Cloud9 qualify for BLAST Premier Spring Showdown Europe

Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov's men are the seventh team to confirm a spot in the online competition.

Cloud9 have qualified for BLAST Premier Spring Showdown Europe after winning RES Eastern European Masters Spring over VOYVODA. The tenth-best team in the world prevailed over the Bulgarian side in a two-map series, securing 16-14 wins on Inferno and Overpass to clinch a spot in the Spring Finals-qualifying tournament.

nafany and company began their qualification campaign in the GSL group stage, where they secured relatively easy best-of-one wins over Aurora and DomiNation to advance to the four-team, single-elimination playoff bracket.

sh1ro averaged a 1.56 rating over six maps in Cloud9's qualifier run

There, Cloud9 met more resistance as they first encountered Bad News Eagles in the semi-finals. The Kosovar squad held considerable advantages on both Mirage and Veritgo during the series, but squandered numerous opportunities to convert upon their leads as Cloud9's individuals shone bright to take both maps over the line, 2-0.

A similar scenario unfolded in the grand final against VOYVODA. Valentin "⁠poizon⁠" Vasilev and company put up a strong resistance on both Inferno and Overpass, but couldn't overcome the heroics of Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov, who mustered 1.58 and 1.41 ratings, respectively, to help his side clinch 16-14 victories on both maps.

RES Eastern European Masters Spring 2023 - BLAST Premier QualifierBest of 3

Cloud9

Matchpage

2

0

12th March 2023

VOYVODA

16

Inferno

14

16

Overpass

14

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolovsh1ro	48 - 22	+26	78.4	85.0%	1.49
Sergey 'Ax1Le' RykhtorovAx1Le	46 - 40	+6	93.5	70.0%	1.20
Abay 'HObbit' KhassenovHObbit	44 - 33	+11	74.9	71.7%	1.20
Vladislav 'nafany' Gorshkovnafany	36 - 33	+3	68.1	76.7%	1.08
Timur 'buster' Tulepovbuster	34 - 35	-1	62.9	76.7%	0.96

VOYVODA	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Hristiyan 'REDSTAR' PironkovREDSTAR	38 - 36	+2	70.5	65.0%	1.00
Simeon 'dream3r' Ganevdream3r	38 - 40	-2	72.7	73.3%	0.98
Valentin 'poizon' Vasilevpoizon	29 - 39	-10	51.3	60.0%	0.83
Kamen 'bubble' Kostadinovbubble	32 - 47	-15	62.1	65.0%	0.79
Blagoi 'oxygeN' DimitrovoxygeN	26 - 47	-21	54.2	65.0%	0.71

Cloud9 are not a BLAST partner team, and the Russian lineup did not take part in any BLAST events in 2022. That ultimately cost them ranking points and reduced the overall sample size of statistics to consider for the team's individuals by the end of the year, something which they have already began to correct this year by qualifying for the European Spring Showdown.

The likes of OG, BIG, and Ninjas in Pyjamas, and fnatic still stand in between Cloud9 and earning a spot at the Spring Finals, with the Showdown slated to take place from March 29 - April 2. One final team will earn a spot at the Showdown through Pelaajat Nordic Masters Spring, joining the following seven teams in the fight for a single spot at the Spring Finals:

OG
Cloud9
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Rare Atom

fnatic
BIG
9INE
Nordic Masters Spring