fnatic send Cloud9 to lower bracket in Sydney

After a hotly-contested first half, Cloud9 fell away as the map wore on.

fnatic have started on the right foot at IEM Sydney with a 13-10 victory over Cloud9 on Inferno. Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov was in good form for the Russians, but fnatic had more individuals hitting their shots, and losing both pistols gave Cloud9 an uphill battle to fight.

Next up for fnatic is an upper bracket bout with ENCE, whilst Cloud9 will fight for their tournament lives against Lynn Vision.

Date	Matches
IEM Sydney 2023
17/10/2023	Lynn Vision 07:30 Cloud9	Match
17/10/2023	ENCE 07:30 fnatic	Match

fnatic kicked off on the T side, and their up-tempo approach to offense caused Cloud9 some problems. The Russian squad needed a pistol purchase victory to get going, but get going they did, and a couple of smooth retakes at the end of the half ensured a 6-6 score at halftime.

A pistol loss put Cloud9 on the back foot in the second period, and although they answered back once they got guns up with a three-round streak, fnatic were relatively comfortable with their proactive approach to defense. Freddy "⁠KRIMZ⁠" Johansson put a bow on fnatic's victory with a tidy 4k to close things out.