Cloud9 2-0 Eternal Fire after Overpass comeback

The Russians won 12 straight rounds as the CTs on the second map to clinch the series win.

Cloud9 secured their second ESL Pro League victory after taking down Eternal Fire 2-0. Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov and company outlasted the Turkish side to claim Dust2 16-12 and powered their way to a comeback victory on Overpass, 16-11.

Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov and Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov were Cloud9's most impactful players, the Kazakh dropping a 1.34 rating on Dust2 and the Russian sniper putting up a 1.79 rating on Overpass. Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş shined bright for Eternal Fire across both maps and finished with the highest rating of the series at 1.70, though his efforts weren't enough to give his team the win.

Cloud9 came out of the gates swinging on Dust2 as HObbit and Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov topped the scoreboard early to give their team a 6-2 lead. The momentum shifted after Eternal Fire found their groove and started to out-duel their Russian opponents at every corner, eventually reaching a 9-6 lead at halftime. XANTARES and Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker came alive in the latter part of the half as the pair put up 1.79 and 1.33 ratings, respectively.

The tables completely turned in the second period as Eternal Fire were unable to build on their first half success and only picked up three more rounds for the remainder of the map. Cloud9's CT side prowess allowed them to wrap up Dust2 in style and take home the 16-12 victory behind HObbit's 25 kills and 1.34 rating.

Eternal Fire drew first blood on Overpass thanks to a quad-kill from Ahmet "⁠paz⁠" Karahoca and controlled majority of the first half which gave them an 11-4 lead at the switch. XANTARES was in a league of his own as the Turkish rifler racked up crucial opening frags and recorded a whopping 23-7 K-D with 172.9 ADR.

Staring down a seven-round deficit, Cloud9 delivered a perfect CT side performance and ultimately clinched the 16-11 comeback victory on Overpass. Eternal Fire's dynamic playstyle and precision were nowhere to be found in the second half as even the high-flying XANTARES only managed to pick up seven frags in the last 12 rounds. sh1ro stepped up huge for his team and finished with a server-high 31 kills and 1.79 rating.

Eternal Fire had the advantage coming out of halftime on both maps but couldn't hold on to their lead as the Turkish superteam remains winless in Group D. They have an opportunity to secure their first EPL victory against a struggling Evil Geniuses side in their next match, which kicks off on Friday at 16:00 .