Cloud9 brush aside Heroic to secure first Rio Major playoff spot

The Russian squad were firing on all cylinders once again as their Major campaign continues to build momentum.

Cloud9 emerged victorious against HEROIC to be the first team to secure a Champions Stage berth, comfortably dispatching of the Danes 2-0 to send them to the 2-1 pool.

The Russian squad continued to dispel their struggles from the Challengers Stage, building upon narrow victories over two of the pre-tournament favourites FaZe and Natus Vincere by confidently dispatching of HEROIC to march into the playoffs. Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov and Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov continued their superb individual form as well, and the Russians may well find themselves a favourite to take the trophy now in the eyes of many.

HEROIC only really got going on the first half of Inferno, and will be disappointed to not be more competitive. The Danish squad's individual stars struggled to find consistent impact; however, not all is lost as they will still have two more series to try and secure their own playoff spot.

HEROIC offered little resistance on the first half of Vertigo, falling to a 9-0 deficit on their CT side before even getting on the board as Cloud9 recalled some of their 2021 Vertigo pedigree. A streak of rounds at the back end of the first half did not give HEROIC enough leeway heading into the second, and despite being much improved the Danes eventually succumbed to a 16-9 defeat.

A far closer battle ensued in the opening stages of Inferno, with the teams engaging in some force-buys back and forth that HEROIC eventually won out. With the guns back up, Cloud9 put together a streak of four and seemed like they might go on to win the half, but they squandered chances against more low-eco buys and eventually granted HEROIC a narrow 8-7 half win.

The Danes couldn't continue their resistance into the second period as Cloud9 set about a controlled and methodical offense that picked HEROIC's CT side apart. Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and co. could only manage a single round as Cloud9 closed the map 16-9.