5yclone send M80 to last chance stage in Malta

Qianhao "⁠Moseyuh⁠" Chen dropped 30 kills on Anubis to help his team complete the win in just two maps.

5yclone picked up their first ESL Pro League Season 18 win after taking down M80 in a two-map series in the Group C lower bracket. The Chinese squad, who fell to Natus Vincere in the group's opening round, drew first blood comfortably on Nuke (16-10) before closing out the series with a hard-fought victory on Anubis (16-14).

The result allows 5yclone to advance to the lower bracket semi-final in Malta, where they will face the loser of the series between FaZe and fnatic on Friday. M80, by contrast, fall to within elimination territory at Pro League, and now need three victories on the trot in the last chance stage to earn a playoff spot and avoid being sent home entirely.

5yclone will undoubtedly be singing Yi "⁠JamYoung⁠" Yang and Moseyuh's praises after the team's win. The duo each took turns to come alive when it mattered most, with JamYoung stepping up on Nuke (1.71 rating) while Moseyuh did so on Anubis (1.62 rating, 30-18 K-D) to help cast M80 down to the last chance stage.

The series began on 5yclone's pick of Nuke, and it was thanks to a standout performance from JamYoung that the squad was able to convert their veto choice. The 22-year-old was a menace straight off the bat, using his unrivaled confidence and crisp aim to crack open bombsites and earn his team a slender 8-7 lead at the side swap.

From there, the Chinese roster managed to pull away entirely. M80's T-side lacked the potency to break through 5yclone's defensive line, with the North Americans only managing to find three rounds before Zhuo "⁠advent⁠" Liang and company closed out their map pick, 16-10, to send the series to Anubis.

A prerequisite for M80 being competitive in the series, according to the pundits on the Pro League couch, was a standout performance from Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa, and it was at the outset of Anubis that the Guatemalan decided to come alive in tandem with Ethan "⁠reck⁠" Serrano. The duo, undeterred despite being on the lesser-favored CT-side, stood their ground with a number of key plays to keep 5yclone under wraps and gift their side a narrow 8-7 lead at the interval.

Regardless, this uptick in form from the aforementioned duo proved to be all for naught in the end. The North American roster was able to sprint to a 13-11 lead and inch closer to forcing an Overpass decider, but the Chinese-majority cohort shored up their defense once play hit the dying stages, winning five out of the final six rounds to clinch victory, 16-14, and wrap up the series.