NAVI defeat MOUZ, Outsiders upset Heroic in Malta

The second day of the European RMR has now concluded, with Outsiders and Natus Vincere the final two teams to join the 2-0 pool.

Outsiders secured a close-fought victory (16-12) against a favored HEROIC on Mirage after a lackluster Terrorist side by the Danes. Meanwhile, MOUZ gave Natus Vincere a good game on Mirage but eventually fell short (11-16), dropping down to the 1-1 pool in the process.

Outsiders and Natus Vincere join ENCE and BIG in the 2-0 pool, with their next round of play coming in a best-of-three format on Thursday.

Natus Vincere met MOUZ on Mirage, and it was Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and company who got off to a hot start. After early struggles, MOUZ were able to get back into the game with a couple of B attacks, reducing the deficit to just two rounds. A back-and-forth ensued, with the teams going into halftime with an 8-7 scoreline.

The second pistol round came down to a 1vs1 between Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy and Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro, with the former coming out on top to give Natus Vincere another quick start to the half. The sides proved to be inseparable once again, with MOUZ coming back into the game to tie up the score at 11-11. In the end, it was Natus Vincere's experience that shone through, with the CIS squad winning two crucial rounds to take back the lead, eventually closing out the game 16-11.

HEROIC and Outsiders also battled on Mirage, with the CIS squad winning the pistol round and converting it to a 6-2 lead. After struggling in the opening few, HEROIC stabilized and took the lead before the end of the half, even putting together a seven-round streak with the help of Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund's great CT side performance.

HEROIC's Terrorist side pistol round win put them 11-6 up, and the game looked lost for Outsiders. The individuals of the CIS squad found form just at the right time, with every member providing multi-kills to shut out HEROIC's offense. That enabled them to win the map 16-12, locking in their spot in the 2-0 pool of Thursday's matches.