MOUZ hand Heroic early elimination from IEM Cologne

The European squad produced a surprise victory over a Heroic fresh from a roster change 2-0 to eliminate the Danes from Cologne, taking Vertigo 16-13 and Nuke 16-10; they move on to face the loser of the Movistar Riders vs. Vitality series on Saturday.

The Danes were disappointing throughout the series, particularly on their T sides, which was what ultimately led to their downfall. It was a poor start to life with Jakob “⁠jabbi⁠” Nygaard on the roster, and work will need to be done in the off-season to get the team up to scratch.

As for MOUZ it was the excellent performances of Jon “⁠JDC⁠” de Castro and Ádám “⁠torzsi⁠” Torzsás on Vertigo and Nuke respectively that provided much of the heavy lifting, but they were also far more potent in general on their offensive halves.

The series opened with Vertigo, and MOUZ were in for a rough first half on their own pick. All seemed well early doors, the European squad losing the first four but making things close to keep Heroic’s economy in check and then picking up a few rounds of their own.

At 3-4 the MOUZ offense collapsed, JDC the only player really fragging as the Danes picked up the final eight in a row to take a convincing 12-3 half victory.

If MOUZ were suspect on their T side then Heroic were woeful, every member of the Danish squad suddenly going missing on the fragging front as they picked up a solitary round to squander their massive lead and drop the first map 13-16.

If not for an unfortunate Aurimas “⁠Bymas⁠” Pipiras disconnect early doors that allowed Heroic to pick up a string of three rounds, MOUZ might have posted just a convincing defence to open Nuke, as JDC and torzsi were in excellent form.

Regardless they were still able to take a solid 10-5 lead into the second period, and this proved too much of a deficit for Heroic to recover; Christopher “⁠dexter⁠” Nong and co. eventually closed the map out 16-10.