Cloud9 and Complexity breezed through their final regional opponents, BIG and Team Liquid, respectively, to each take the top spot at the online BLAST Fall Showdown. The tournament was the last one before the first Counter-Strike tournament to be played on CS2, the latest iteration of the franchise.
On a dead game and with a roster that was nearly six feet under, a retooled Cloud9 burned through their side of the bracket, only dropping a single map to a talented G2 squad and blanking all others. Recently, they dropped beleaguered IGL nafany and subsequently moved H0bbit to the important role. This has freed up world-class rifler “electroNic to play like his old self. It showed as he notched a 1.19 HLTV Rating over the course of the tournament, as the team was led by the stellar 1.30 HLTV rating from sh1ro.
Cloud9 wasn’t the only blue-clad team that had success in the tournament. A recently-changed Complexity closed out a tight 2-0 win over Evil Geniuses that was decided by a mere four rounds before beating FURIA 2-1. Complexity looked shaky against FURIA, again winning their two maps by a 16-14 scoreline, dropping Overpass 16-7 to the Brazilians. Complexity didn’t win more rounds than FURIA, but did win the series.
EliGE, the newest Complexity player, then faced off against his old team, Team Liquid, in the final for the first time after spending eight years with the organization. If Complexity was shaky before, something must have changed: the squad obliterated a floundering Liquid 16-4 on Overpass before dominating on Inferno 16-2.
Both teams guaranteed their spots in the BLAST Fall Finals with the win. The tournament will serve as a great tune-up for next year’s first CS2 Major. Complexity and Cloud9 will join Team Vitality, Heroic, NAVI, FaZe Clan, Astralis, and Ninjas in Pyjamas when the BLAST Fall Finals tip off late in 2023.
