Cloud9 crush EG to pick up first win in Malta

Cloud9 conceded just nine rounds across the two-map series to get their ESL Pro League Season 17 campaign off to a commanding start.

Cloud9 started their ESL Pro League Season 17 Group A campaign in strong form after dispatching Evil Geniuses in a straightforward two-map affair. The Russians struck first with a lopsided 16-5 showing on Inferno before casting the North American roster down to the lower bracket with a series-ending 16-4 display on Mirage.

The two-map trouncing serves as a much-needed boost of confidence for Cloud9, who have suffered a modest start to life with Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov on the active lineup. The Kazahk rifler was brought on as a replacement for Timofey "⁠interz⁠" Yakushin in what the team's first roster change in three years, a move Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov shed light on in a post-match interview.

"I mean, buster is a way different player than interz. He can play more roles, so we can switch some," nafany said. "As far as I can see, he can provide our team with more things. Let's say that Inferno isn't our best map, he will help us with it because Outsiders played it really well. But we also need to understand that interz was a guy who, if you say 'go here', he'll do it... But with buster, he will try to make the game harder for your opponent, and that's it."

Conversely, the loss adds insult to injury for the Sanzhar "⁠neaLaN⁠" Iskhakov-led roster, who will notably be absent from the BLAST.tv Paris Major Americas RMR in Mexico after crashing out of the North American closed qualifier with a lamentable 3-3 record. The squad will look to recover in time for their lower bracket matchup versus the loser of the series between G2 and Eternal Fire, which begins on Thursday at 12:30 .

Cloud9 instantly hit the ground running on Evil Geniuses' pick of Inferno, sprinting to a 5-2 lead on the CT-side courtesy of a stellar start by Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov, who sat atop the scoreboard with a 9-1 K-D differential. The Russians maintained their dominant posture in the server for the remainder of the half, adding a further six rounds to ensure a comfortable first-half victory. Evil Geniuses managed to stay somewhat competitive with two sporadic rounds of their own, but were otherwise uncompetitive in the face of a nafany company onslaught, which ended with an 11-4 half in favour of the Russians.

Cloud9 wasted little time in putting the map to bed once on the attack, with sh1ro continuing to be a thorn in the North American roster's side. A hiccup in the 17th round, where Cloud9 dropped the ball with a fumbled attack of the B site, gifted neaLaN's men an avenue back into the game, but the Russian lineup stabilised shortly after and prevented any chance of an Evil Geniuses recovery, going on to waltz to a commanding 16-5 victory in the series opener.

Cloud9 continued to sit in the driver's seat once their pick of Mirage rolled around. A blitzing of Evil Geniuses' defensive lines left the North American roster consistently fighting their way out of disadvantageous 4vs5 situations, something the Russians capitalised on by surging to an unblemished 5-0 lead on the T-side. It took until the eighth round for Evil Geniuses — and Jerric "⁠wiz⁠" Jiang — to get on the scoreboard, although this victory did little to offer the side some respite. Cloud9's overpowering T-side endured, with nafany leading from the front (14 kills) to tear Evil Geniuses' defences apart and earn his squad a seven-round lead heading into the break.

Much like Inferno, Cloud9 once again erected a near-impenetrable CT-side to round out their map-wide domination. The Russian-majority squad didn't gift Evil Geniuses a single taste of victory, putting up five rounds on the trot to lock in an incredibly one-sided 16-4 victory and send the North Americans down to the lower bracket in Malta.