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Cloud9 defeat ENCE to become IEM Dallas 2022 Champions

fragster Shubh 6. June 2022

The Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2022 wrapped up yesterday with Cloud9 smashing ENCE in the finals. Cloud9 trounced ENCE in all three matches to earn their first victory at a top-tier CS:GO competition since the 2018 Major in Boston. 

Cloud9’s journey in the IEM Dallas wasn’t an easy one, as they had to overcome multiple of the world’s top CS:GO teams to get into the Grand Final. Their first match saw a 10:16 victory against Team Liquid, however, their following match against FURIA ended up with a 2-0 loss and a transfer to the lower bracket. From there they continued by taking out Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team Liquid, both with a 2-0 score to qualify for the knockouts.

In the playoffs, they first defeated FaZe Clan 2-1 before beating BIG with the same result in the semifinals to secure a spot in the Grand Final.

Cloud9’s dominance in the Grand Final

ENCE picked Mirage to kick off the supercharged finals, picking up early-rounds on the CT side. C9 tried to make a comeback, but they only won five rounds, leaving ENCE with a 10-5 halftime lead. With Dmitriy “sh1ro” Sokolov’s outstanding performance in the second half, C9 was able to equalize the score to 10-10. ENCE held on for two more rounds before C9’s Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov and Abai “HObbit” Hasenov shattered ENCE’s defenses and won the map 16-12.

C9 continued their domination in the second map to establish an early lead. The team gained complete control of Overpass, causing ENCE to falter under their fierce counterattacks. C9 came out on top 10-5 in the first half, thanks to a composed team effort and double-digit kills from all five players. 

ENCE, on the other hand, rallied in the second half, winning three consecutive rounds to make a comeback. With a K/D/A of 21/17/2, Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski put on a brilliant playmaking performance, but ENCE was unable to capitalize on the momentum. C9’s Hobbit and sh1ro once again came through for the team, securing a 16-11 victory on Overpass.

The best-of-five match series went to the third map Ancient. To win the championship, C9 only needed one win, whereas ENCE required a miracle comeback. While the first two maps were a huge letdown for ENCE, Ancient turned out to be an even larger disaster.

C9 wins three rounds in a row to start the map, but they became overly aggressive in the subsequent rounds and were quickly punished by ENCE. Both teams traded one more round, but Cloud9 ruled the rest of the first half. As the C9 players hammered them back and forth, ENCE appeared to be crumbling in the face of the fearsome C9.

C9’s In-Game Leader Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov and Sh1ro combined for 46 kills,  eliminating any hope for ENCE to make a comeback. They hammered the final nail in the coffin, winning all four of the opening four rounds on their T-side to win the series 3-0 with a commanding 16-3 victory.

With this win Cloud9 claim their first CS: GO trophy since January 2018, when they won the ELEAGUE Boston Major. ENCE, on the other hand, had an amazing run in the tournament but missed out on the trophy after slipping up in the decisive match.

Header: ESL