Players sh1ro and buster showed that they are a duo to be watched on C9.
Cloud9 earned a guaranteed spot in IEM Katowice Groups after a three-map match against ENCE. In the team's first tournament in the year, the Russians started to show that Timur "buster" Tulepov was a good addition to the squad.
Despite losing, ENCE is still on the run for a spot in Katowice Groups. Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer's team will face the winner of Complexity and Permitta's match, which will happen on Thursday. This will be the last chance for both teams to qualify for the group's stage.
sh1ro was too much to handle on Anubis
The first map was Anubis, picked by ENCE, which started on the T side. Still, who set the pace in the first half of the map was Cloud9, powered by Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov and his AWP. The Russian topped the board and helped his team in getting a partial lead of 12x3.
When the sides turned, ENCE showed that wouldn't go down without a fight and started to bring rounds. Still, the advantage built by Cloud9 was too large, and sh1ro, once again, worked well to help his teammates find the last four points needed. The AWPer closed the map with a 1.57 rating.
ENCE and a brilliant T side to win Inferno
ENCE started Inferno with the mission of winning the map pick of the enemy. In the first half, the game was very disputed. Both teams traded round by round and the difference in the scoreboard was minimal. 8x7 in favor of ENCE.
The odds were not in favor of the Europeans, but Cloud9 didn't enter the server on the CT side. ENCE was able to put six rounds in sequence before the Russians win one. And they only won one. With a massive performance of Snappi, ENCE closed Inferno with a 16x8 scoreboard.
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Cloud9 won a toe to toe Vertigo
The last map of the match and the last chance for both teams to get a spot in IEM Katowice Groups was Vertigo. The first half was balanced. Even though the squads were able to win three or four rounds in a row, the other one never let the enemy get away in the scoreboard. The result was a well-balanced 8x7 in the first half, for ENCE.
After turning sides, Cloud9 got in trouble playing on the CT side and ENCE was able to open a 12x8 difference. But, when things were complicated for the CIS squad, the newly hired Buster showed what he brought onto the team. The Kazakh started to bring down kills and helped Cloud9 turn the scoreboard and close the map in a 16x13 difference.
After the win, Cloud9 joined Ninjas in Pyjamas, which also qualified for IEM Katowice Play-In. The group stage starts next Saturday, February 4th.
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