Cloud9 advance to the final of ELEAGUE Invitational following a close two-game match that ended up in their favor. They’re on a roll, having beaten FaZe 2-0 in the previous match and having done the same against BIG. 2019 couldn’t have started better for the rebuilt American formation, but are they able to compose themselves all the way? We will find out soon after FaZe will face BIG for the other final spot to compete against Cloud9 once more to be crowned ELEAGUEÂ Invitational champions.
The first map brought us to BIG’s choice, Cache. Things would start to go towards BIG, picking up the pistol and letting the t-side of Cloud9 only grasp three rounds. Most impressively, Cloud9 only planted the bomb once before being defused. BIG showed stellar defense on their counter-terrorist side with all players stepping up, including the new addition to the squad, Ismailcan “XANTARES” DörtkardeÅŸ being their top fragger throughout the match.
Unfortunately for the German organization, all things crumbled on their terrorist side. Cloud9’s own relatively new squad member, Robin “flusha” Rönnquist, would go off for his team. By the end of the match, he would amount 31 frags. His team mounted a massive comeback, letting BIG just get two rounds in total. The German organization looked helpless while Cloud9 was in control, showing an even better ct-side. The map ended with an incredibly close score of 16-14 in favor of Cloud9.
The second map, Overpass, would end up being just as much as a close match as the first. This time, Cloud9 kicked things off on ct-side with flusha getting a 3k on the very first pistol round. They got the first three rounds before BIG retaliated with five rounds on their own. In the end, Cloud9 recomposed themselves and effectively defended the bombsites, not even letting BIG get any bomb plants. The half ended 9-6 in favor of Cloud9.
Things wouldn’t get any easier for the blue side, however. BIG went on a rampage on their own ct-side with XANTARES and Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz being the main guardians of the bomb sites. It took Cloud9 a total of nine rounds before they could make a significant breakthrough and workout BIG’s defense. This time we saw Fabien “kioShiMa” Fiey lead the charge with 27 frags at the end and flusha getting a 3k to finish off the map in favor of Cloud9 with a score of 16-14 once more. A frustrating night for BIG for sure.
