Virtus.pro spoil new-look Cloud9 debut

The Flashpoint 2 group C opener went the way of CIS side, who swept the new European roster on Inferno and denied their comeback attempt on Overpass for a 2-0 victory.

Cloud9 wasn't able to start things off with a bang as the debuting lineup led by Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin lost to a rising Virtus.pro.

The CIS side, currently ranked #15 in the world, limited their opponents to just five rounds on their first map, Inferno, but Cloud9 was able to show more on Overpass. A new face on the top level, William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman, displayed his potential with a 1.29 rating on the map and was the team's best performer alongside Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker. However, Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali's brilliant late-round play and some misplayed advantages for Cloud9 cost them a chance to push the series to the decider.

Virtus.pro will now advance to the winners' match of Group C, where they will wait for the victor of OG - Gen.G, while Cloud9 will try to bounce back against the loser of the same match.

Jame won key rounds to ensure the win for Virtus.pro

Retaking B worked out for Cloud9, earning them their first-round played with the new lineup, but the excitement was short-lived as Virtus.pro bounced back with a second-round force. After Sanjar "⁠SANJI⁠" Kuliev denied mezii's clutch attempts twice, the CIS side was up 5-1, with Jame's 1v3 clutch ensuring a strong T-side for Virtus.pro.

ALEX had to step up with two triple kills, one on A and one on B, to earn Cloud9 two more rounds on the CT side, but that was all for the half as Virtus.pro ran up a 12-3 lead. Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis added to that with a quad kill from Pit in the pistol, and after some force-buys being traded, Virtus.pro closed out their map confidently, 16-5.

A scrappy, clutch-heavy start to Overpass resulted in Cloud9 taking a 3-1 lead, with rookie mezii leading the way for the European mixture. Jame stepped up in a couple of key rounds that followed, seeing Virtus.pro regain the lead and build on the momentum to finish the half 10-5 up.

The deficit Cloud9 found themselves in was increased as Jame won a 1v3 in the second pistol, his fourth clutch on the map. A hero play from Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen with the USP-S translated into an eco victory for his side and gave them a chance to recover on the defense, with Ricky "⁠floppy⁠" Kemery's Deagle triple really kicking off the comeback. ALEX and co. pulled it all the way back to 15-14 and overtime looked guaranteed as they found themselves in a 4v2 situation, but Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov and Alexey "⁠qikert⁠" Golubev stole away the round to conclude the series 2-0.

Flashpoint 2Best of 3

Cloud9

Matchpage

0

2

12th November 2020

Virtus.pro

5

Inferno

16

14

Overpass

16

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Özgür 'woxic' Ekerwoxic	35 - 36	-1	69.1	1.08
William 'mezii' Merrimanmezii	39 - 35	+4	73.2	1.04
Alex 'ALEX' McMeekinALEX	36 - 42	-6	81.9	0.99
Patrick 'es3tag' Hansenes3tag	34 - 42	-8	85.4	0.99
Ricky 'floppy' Kemeryfloppy	22 - 37	-15	56.7	0.70

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' GaļinskisYEKINDAR	45 - 37	+8	86.1	1.28
Dzhami 'Jame' AliJame	38 - 30	+8	76.5	1.23
Sanjar 'SANJI' KulievSANJI	34 - 32	+2	71.0	1.21
Timur 'buster' Tulepovbuster	38 - 34	+4	86.6	1.20
Alexey 'qikert' Golubevqikert	36 - 34	+2	78.8	1.10