MOUZ qualify for IEM Sydney semi-finals

BetBoom will enter the playoffs in the quarter-final stage.

MOUZ defeated BetBoom in a three-map series to secure an IEM Sydney semi-final spot. The European combine came back from 3-11 down to secure Mirage 19-15, and, after losing their Ancient pick 7-13, MOUZ edged out a 13-10 victory on the deciding Overpass.

MOUZ continue their good form despite playing without Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo in Sydney. His replacement, Bram "⁠Nexius⁠" Campana, has averaged a steady 0.99 rating so far, and Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek was full of praise for the Belgian in the post-match interview. "Nexius has been doing a really good job, he makes the process look very smooth, and I'm very happy with him," the Pole said.

The win means MOUZ are set to enter the top-four stage of IEM Sydney on Saturday, while BetBoom will begin their playoff campaign in the quarter-finals, where they will face the winner of Complexity vs. Monte on Friday.

The match began on Mirage, and BetBoom came into the map with a very aggressive style that netted them an early lead. They found nine rounds on the offensive half despite recurrent misses of their Window smokes, and then won the second-half pistol to go 11-3 up. MOUZ didn't give up hope, however, and started to reduce the deficit.

David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský found a crucial 1vs4 clutch at 11-4 that revitalized his team, who repeatedly attacked the B site to secure overtime. The teams couldn't be separated in the first overtime, but MOUZ had adapted to BetBoom's aggression in the second and won out the map 19-15.

MOUZ's pick of Ancient began with a prolonged force-buy war that ultimately ended in a BetBoom lead, and the Russian squad took that momentum to an 8-4 scoreline at the half. BetBoom struggled to close out the map after a couple of A rushes failed to work out but did enough for a 13-7 victory to force out the decider. After having a rough go of things on Mirage as the B anchor, Pavel "⁠S1ren⁠" Ogloblin had a great performance on the second map and topped the board for his team.

MOUZ went for a visible switch of mentality on Overpass and sat back to wait for BetBoom's aggression, which worked out incredibly well in the opening exchanges. siuhy and company were soon 6-0 up before BetBoom toned down their proactive playstyle and reduced the deficit to two rounds at the switch.

BetBoom started the second half well and tied up the scores at 10, and it looked like the Russian squad had the upper hand in the game. That was until MOUZ's star power duo shone through, as frozen found a quad-kill in the penultimate round before Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás got the job done with an ace to close out a 13-11 victory and secure MOUZ a top-four spot in Sydney.