After a difficult first day at HCS Orlando for Cloud9, where the Raleigh champions looked to be a shadow of their former selves against eUnited, they were anything but in today’s crucial series against Sentinels. Both teams displayed flashes of excellence in their map control and teamplay, but it was ultimately C9 that converted that performance into victory with a shock 3-1 upset to progress in the winners bracket.
It was C9’s newest player Bound that had the biggest impact on the team’s Friday matches, but the C9 that came to play against Sentinels was firing on all cylinders and each member of the roster had their moment in the spotlight. In the opening Oddball match on Recharge, that standout star would be Stellur, who put up 45 kills by the end of the grueling match with a 21 KDA overall. Control over the Active Camo and the Shock Rifle played a major role in each round, allowing both C9 and Sentinels to hold comfortable objective setups where they otherwise fell apart in an instant. The 2-1 win was vital for C9’s confidence, but far from an easy to take off the HCS Kansas City champions.
Bound would once again come to C9’s aid at the beginning of game two’s Slayer, converting an early pickup of the Stalker Rifle into a Triple Kill that handed C9 an early lead. Sentinels were never given an opportunity to claw back control, not afforded the mental resets that game one’s multiple rounds could provide in the face of C9’s onslaught. Pznguin soon took the torch from Bound to secure the most kills during the second half, topping the leaderboards with an impressive 16-kill performance as Eco put the final nail in the coffin with a Rocket Launcher double kill.
Even with their backs against the wall and the threat of a series sweep in the back of Sentinels’ minds, the experience and fortitude of the legendary roster came to the forefront for the must-win third map. Despite the difficulties they faced in map one and two, King of the Hill on Live Fire proved to be a clinical display of dominance from Sentinels.
C9 was deprived of every Overshield spawn and power weapon control. Frosty and Royal2 wielded the Heatwave and Sniper Rifle with devastating effect for Sentinels, allowing Snakebite and Lethul to amass a quick and commanding lead in the objective simultaneously. The 4-0 win for Sentinels passed in the blink of an eye, and it was unclear what their sudden turnaround could mean for the remainder of the series.
But the shift in momentum didn’t rattle C9, and only a minute into CTF Catalyst in game four, Eco had already brought home one flag off the back of an Overshield grab. That early flag capture would end up being crucial to C9’s eventual victory, but Sentinels didn’t go down easy. Impressive defensive strategies from both teams effectively neutralized the Overshield from providing any advantage in further flag pull attempts, and by the point the timer reached zero, the teams had only managed to tie at a 2-2 scoreline. An aggressive push by Eco and Bound in overtime, combined with 26 kills from Pznguin, was what finally tipped the balance in C9’s favor for a 3-2 win and an unexpected 3-1 series victory.
With so many questions surrounding C9’s capabilities this weekend, such a convincing win against a team like Sentinels—a team they fell to in the grand finals at the Kansas City Major—will no doubt be essential for their momentum going forward. Rosters such as OpTic Gaming and FaZe Clan remain favorites to take the trophy on Sunday, but C9’s statement series today returns their name to that hat in a major way.
