With everything on the line, GamerLegion and Cloud9 faced off in round five of the Challengers Stage at the IEM Rio CS:GO Major today. A close series was eventually decided by one of the most unreal highlights in Major history.
The two teams entered their match on completely opposite courses. GamerLegion won both of their opening best-of-ones but lost two straight qualifying best-of-three series by a 2-0 margin in each series, once to Bad News Eagles and then to FURIA. C9’s start to the Challengers Stage couldn’t have been worse, falling into a 0-2 hole after losses to Fnatic and Grayhound, but they stayed alive with two 2-0 wins against Imperial and Evil Geniuses.
While C9 seemed like they owned the momentum heading into this decisive series, it was actually GamerLegion who jumped out to an early lead on their CT side of C9’s pick of Overpass, with acoR producing early and often on the AWP. C9 found no safe entry all half, trailing 11-4 at halftime. But C9 showed why they’ve made Overpass their home after switching to CT, putting on a near-flawless second-half performance carried by Ax1Le and sh1ro. C9 won 12 of the last 13 rounds to end up taking Overpass 16-13.
C9 looked poised to run away on Mirage after building a 6-2 lead on the CT side, but GamerLegion fought back to make it close, with C9 leading only 8-7 after their preferred side. The map stayed tight, with neither side able to maintain any considerable momentum at 13-13. Then, an unbelievable falling AK headshot from Ax1Le broke GamerLegion’s bank and their backs. C9 took three straight rounds to close out the map 16-13 and the series.
Typically, the calm and cool Ax1Le acted like the shot was no big deal in the post-match interview, but fans will remember that play for a long, long time. And for fans of the Major, there’s still more to come with the Legends Stage just around the corner. C9 will join the already stacked field and begin Legends Stage play on Saturday, Nov. 5.
