Cloud9 knock Orgless out of Flashpoint 1 to set up lower bracket final against HAVU

Cloud9 have booked a spot against HAVU in the lower bracket final of Flashpoint 1 after seeing to the elimination of Orgless in a three-map series.

Cloud9 fought for survival against Orgless, looking to make up for a loss to MAD Lions in the upper bracket semi-finals on Sunday, a series which had seen them fall to the Danish roster in triple overtime on Inferno before conceding a loss on Nuke. Orgless had found themselves knocked down to the lower bracket after falling to MIBR in a three-map series, setting up a clash between the two North American squads for a spot in the lower bracket final.

A stellar showing from Ricky "⁠floppy⁠" Kemery was not enough for Cloud9 to battle back on Orgless's pick of Nuke, with the 20-year-old mustering 32 frags in a narrow 14-16 loss to open the series. Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou's side answered back on their own pick of Train, defeating Pujan "⁠FNS⁠" Mehta and company 16-10 with a solid showing on the offense to force a series decider of Inferno. There, Orgless were able to gain early control thanks to a pair of 1vs3 clutches by Matthew "⁠WARDELL⁠" Yu, but control of the latter portion of the map belonged to Cloud9 thanks to strong showings from floppy and Ian "⁠motm⁠" Hardy to close out the series.

Orgless got off to a flying start on their pick of Nuke, sustaining against a stellar showing from floppy as Yassine "⁠Subroza⁠" Taoufik and Gage "⁠Infinite⁠" Green took it in turns to pick apart the Cloud9 defense. Although they dealt considerable damage to the Orgless economy in the opening rounds, it was not until they trailed 2-7 that Cloud9 really got the ball rolling, breaking the bank of FNS and company to claw back to a 7-8 scoreline at the break.

A USP-S quad kill from WARDELL kept Orgless in the lead as the second half got underway, allowing the team to maintain control over Cloud9 as they won six of the ensuing eight rounds, granting them match point at 15-9. JT's troops made an effort to fight for overtime, with Aran "⁠Sonic⁠" Groesbeek finding four frags and securing a 1vs3 clutch to keep his team in the running, but Cloud9 fell short at the final hurdle as Subroza and FNS found two frags apiece in round 30 to edge out the map win for their side.

A 2-0 lead for Orgless to kick off Train was quickly left by the wayside as Cloud9 arrived in full force on their map pick. A first gun round victory gave the American roster the opening to double the score of Orgless before a response was issued, with Infinite clutching a 1vs3 to grant his team their third round win. Two additional triple kills from Infinite aided Orgless in an effort to tie the scoreline at 5-5, but from there, Cloud9 reigned supreme, converting a 3vs5 eco round into a victory before finding the final four of the half to lead 10-5.

A pistol win for Cloud9 was swiftly answered upon by WARDELL, who took down three of his opponents to give Orgless a lifeline on the offense. The two teams grappled for control, with Cloud9 making it up to thirteen rounds and FNS and company securing three to reside on double digits, but in the end it was triple kill rounds from JT, floppy, and motm that sealed the fate of Orgless as Cloud9 claimed a final string of rounds for a 16-10 map victory.

The decider of Inferno began with Orgless assuming the lead, running up a 6-2 scoreline thanks in part to a handful of banana entry frags from Subroza and a crucial 1vs3 clutch from WARDELL. Much like on Nuke, it was floppy who stepped up to put Cloud9 in contention once again, defending the A site with a quad kill to help his team begin clawing back. An additional four frags from the 20-year-old in an effort to recover a 3vs5 was not enough as WARDELL clutched another 1vs3 to keep Orgless in the lead, but floppy kept Cloud9 within one round of their opposition by closing out the half with yet another quad kill round.

Subroza answered floppy's efforts in the second half pistol round, taking down four Cloud9 players to grant his team initial control on the CT side. motm got rolling in a force-buy from Cloud9, gunning down three to swing momentum into the favour of the American-South African roster. From there, Cloud9 remained in control, with motm and Josh "⁠oSee⁠" Ohm stepping up alongside floppy to only concede two additional rounds on the road to a 16-11 victory.