Cloud9 take down BIG, are headed to Grand Final

It was a fight for the Grand Finals spot against ENCE at IEM Dallas when BIG faced Cloud9 in a thrilling Bo3. The core of the BIG squad had not taken a single map against the core of this Cloud roster before today, but in the end, they still fell short of the mark.

The Bo3 started out on Cloud9's pick of Overpass, a map that BIG has only played two times in the last three months, one of which was a 16-4 loss against MOUZ.
Cloud9 were in control from the start of the T side. BIG had a lead at 3-2, but other than that Cloud9 was ahead and looking comfortable for the first fifteen rounds, which resulted in a 9-6 lead.
As the teams switched sides something unexpected happened. "Krimbo" delivered an excellent T side with both opening kills and clutch plays. With his IGL "tabseN" in tow, the two led the German squad on a massive 9-1 streak which gave them map point. Cloud9 suddenly had a resurgence and pushed the map to its thirtieth round, but BIG finally managed to close it out and secure the map at their fifth map point.

The skirmish continued on BIG's favorite map of Dust2. Of the last eight times that the Germans have played it, they have won it seven times, but still, it was the CT side of Cloud9 that got ahead early. "HObbit" was taking heads left and right, and as a result, the Russians led from start to finish and were once again ahead by three rounds at halftime.
As BIG won the first three rounds of the second half, it looked as though they might go on another big run, but Cloud9 had other plans. They shut the Germans down and secured a third map by taking seven rounds in a row to win Dust2.

The entirety of Cloud9 were clicking as they arrived on the final map of Ancient. They started on the preferred CT side, and as a result, BIG suffered immensely. The Germans had a massive task ahead of them as they were down 12-3 at halftime.
BIG were sadly not able to put up any resistance after the break as Cloud9 took all four available rounds. The CIS squad are as a result headed to the Grand Finals tomorrow where they will face ENCE in a fight for the $100.000 first price.

Highlight of the Bo3-series:

BIG - Cloud9 1-2 | IEM Dallas 2022

16-14 (Overpass) | Krimbo - 1.39 Rating / 28-18 K-D / 82.4 ADR

9-16 (Dust2) | sh1ro - 1.45 Rating / 22-11 K-D / 88.8 ADR

3-16 (Ancient) | HObbit - 1.74 Rating / 17-8 K-D / 116.3 ADR

MVP: Abay "HObbit" Khasenov - 1.35 Rating / 68-45 K-D / 93.8 ADR