Cloud9 top EPL Group D after besting FURIA

The Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov-led side have assured themselves of a quarter-final berth in the bracket stage.

Cloud9 have beaten FURIA 2-0 (16-8 Mirage, 16-14 Overpass) in their fourth match of ESL Pro League Season 16, maintaining their undefeated streak in the event and confirming that they will finish Group D in first place.

The loss leaves FURIA still not guaranteed of playoff contention heading into the final day of matches, with Evil Geniuses able to steal away the spot if they can win in 2-0 fashion. Liquid and Eternal Fire are also still in contention for a spot heading into the last day, the former team needing to just beat Cloud9 in order to qualify, but still having chances to make it through with a loss. The Turkish team are far less likely to advance, needing a win in their match against Movistar Riders and then a very specific set of results to favor them in tiebreaker scenarios.

Cloud9 were quick to mount a defense on Mirage, Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov's early AWP buy in particular helping to tear apart FURIA's attempts to control mid and their individual efforts to gain ground, giving the Russian team a 5-1 lead. FURIA made an effort to fight back and brought themselves within one round of Cloud9, but were unable to overcome the combined firepower presented between sh1ro's AWP and the fearsome rifle work of Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov, who both helped their team muster a 10-5 scoreline by the break.

Multi-kill rounds from Ax1Le and Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov served to extend that lead following the side swap, a pistol win converting into a four-round spree before FURIA managed to halt the streak. Only three rounds would go the way of Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan's men from there though as Cloud9 wasted little time in getting back on the horse, with HObbit closing things out with a quad kill to take the map 16-8 for his side.

Overpass was a much more competitive affair, although it began much the same as Mirage with Cloud9 getting off to a stellar start. sh1ro and Ax1Le were again the catalysts in that effort, helped by strong teamplay and flash assists from the rest of the team that saw them dismantle FURIA's CT setups round after round.

It was only toward the end of the half that FURIA began to stall out Cloud9's attacking efforts, four rounds in a row ending with the clock expiring and Cloud9 saving a few rifles. Those guns didn't help the Russian team add more T rounds to their tally though, but they still ended up edging out a one-round lead heading into the side swap thanks to their early run of form.

A flawless pistol win for FURIA was immediately answered by Cloud9 in the ensuing round, kicking off a brief force-buy war between the two teams. It was nafany's men that came out on top of that, and momentum from that win helped them extend their lead to 13-10 before FURIA once again found their footing. The Brazilian team almost seemed set to send the series to a third map as they briefly gained the lead by winning four rounds in a row, but were shut down by Cloud9 in the final moments of the map, Ax1Le in particular stepping up in round 30 to recover a disadvantageous situation and take the map over the line for his side.