MOUZ through to IEM Dallas title decider over Heroic

The European roster, who recently crashed out of the Paris Major in joint-last place, will fight on Sunday for a chance to take home the trophy.

MOUZ are the first team through to the IEM Dallas grand final following a 2-1 win versus Heroic (Vertigo 16-8, Overpass 9-16, Ancient 16-14), exacting revenge over the Danes after initially losing to Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and company back in the group stage.

MOUZ advance to the grand final in what will be their first title-deciding matchup on LAN since the Global Esports Tour Dubai in 2022. The European roster will be playing the winner of the series between FaZe and ENCE on Sunday at 19:30 . They will be gunning to take home the trophy in Texas, eager to turn over a new leaf after a disappointing 2023 so far, which reached its nadir with a joint-last place exit from the BLAST.tv Paris Major back in May.

Date	Matches
IEM Dallas 2023
04/06/2023	MOUZ 20:00 ENCE	Match

Heroic, on the other hand, head home from IEM Dallas in 3-4th place with this defeat, which is also the second time in a row they've been unable to make the grand final despite facing lesser-ranked opposition. The Danes made it to the semi-finals of the BLAST.tv Paris Major before being felled by GamerLegion, who were 30 spots below them in the world ranking at the time, and have now been unable to move past MOUZ, who sit at No. 18 in the world to Heroic's No. 2 placing.

The action between the two sides began on Vertigo, MOUZ's map choice, and it was the international squad who enjoyed a better start, 5-3, thanks to a cheeky run boost from Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro and key openings from Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong. The Australian in-game leader's performance only grew in potency as the first half progressed, single-handedly carrying his team to victory as the rounds ticked on by. The 28-year-old finished MOUZ's T-side with 19 kills — eight more than Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman, his closest peer — while also recording six multi-kill rounds to spearhead a 10-5 half for his team.

A win in the pistol round gifted Heroic to inch back into contention, but all it took was a double kill from dexter's Desert Eagle in round 17 for MOUZ to shift the momentum back in their favor. The European troupe didn't look back from this point on, erecting a stalwart CT-side and conceding just two additional rounds en route to a comfortable 16-8 drubbing of the Danes.

Heroic sought to claw themselves back into contention at the outset of their Overpass pick, relying on strong fragging output from René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen to act as an important counterweight to JDC's own brilliance and earn the Danes a slender 5-3 lead on the T-side. A fumble by cadiaN, who usually thrives in high-pressure scenarios, in a 1vs1 in round 12 almost gave MOUZ a chance to slither back into the map, but the Danish in-game leader redeemed himself by flipping the script in the ensuing round; the No. 2-ranked team used their new-found advantage in the economy game to sprint to a 10-5 advantage by the interval.

Heroic, evidently unfazed from their trouncing on the Vertigo opener, laid down the law and rushed to 14 rounds on their CT-side to be within touching distance of forcing a three-map series. MOUZ did fend off a blowout with four rounds on the trot, three of which were via bomb explosion, but crisp shooting from TeSeS and Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck (22 kills apiece) ultimately allowed the Danes to tie the series up, 16-9.

Heroic put their foot to the floor once the Ancient decider began, with TeSeS and sjuush joining forces to recover a 2vs4 situation in round three and enabling the Danes to nurture an ideal 3-0 lead on the CT-side. Alas, this high-casualty round ultimately proved to be the Danes' undoing in regard to sporting an overpowering lead; MOUZ went on a spree in the rounds that followed, continuing to empty Heroic's coffers and, bolstered by a 14-kill half from David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský, reduce the deficit down to just one round at halftime.

MOUZ continued their march towards victory once it was their turn to defend; a back-and-forth spat in the opening stages went the way of the Australian-led roster, who in turn raced to a 12-9 scoreline after more heroics from their Slovak rifler. The Danish ensemble managed to keep things close with a sudden burst of success, and added four rounds on the bounce, only for the house of cards to come crashing down in round 30 to give MOUZ the victory, 2-1, in exhilarating fashion.