Cloud9 qualify for IEM Dallas over OG

The Russian squad became the second team to go through the European qualifier after Astralis.

Cloud9 secured their attendance at IEM Dallas 2023 after going through the European closed qualifier and finishing in second place. The Russian squad defeated OG in the consolidation final 2-0 to earn the chance to defend their title from 2022.

Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov and company lifted the trophy at the inaugural edition of the $250,000 event last year, but were not part of the initial invites so had to make their way through the closed qualifier.

nanfany and company will get the chance to defend their title in Texas

The Russian quintet were directly invited to the online competition and defeated sYnck and Ninjas in Pyjamas on their way to the upper bracket final, where they met Astralis. In a surprising turn of events, the Danes came out victorious to secure the first qualification spot and send Cloud9 to the lower bracket.

Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov was on point in the final series against OG, especially in the opening map as he led his team to a narrow 16-14 win on Mirage thanks to his 1.84 rating and 29-8 K-D. The 21-year-old marksman slowed down on Overpass, ending the series with a 1.52 score across the two maps.

One more team is set to claim a spot at IEM Dallas from the South American qualifier taking place between April 12-13 as 00NATION, 9z, Fluxo, and INTZ battle it out for the last qualifying spot. ESL will also invite one last team based on their position in the organizer's World Ranking.

The list of teams attending IEM Dallas 2023 is as follows:

G2
HEROIC
Liquid
FaZe
Virtus.pro
Complexity
MOUZ
FURIA

ENCE
Evil Geniuses
Nouns
Grayhound
Astralis
Cloud9
South America Qualifier
ESL World Ranking