Cloud9 are through to the playoffs at DreamHack ZOWIE Open Austin after seeing off CLG 2-1 (19-16 on Cache, 12-16 on Mirage and 16-11 on Dust2).

Group A at DreamHack ZOWIE Open Austin came to a close with the decider match between Cloud9 and CLG, two of North America's strongest teams. After getting demolished on Friday during the opening round of the tournament, CLG went into the game looking for revenge, and this time arond they gave a much better account of themselves, even though the outcome ended up being the same.

Faruk "⁠pita⁠" Pita's men got off to a flying start on the CT side of map and strolled to a 6-0 lead as Cloud9 struggled to break down their opponents' defence. It was only then that Cloud9 finally put their foot down to push back CLG, who, however, still dominated the final stages of the half as they took a 10-5 lead.

Now playing on the Terrorist side, CLG once again came out the brighter and picked up the first three rounds to bring the scoreline to a 13-5 advantage. That is when Cloud9, powered by an in-form Jordan "⁠n0thing⁠" Gilbert, went on a fantastic run that saw them win ten of the next 11 rounds before Stephen "⁠reltuC⁠" Cutler won a 1vs2 clutch to take the game to overtime.

n0thing was on fire on Cache 

Carrying their momentum into overtime, Cloud9 won two rounds in each half to seal a 19-16 victory and take the lead in the series.

Next up was Mirage, where Cloud9 were in control in the opening stages of the first half as they got out to a 9-0 lead. After calling a tactical pause to discuss their offense, CLG finally managed to get a round on the board, but they were unable to follow that up, giving Cloud9 the chance to further extend their lead. The last two rounds ended up going CLG's way, but a 3-12 deficit meant that they had a mountain to climb to force a third map in the series.

Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik went huge in the pistol round as CT and picked up three frags in the B apartments to give his team a fighting chance. That round turned out to be the start of an impressive run that ended with CLG securing the win without dropping a single round on the defensive side.

FugLy had a number of key rounds on Mirage 

It all came down to Dust2, where CLG got off to a flying start, winning nine of the first ten rounds on the CT side. But Cloud9 refused to throw in the towel and picked up four more rounds before the end of the half to keep themselves in the race, with Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip pulling off crucial individual actions in the middle area.

In the second half, Cloud9 turned in a fantastic display, dropping just one round in total as they turned a 5-10 deficit into a 16-11 victory to book their spot in the last-four stage in Austin.

DreamHack Austin 2016Best of 3 Cloud9Matchpage 2 1 8th May 2016 CLG 19Cache 16 12Mirage 16 16Dust2 11

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Faruk 'pita' Pita Age: 25 Team: CLGC Stephen 'reltuC' Cutler Age: 27 Team: CLG Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 363 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.65 Tarik 'tarik' Celik Age: 20 Team: CLG Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 354 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.68 Jordan 'n0thing' Gilbert Age: 25 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 406 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.67 Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip Age: 18 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 183 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.71