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Following an intense week of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive action, Cloud9 have won the 2022 Dallas Intel Extreme Masters Season XVII.
With the 3-0 sweep over ENCE in the IEM Dallas grand finals, the American team have lifted their first trophy in over four years. The moment they had ENCE on the ropes, they never took their foot off the gas.
Coming into the matchup, ENCE were the favorites with the top betting sites as they had the better form. Unfortunately, that superiority was only on display during the first half of the first map as they were blown out the rest of the series.
On Mirage, which was ENCE’s pick, they had a sizzling start. They held a 10-5 lead entering the second half, but were completely taken apart.
In the second half, C9 went on an incredible 11-2 run to win the map 16-12. For the remainder of the game, Cloud9 showed their dominance.
Despite their intriguing comeback in the first map, their performance on Ancient was sublime. It was undoubtedly the best way to complete a sweep.
In another ENCE map pick, C9 exploded in the first half, going on a 12-3 run.
Credit to Dmitriy “sh1ro” Sokolov and Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov for their clutch display. They combined for 40 kills in the first half before putting the series to rest with four consecutive wins on the T-side. C9 completed the 3-0 series sweep with a 16-3 run on Ancient.
Although they had a dominating grand finals appearance, their displays prior were not as great. Their journey started with a convincing 16-6 victory over Team Liquid in the opening match. Shortly after, they got swept by FURIA Esports 2-0 and got relegated to the lower bracket round 2.
C9 dominated the lower bracket, sweeping Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team Liquid to secure a spot in the playoffs.
Their biggest victory came in the quarterfinals of the playoffs, where they defeated the No. 1 ranked CS: GO team FaZe Clan. It was a closely contested series, but they managed an impressive 16-13 victory on Mirage to advance to the next round.
Despite losing the first map against BIG in the semifinals, they responded in prime fashion, taking Dust II and Ancient rather comfortably.
For ENCE, it was smooth sailing throughout the tournament. The European team played only four games to reach the grand final compared to C9’s six.
Even with the extra rest, they did not make it count where it mattered most.
It is worth noting that this was a different C9 team. They acquired Gambit Esports’ roster on April 24.
For their efforts, C9 was rewarded with $100,000 from the $250,000 prize pool, 1,000 Pro Tour points, and 2,400 BLAST Premier points.
With the BLAST Premier points C9 they got for winning the event, they currently hold the No. 8 spot on the CS:GO world leaderboard. If they keep up this form, they are guaranteed good results in many of the seven Blast events remaining in the year.
Ultimately, holding a top-four spot will guarantee direct seeding to the World Final.
ENCE, on the other hand, are perfectly placed to secure their World Final berth. However, they will need to replicate their recent performances going forward.
As an organization, this counts as their first trophy since winning the 2018 ELEAGUE Boston Major. The result promises good things to come as it is only their second event since acquiring Gambit’s roster.
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