Cloud9 win North American derby over Liquid

Cloud9 have booked their spot in the cs_summit 2 upper bracket final after defeating Liquid 2-0 (16-4 on Cobblestone and 16-11 on Mirage).

The second match of the day kicked off on Cobblestone, Liquid's map pick, with Cloud9 securing their CT pistol on the back of a trio of kills from Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik. A keenly-contested period then followed, as rounds went back and forth, but Cloud9 took the reins of the game and closed out the half with an impressive 12-3 lead. 

Liquid then found a lifeline thanks to a quad-kill from Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic in the pistol round, but they were dealt a heavy blow in the next round as Cloud9 hit back immediately. The Major champions never let go, eventually locking down the map at 16-4 with a great 1v3 clutch from Timothy "⁠autimatic⁠" Ta.

Cloud9 will take on SK in the upper bracket final

Cloud9 started their map pick, Mirage, on the right foot, bagging a quick 5-0 lead after picking up their T-side pistol. Surprisingly enough, Liquid's first round win came on a shoddy buy in the seventh round.

After that, Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella's men tightened up their defense, winning five of the next six rounds to bring the deficit to three rounds by the end of the half.

With their third successful pistol round, Cloud9 set themselves up for a 11-6 lead. tarik's squad then responded well to a third-round buy from their opponents with an aggressive strategy, further increasing their lead to seven rounds.

Liquid still found a way back into the game as they won the next four rounds, but Cloud9 would not let the game slip away from them. After hitting match-point with a 1v3 clutch from Tyler "⁠Skadoodle⁠" Latham to hit match-point, Cloud9 quickly wrapped things up to assure themselves of a spot in the Upper Bracket final, in which they will take on SK.

cs_summit 2Best of 3 LiquidMatchpage 0 2 9th February 2018 Cloud9 4Cobblestone 16 11Mirage 16

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Keith 'NAF' MarkovicNAF	29 - 40	-11	82.0	1.02
Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz	35 - 37	-2	75.5	1.00
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	26 - 39	-13	70.6	0.85
Lucas 'steel' Lopessteel	25 - 35	-10	63.1	0.82
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	19 - 35	-16	42.9	0.63

Cloud9	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Timothy 'autimatic' Taautimatic	49 - 29	+20	104.6	1.49
Tyler 'Skadoodle' LathamSkadoodle	36 - 22	+14	75.1	1.31
William 'RUSH' WierzbaRUSH	33 - 27	+6	89.2	1.29
Jake 'Stewie2K' YipStewie2K	31 - 29	+2	70.6	1.16
Tarik 'tarik' Celiktarik	37 - 28	+9	76.9	1.13

Tyler 'Skadoodle' Latham Age: 24 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 861 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.58 SK #2 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFernando 'fer' AlvarengaRicardo 'boltz' PrassMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidEpitacio 'TACO' de Melo Nick 'nitr0' Cannella Age: 22 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 750 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.68 Liquid #11 Lucas 'steel' LopesNick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Keith 'NAF' Markovic Age: 20 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 686 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.65 Tarik 'tarik' Celik Age: 21 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 784 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.68 Timothy 'autimatic' Ta Age: 21 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 683 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.68 Cloud9 #3 Tyler 'Skadoodle' LathamWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTarik 'tarik' CelikTimothy 'autimatic' TaJake 'Stewie2K' Yip