Cloud9 eliminate 9INE from IEM Cologne

The Poles head home from IEM Cologne in 13-16th place despite having Cloud9 on the ropes on the Anubis decider.

Cloud9 live to fight another day at IEM Cologne after defeating 9INE in a lengthy three-map series, losing on the Poles' home turf of Vertigo (10-16) before answering back with a commanding display on Ancient (16-4) and an overtime showing on Anubis (19-17).

9INE will be bitterly disappointed with their early elimination from the $1 million spectacle. The Poles suffered back-to-back losses in matchups which could have easily gone the other way, with Wiktor "⁠mynio⁠" Kruk's troops conceding five map and series points versus ENCE on Saturday before being unable to close out the Anubis decider against Cloud9 today despite having the momentum when up 15-14 on the third and final map.

Cloud9, on the other hand, stay alive a little while longer in Germany and will look ahead to their next game versus the loser of HEROIC vs. Monte, the Russian squad picking up their first win despite having no practice with Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov prior to the tournament, according to Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov.

"We were surprised that Ax1Le had visa problems, and buster was of course surprised as well. He was on vacation, he didn't play or practice, and we didn't have even one practice together," HObbit said in a pre-game interview on stream. "It is really hard for buster because it is not the old Cloud9 roster, perfecto and electronic are really legendary players that came to us and we started to rebuild or system. We are a new team, and for a new team we have a stand-in."

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2023
31/07/2023	Cloud9 19:30 Monte	Match

It was a dream start to the series for 9INE, with Cloud9's decision to float Vertigo allowing the Poles to further their self-proclaimed tag as the world's best team on the skyscraper-based battleground. The mynio-led lineup converted their pick with relative ease, 16-10, but in turn sent the series to Cloud9's pick of Ancient, on which the Polish quintet had already lost two outings over the course of the IEM Cologne Play-in.

There, the Russian-majority roster were quick to punish 9INE on the T-side, missed shots from Olek "⁠hades⁠" Miskiewicz doing little to help the situation as Cloud9 blitzed their way to a commanding 16-4 showing to force an Anubis decider.

There, it was again Cloud9 who hit the ground running, with the Russo-Kazakh ensemble making full use of the T-sided nature of the map as they nurtured a 10-5 lead at the break. 9INE responded in kind, a solid T-side effort raising the stakes and enabling the Poles to reach map point first, 15-14. Alas, much like their loss to ENCE on Saturday, 9INE crumbled under the pressure, being sent to overtime before Cloud9 closed out the series in the nick of time, 19-17, and 2-1.