Cloud9 defeat BIG to make Thunderpick semi-finals

The Russian squad will face FaZe or MOUZ in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Cloud9 have booked their place in the Thunderpick World Championship semi-finals after taking down BIG in a two-map series (Inferno 13-6, Nuke 13-9).

Cloud9, who officially added Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov on Thursday in place of Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov, have shown improved form and are currently undefeated at the event. They progressed through the group stage with wins against fnatic and Virtus.pro and have now made the top-four stage after a dominant victory against BIG.

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The Russian squad's semi-final opponents will be the winners of FaZe vs. MOUZ in what will be their toughest test at the event so far, with both European squads showing fantastic performances at the beginning of CS2.

Date	Matches
Thunderpick World Championship 2023
04/11/2023	Cloud9 16:00 FaZe	Match

The quarter-final began on Cloud9's pick of Inferno, where the Russian squad got off to a hot start despite losing the opening pistol. Cloud9 put together a 9-3 T side as they excelled in most of their gun rounds against the German side.

Boombl4 picked up primary AWPing on the CT side on Inferno and found a lot of impact while defending the B site. His team was once again bested in the pistol round but quickly recovered to secure a one-sided 13-6 win and move the series to Nuke.

The second map followed the same trend, with BIG visibly second-best despite winning both pistols. The German squad started on the offensive side and found just two gun rounds against the Cloud9 defense. Boombl4 didn't pick up the sniper this time around, though, as the Russian squad opted for a successful five-rifle setup on the map.

BIG were a more cohesive unit on the CT side but ultimately failed to trouble Cloud9, who cruised to a 13-9 win and a semi-final spot at the Thunderpick World Championship.