MOUZ upset Cloud9 to set up semi-final against Outsiders

MOUZ locked their place in the semi-final of the IEM Rio Major with a 2-1 victory over Cloud9, eliminating the Russian combine with wins on Overpass (16-13) and Ancient (16-9) after losing the opener on Inferno (11-16). David “⁠frozen⁠” Čerňanský powered his team to yet another upset in the Major, putting up 1.40+ ratings in the two map wins.

MOUZ continue their fantastic Major campaign after beginning their journey in the Challengers Stage. They passed through the first stage with a flawless 3-0 record and then defied expectations by making it through the Legends Stage, and are now set to face Outsiders in a semi-final on Saturday at 18:00 . For Cloud9 this is a disappointing end to their Major campaign, with the Russian squad unable to meet expectations as one of the favorites of the playoffs.

dexter led his team to a Major semi-final

Inferno began with a Jon “⁠JDC⁠” de Castro triple in the pistol round, enabling MOUZ to get off to a hot start. They raced to a 4-0 lead before Vladislav “⁠nafany⁠” Gorshkov locked down the B site to deliver the first for Cloud9. The Russian squad took control soon after, grasping the lead near the end of the half as their star men got warmed up. They limited the European combine to just two more rounds and went into the interval with a 9-6 scoreline, with Abay “⁠HObbit⁠” Khasenov the star of the show with 19 kills in the first half.

Cloud9 won the second-half pistol and continued their momentum from the first half, taking a six-round lead. MOUZ wasn’t ready to surrender just yet, winning three in a row to force the Russian side into an eco. It was who other than HObbit who stepped up when his team needed him most, hitting four incredible shots on an unarmored Deagle to stop the MOUZ comeback attempt. The veteran’s highlight rounds shifted the momentum of the game once again, Cloud9 winning three in a row to close out the game 16-11 as HObbit hit the 30-kill mark in the final round of the game to move the series to Overpass.

MOUZ began their Overpass defense resolutely, as Ádám “⁠torzsi⁠” Torzsás won a 1vs2 clutch to start the game. That enabled him to buy an AWP in the second round and he found instant impact with his favored weapon, resulting in an 8-1 lead for his team. Cloud9 turned around their slow start soon after that, with Dmitry “⁠sh1ro⁠” Sokolov and Sergey “⁠Ax1Le⁠” Rykhtorov dragging their team across several rounds to end the half with a five-round deficit.

MOUZ won their second pistol of the map after converting a 3vs5 situation, forcing the Russian squad into two less-than-ideal forcebuys. The risk didn’t pay off for Cloud9, who soon found themselves 5-14 down when they finally got a full buy. nafany and company have completed several comebacks on the defensive side of Overpass at the Major already, and this game wasn’t a done deal either. They got five in a row to reach double digits before MOUZ got a round on the A site armed with just pistols. Three more wins for Cloud9 followed, before Christopher “⁠dexter⁠” Nong picked up a dropped AWP and put the map to bed with a triple-kill, moving the series on to the decider of Ancient.

Cloud9 dominated right out of the gates on Ancient, winning the pistol round and following four rounds limiting MOUZ to just three kills in five rounds. A triple by frozen proved to be the turning point of the half, as it won his side a 2vs4 situation alongside their first round. After that, MOUZ looked like a completely different team, winning eight in a row. The inexperienced players from the European combine were unfazed by the importance of the match, showing incredible guile and trigger discipline to outmaneuver the Russian defense. They ran out of steam in the final two rounds but still came into the second half with an 8-7 lead.

Cloud9 won the pistol to start their offense, but MOUZ fought back immediately by winning a forcebuy. The European combine was dominant on the CT side, as the dexter-led team limited their opponents to just one more round. They looked in complete control, shutting down everything the Russian squad had to offer to close out the map 16-9 and qualify for the semi-final.