device sends Cloud9 packing

Astralis are heading to another IEM playoffs after the Danes beat Cloud9 2-0 in a lopsided game. For Astralis, it was their star device, who was all over Cloud9 as the AWPer ended the series with 47 kills across the two maps in the series.

The first map was Astralis' pick of Ancient with Cloud9 starting on the defensive side. blameF kicked things off with an ace that saw him clutch out a 1v3 to give the Danes the opening pistol. Cloud9 responded with a force buy that saw sh1ro come in with a 1v3 of his own to tie things up. Astralis retook the lead with a force of their own. gla1ve's good read of the game early on saw Astralis take a 6-1 lead. A H0bbit double eventually gave Cloud9 their second CT round, gla1ve's 1v3 on the B site, helped Astralis secure their ninth on the T half. The Danes ended the first half with a 12-3 lead as sh1ro's 1v2 in the final round gave Cloud9 their round round.

Source: ESL

Astralis picked up both the pistols on the back of the double from Altekz but Cloud9 once again responded on a force buy. Just like the first half, Astralis answered back with a force buy of their own, with device's deagle helping Astralis secure 14. Cloud9 did manage to put together a couple of rounds together but it was device's triple which closed the map for Astralis at 16-8. device and blameF were Astralis' heavy hitters on Ancient, with both ending up with 23 and 21 kills respectively.

device made sure Cloud9 stood no chance on Ancient

Cloud9 picked up the pistol on Mirage, starting on the T side. Cloud9 went 3-0 up before Astralis put up their first defensive round, as soon as the guns came out. The Danes strung five rounds in a row, before Cloud9 could manage their fourth. device's 1v3 on the B site saw Astralis win out the half and the Danes ended the first half with a 9-6 lead.

Astralis' second half pistol was a clean one as a quick B hit saw them secure their tenth round. device's 1v2 on the A site, saw Astralis pick up their 13th. Astralis eventually closed the map at 16-8 with device and blameF once again at the top of the scoreboard with 24 and 22 kills respectively.

Cloud9 now will face Complexity in the Group B lower bracket semi-final while Astralis will take on ENCE in the upper bracket final.

IEM Dallas 2023

Bo3

Cloud9

0 - 2

Astralis

All maps

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolov	35 - 35	+0	75.2	60.4%	0.99
Sergey 'Ax1Le' Rykhtorov	26 - 36	-10	59.0	54.2%	0.79
Timur 'buster' Tulepov	25 - 34	-9	58.6	62.5%	0.79
Vladislav 'nafany' Gorshkov	17 - 39	-22	56.7	58.3%	0.63
Abay 'HObbit' Khassenov	20 - 42	-22	57.0	52.1%	0.53

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Nicolai 'device' Reedtz	47 - 23	+24	94.1	79.2%	1.57
Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer	43 - 20	+23	91.0	89.6%	1.56
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander	33 - 30	+3	81.4	77.1%	1.19
Christian 'Buzz' Andersen	35 - 28	+7	76.6	79.2%	1.15
Alexander 'Altekz' Givskov	26 - 23	+3	67.8	77.1%	1.04