Patrick 'es3tag' Hansenes3tag	45 - 51	-6	66.6	70.7%	0.94
Erick 'Xeppaa' BachXeppaa	53 - 58	-5	67.3	62.7%	0.89
William 'mezii' Merrimanmezii	49 - 56	-7	70.6	62.7%	0.89
Alex 'ALEX' McMeekinALEX	36 - 59	-23	63.1	65.3%	0.76

Group C

TEAM

M

P

Gambit

2

6

FURIA

1

3

Natus Vincere

1

3

TeamOne

1

0

MIBR

1

0

Cloud9

2

0