Cloud9 come back from 1-16 start to fend off Furia and advance
Cloud9 stayed alive in the 2019 Katowice Major, but it wasn’t easy.
Cloud9 narrowly defeated Furia in a three-game series to prolong the team’s tournament run.
The match opened on Mirage in embarrassing fashion for Cloud9. Throughout the first half, the squad struggled with a lack of coordination and weapon accuracy. This resulted in botches and misplays that Furia took advantage of, culminating in a 16-1 loss for Cloud9.
While that flop suggested the team was doomed to an early exit from the major, Cloud9 fired back on Inferno. Timothy “autimatic” Ta and Fabien “kioShiMa” Fiey found their grooves and posted their best games of the tournament thus far. Furia never found the necessary kills to chip away at Cloud9’s advantage, and Cloud9 flipped the first map’s score to win game two 16-1.
The deciding showdown on Cache was a much more competitive affair. A CT start for Cloud9 saw the team get comfortable with an early lead, but Furia stole multiple rounds in the first half with its unorthodox use of the squeaky door to defend bombs planted on the A site. The momentum swung hard after halftime, as Cloud9 leveraged the map’s T-side advantages and took over the lead. Furia kept swinging, but Cloud9’s veteran experience and Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro’s clutch skills locked down a 16-10 win.
According to analysts, this series was the first time in the game’s history that teams have traded 16-1 maps at a Counter-Strike major. What’s more, the 16-1 losses actually came on each team’s choice of map. Cloud9 may reconsider picking Mirage in the next round.
Though this was an amusing turn of events, it comes with some sadness as Furia is eliminated from the Katowice Major with a 1-3 record. Cloud9 will play in the final round of the New Challengers Stage against Winstrike Team with the winner advancing to the New Legends Stage and the loser being sent home.
Steven Rondina
About Steven Rondina
Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.
View full profile
Read Also
News
The Esports Nations Cup Has Been Postponed to November 2027
Ben Boland
The 2026 Esports Nations Cup has been suspended until 2027. The Esports Foundation announced the delay on August 18, citing ongoing regional uncertainty. The inaugural competition was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising over 100 national teams and featuring 16 different games, including League of Legends. According to the Esports Foundation, this decision follows ongoing developments in the region and consultation with key stakeholders. Moving the event ...
Esports Betting
MLBB is the most-watched game from the EWC, and it’s hard to see another game beating it
Michael Hassall
The Esports World Cup 2026 has officially passed its midway point and viewership figures for the tournament have surpassed many expectations so far, as per Esports Charts. The viewership tracking site revealed new statistics for the event on Aug. 6, showcasing just how many games had set new records in viewership, including one name leading the way in views: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. MLBB leads the viewership charts with the ...
Counter-Strike
CS2 at the EWC 2026 Preview: Odds, Details, Predictions and More
Owen Harsono
Top-tier Counter-Strike action returns at the Esports World Cup, as 32 of the best teams will take the trip to Paris to compete for millions of dollars. If you’re looking to watch the event, here’s everything you need to know and which teams to keep an eye on. The Esports World Cup is one of the largest CS2 events if we’re looking at prize pools, as $2,000,000 will be distributed ...
News
Opinion: Is Esports Tracing the Same Evolutionary Path As Traditional Sports?
Cecilia Ciocchetti
What happens when an industry compresses centuries of sporting evolution into less than a decade or two? Communities become global audiences overnight, rivalries spread through social media within minutes, and tournaments turn into entertainment products faster than ever before. And so what took traditional sports centuries to build has taken esports a fraction of that. From local communities to sold out arenas, and from informal matches to Olympic-style events, the ...
Counter-Strike
BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-final predictions: who’s making it to the grand final?
Owen Harsono
The top four teams we’re seeing at the BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-finals are far from what anyone would expect before the tournament began, but here we are. We’re only three matches from crowning a winner, so let’s take a look at the best BLAST Bounty semi-final predictions for both upcoming matchups. Starting the semi-finals off is a banger of a series between FaZe Clan and Team Spirit, which is one ...
Counter-Strike
We Ranked The Top 5 Most Hated CS2 Maps
Owen Harsono
If you’re a Counter-Strike player, you probably have that one map you always ban first in every Premier game — and you're not alone as almost everyone has one too. Below, we’ll take a look at the most hated maps in Counter-Strike history and explain why they are disliked by the community at large. Anubis is one of the newer releases in the Counter-Strike 2 map pool, but it has ...
Counter-Strike
The Top 10 Best Clutches in Counter-Strike History Ranked
Owen Harsono
Pulling off an impossible clutch is one of the greatest hits of dopamine any Counter-Strike 2 player can ever feel. However, pulling them off at the highest level can be a little tricky since everyone is so coordinated. That’s exactly why mind-blowing clutches are remembered forever. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at the 10 best clutches in Counter-Strike history. We’re opening the list with former mousesports ...
