Cloud9 vs Luminosity (Cloud9 2-0)
The third match of the weekend brought an already qualified Cloud9 against a Luminosity that had won their last 2 matches against Evil Geniuses and a new look 100T.
The series started on Haven, Luminosity's pick, and also a map that Cloud9 have been doing some experimentation on, opting to put their resident Sova player, Xeta, onto Breach. Cloud9 proceeded to pick Luminosity apart, going up 11-1 in the first half, and eventually closing out the map 13-3. Haven saw LG's new star players, mada and bdog, have a very rough time against the opposition, going 0/9 on FK/FD.
Map two took us to Bind, which proved to be much more competitive. The half began with LG winning the pistol and building an early 3-1 lead, until Cloud9 snatched the momentum back to their side and won 4 straight, building a 5-3 lead going into the end of the half. Each team put 2 more rounds on the board, leading to a 7-5 half score in favor of Cloud9. In the second half, LG took control on their defense. They would win 7 of the next 10 rounds, forcing map point at 12-10 to go to icebox. However, Cloud9 held steady and pushed the series into OT. After going down 12-13, Luminosity answered with a flawless round to push another OT, where Cloud9 answered with their own flawless, pushing series point at 14-13, and closing it out on their attacking round, winning the series 2-0.
The series MVP went to leaf, who earned 44 kills over both maps, and 296 ACS. Cloud9 move to 4-0 in their group and will play their final group match against The Guard next week to determine the top seed of Group A. Luminosity's playoff hopes require 100T to lose to XSET tomorrow.
NRG vs Knights (Knights 2-1)
Saturday's second match found an 0-3 NRG battling a Knights squad that had just beaten Rise last week. The series went the distance, going to all three maps.
Map one started on Breeze, and saw Knights build an early lead, going up 6-1 on their defensive half. However, NRG answered back with 5 consecutive rounds of their own, tying the half at 6-6. However, in the second half, Knights began to take off as they won 7 rounds in a row to close out the map 13-6, with their flex player XXiF going 24/9/12 on KAY/O, and an astonishing 233 ADR.
Map two saw NRG answer back with a strong victory on Bind, which was Knights map pick. NRG's defender half started with them going up 5-0, before Knights built up some steam, winning 5 of the next 7 rounds, bringing the half to 7-5 in NRG's favor. After Knights won the pistol round to tie the map, NRG pulled ahead, winning 6 of the next 7 rounds to force map three, with a score of 13-8.
The final map of the series saw a very similar setup to the previous two. Knights built an early lead after losing the pistol to go up 5-2, until NRG found their footing and were once again able to force a 7-5 half in favor of Knights. Once again, Knights had a shut-out defender half, and won 6 straight to close out the map, and the series, 13-5.
The series MVP was XXiF, who earned 55 kills and 263 ACS, and was followed closely behind by ban with 261 ACS. With this loss, NRG are out of contention for the playoff bracket as they fall to 0-4. Knights will be able to qualify if they are able to beat OpTic next week, or if Rise lose to NRG.
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