Cloud9 qualify for BLAST Fall Final over BIG

Cloud9's first foray with Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov calling ends in success.

Cloud9 have secured their spot at the BLAST Premier Fall Final with a 2-0 win over BIG, doing so via wins on Ancient (16-13) and Anubis (16-12).

Cloud9’s roster have not had the most productive start to life, exiting tournaments with little to show for their efforts and struggling to get the most out of the immense talent among their number. This led to the recent adjustment of their approach, placing the IGL mantle upon HObbit’s shoulders, and so far, the change is working out.

By contrast, BIG’s young squad have impressed in recent times, winning an online CCT event and taking down HEROIC and Monte at ESL Pro League, before besting ENCE earlier in the Showdown.

The Germans will feel they had chances to at least force a decider today, they were winning Anubis comfortably before an ill-advised push backfired and changed the complexion of the map, but regardless BIG are on an upward trajectory.

BIG kicked off the series with their pick of Ancient, and they started well on the T side, putting Cloud9 on the back foot with an up-tempo, execute-heavy approach. Cloud9’s defense was a little bit disjointed, and they required individual aggressive pushes from the likes of Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov and Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov to get rounds on the board. At 3-7 down, however, Cloud9 managed to make a half-buy work, and they ran with the momentum to recover to an 8-7 score.

A CT pistol win allowed BIG to pick up a string of rounds to start the second half, but once guns came up Cloud9 were comfortably the better side as a unit, with electroNic and Ax1Le once again serving as the driving force. A heroic 4k from Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz briefly gave BIG hope, but Cloud9 were not to be denied, and they stole away the Germans’ map pick 16-13.

Over on Cloud9’s pick of Anubis, the Russian side won the pistol to get their CT side started with a 3-0 lead. BIG answered back when guns came up, and built a lead thanks to a heavy focus on the A site, where Cloud9 were struggling to hold. A switch to a more aggressive approach towards the end of the half bore fruit for Cloud9, and they managed to eek out a narrow 8-7 win on the unfavored side of the map.

BIG started their own CT efforts in imperious form, winning the pistol and erecting a wall in the early gun rounds, running out to a 12-8 score. Cloud9 then punished a risky push out of B on a Tec-9 buy, swarming the site to earn their first offensive round. This completely shifted the momentum of the game, Cloud9’s stars stepping up to the plate with some impressive fragging such that they even recovered man-down scenarios, and the Russians marched to a 16-12 win to close the series.