Cloud9 through to EPL semi-finals over MOUZ

Cloud9 have secured a berth in Pro League Season 17’s final four, their second consecutive one in ESL’s flagship league.

The Group A champions did well in their first Pro League match in nearly a month to secure a spot in the semi-finals over MOUZ with a 2-1 victory. The Russian squad struggled on the CT side of Inferno and got off to a 0-1 count, but turned the series around on their Vertigo pick before a dominating attack on Mirage sealed the deal in their favor.

The two squads last faced off at the IEM Rio Major, where David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský and company got one over the Russians at the Jeunesse Arena, but this time around it was Cloud9 who put an end to their foes’ playoff run in Malta. "It's always fun when you get revenge on a team that threw you out at the Major," Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov said in the post-game interview.

Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov savaged MOUZ early on the European combine’s pick of Inferno after going down 1-3 by losing the second round forcebuy, helping his side reach a 3-3 tie and a further 6-3 lead. frozen hit back with a quad kill to make it 4-6 at the ten round mark, although the score didn’t swing back in his team’s favor as they trailed 6-9 at the half.

MOUZ brought it back to 9-9 by securing the three first CT rounds and although they managed to get one successful attack in, Cloud9 completely deflated on the attack as Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong and his men didn’t miss a beat to close the map out comfortably, winning ten rounds out of the eleven played in the second half to hit 16-10.

MOUZ won the defensive pistol round on Vertigo, but Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov clutched a crucial 1vs2 to make it 2-1 in his team’s favor as the two were once again tangled in a 3-3 start. The streaky nature of the series continued as MOUZ clamped down with proactive rounds, flanking and pressuring their way to 8-3. Cloud9 finally unlocked the combination and tallied the final four to keep the game close.

Cloud9 secured a crucial pistol round to settle into the defending side on their pick as they took an 11-8 lead before MOUZ could retaliate during a pistol buy. Back-and-forth rounds ensued until finally it was the Russian side who got a grip on the defense to force a decider, 16-11.

The final map of the series diverged from the two previous in that it was a one-sided affair from the get-go as Cloud9 leaped to a 6-0 lead, and MOUZ’s first round was countered with another barrage of successful attacks. Ultimately, the CTs salvaged the final three rounds to make it 4-11.

frozen, the saving grace for MOUZ in many moments throughout the series, downed three in the second pistol round for the comeback dreams to come alive. Six rounds in and with none to Cloud9’s name, Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov won a crucial 1vs2 that got his team back on the scoreboard. MOUZ retaliated but to no avail, as Cloud9 found their groove to run away with a 16-10 scoreline.

Cloud9 will sit Friday out while the remained of quarter-finals are played, after which they will go up against the victor of ENCE vs. Vitality on Saturday for a spot in the Pro League grand final.