Cloud9 beat ENCE to kick off BLAST World Final

Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander and company have been sent to the elimination zone early in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Cloud9 have gotten off on the right foot at the BLAST Premier World Final after taking down ENCE 2-0 in the opening series of Group A at the season-ending tournament.

With the victory, Cloud9 have earned a place in at least the quarter-finals already but will still play against the winner of Vitality vs. Natus Vincere for a place in the semis on Thursday. ENCE, meanwhile, will have to fight for survival facing the loser of the same series.

The Russian squad dominated Ancient to kick off the series with a 13-4 victory on ENCE's pick. Having still had very little time with gla1ve to get up to speed as rumors swirl of more changes, the European squad looked lost on the offense as their slow defaults were met with heavy resistance.

Cloud9 always seemed to pick the right moments to go on the aggressive, especially around Lane and Cave, where Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov ruled, while Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov stepped up with a couple of key rounds on the other side.

A much closer affair on Overpass followed, where Cloud9's success was in large part aided by their forcebuy and eco wins in the second round of each half.

Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov and electroNic had big moments throughout the match, especially the latter while closing out the game with an all-important double in the eco win, another in an unlikely 4v5 retake on B, and two triples in aggressive plays through Monster after regulation.