"Clear favourites" Cloud9 claim win at RES Eastern European Masters to qualify for Fall Showdown
With the final qualifier for BLAST Premier Fall Showdown now over, we know every team who will duke it out for a chance to appear at Fall Final in the Royal Arena in Copenhagen.
The RES Western European Masters saw 9INE claim their spot in the Showdown, but over in the RES Eastern European Masters, it was Cloud9 who won the event to qualify.
Called the "clear favourites" by Dweg before the event, how did the Russian powerhouse go about their win?
Cloud9 claim victory over Spirit
Starting out in Group B alongside Bad News Eagles, 1WIN, and Zero Tenacity, it was against Boombl4's 1WIN that CLoud9 claimed their first victory. A relatively comfortable victory, Ax1Le top fragged with 33 kills in the 16-8 win.
With Bad News Eagles to play in the winner's match thanks to their own 16-14 win against Zero Tenacity in the opening round, CLoud9 slipped up with a 16-6 loss on Inferno.
Unfazed, the Russians then faced 1WIN for their playoff place, putting in an even more dominant showing as they demolished their rivals 16-1.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenThe team then faced Turkish squadron Eternal Fire in the semi-finals, securing a 2-1 victory. A solid team performance gave them the lead with a 16-8 Anubis win, although Eternal Fire pulled a map back as they claimed Mirage 16-8.
With Inferno as the decider, Ax1Le, sh1ro, and Perfecto all stepped up to see off Eternal Fire 16-13 and secure Cloud9's place in the final.
The final was to be played against a young Spirit team who Dweg claimed: "Genuinely have a decent chance of taking the spot from Monte or Cloud9."
A closely fought affair, Spirit got off to a strong start on Anubis with a 5-0 T side lead. magixx, chopper, and ArtFr0st all shone for Spirit, but Perfecto's stepping up helped them secure the map 16-14 in Cloud9's favour.
With a 1-0 lead in the series, captain electroNic became the star to secure Cloud9's place in the Showdown. A 25-18 performance from him, he was out-fragged by Spirit's Ukrainian zont1x, but the eighteen-year-old couldn't do enough to prevent CLoud9 from winning 16-13 and claiming the series and Showdown spot 2-0.