TYLOO knock MIBR out of Cologne Play-In

TYLOO live to fight another day at IEM Cologne 2022 following their 2-1 victory over MIBR in the first round of the Play-In’s lower bracket. The Chinese squad suffered a tough opening defeat on Inferno (5-16) before returning the favor on Overpass (16-3). Dust2 (16-10) was more competitive, but TYLOO eventually closed the game on the CT side.

Hansel “⁠BnTeT⁠” Ferdinand‘s men dropped to the lower bracket after an opening loss to Vitality, but now only have a match against MOUZ standing between them and a spot in the next stage of the German LAN.

The defeat marks the end of MIBR‘s run in Cologne. The Brazilian squad started off the tournament with a narrow defeat to Movistar Riders which immediately relegated them to the lower bracket, and despite some good moments in the series, they were unable to close out the match against TYLOO.

Following a promising start on their pick of Inferno, things quickly fell apart for TYLOO. The Chinese squad converted the opening pistol, but as soon as MIBR were able to bring out the rifles on the CT side, they took control of the half. Jhonatan “⁠JOTA⁠” Willian was incredible during the Brazilian’s six-round streak as he found several multi-kills as well as the 1v2 clutch that started it all for his team. BnTeT‘s team was able to crack into bombsites, but their aggressive post-plant setups and poor economic management cost them too many rounds and they moved into the second half trailing 5-10 behind.

MIBR were flawless after switching sides to the offense, with Raphael “⁠exit⁠” Lacerda and Marcelo “⁠chelo⁠” Cespedes at the heart of it all. The South Americans sailed to a 16-5 victory, not dropping a single round in the second half and converting a 2v5 on the B site to secure a 16-5 scoreline.

After moving to Overpass, TYLOO showed us what they are really capable of. Starting off on the CT side, the Chinese squad immediately converted the opening pistol to gain early momentum. Following a quiet game on Inferno, Zhenghao “⁠DANK1NG⁠” Lv and BnTeT really came alive on the second map and, alongside Kelun “⁠SLOWLY⁠” Sun, locked out MIBR from the two sites. The Brazilians only took a few sporadic rounds on the offense, and failed to get on the scoreboard after switching sides, surrendering their own map pick 3-16.

DANK1NG took over the server on Overpass

In contrast to the first two maps, the first half of Dust2 was more closely contested. TYLOO started off on the T side and immediately showed they felt more confident compared to their two previous offensive halves. However, Breno “⁠brnz4n⁠” Poletto was on a superb run of form for the South Americans and accumulated a 21-11 K-D while constantly being a nuisance for the attackers on the A site. Late in the half, DANK1NG also came alive, helping TYLOO to convert three consecutive hits on the B site after spending most of the half trying to crack A.

With a slight 8-7 lead going into the second half, the Chinese squad wasted no time in extending their advantage by taking the pistol on the CT side. After conceding five in a row, MIBR showed signs of life, getting three offensive rounds before quickly running out of steam. The killing blow came on round 25 when DANK1NG took down four members of the Brazilian squad in quick succession, breaking the T economy and clearing the way for TYLOO to take the last round and close Dust2 16-10.