The action and the passion continued on the third day of the playoffs
CSGO fans were treated to an absolute blast in the form of the Semifinals of the Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major yesterday, with both series going into the third map and containing plenty of back-and-forth action. The Rio crowd also made things memorable with incredible chants and cheers — especially for home favorites FURIA Esports, and if you missed out on the live action, this is where you can catch up.
MOUZ vs Outsiders
For MOUZ, there really was nothing to lose. They had already proven themselves and the sky was the only limit. Outsiders are also in a similar situation, but because of their pre-established pedigree, they were expected to take the win. Here’s what happened.
Game 1
MOUZ’s pick of Ancient looked like a good decision early on as the youngsters picked up four rounds on the trot at the start of their T-side, but Outsiders retorted sharply with a 7-round streak. The former was only able to take one more round as their opponents closed the half 10-5.
MOUZ proceeded to win the second Pistol Round and went on a 3-round streak, but despite putting up a strong fight, they were unable to deal with Outsiders’ sneaky tactics and slow, lurky playstyle as the CIS squad closed the game 16-10. Dzhami “Jame” Ali and David “n0rb3r7” Daniyelyan were the heroes for their team.
Game 2
Having won their opponents’ map pick, Outsiders were the favorites for their own Overpass. Their start seemed to suggest so as they went up 6 rounds to 5 at the end of the 11th round. However, MOUZ shut them out for the remainder of the half to pick up a respectable 9 on the defense.
Outsiders’ then bounced up to 12 with 6 consecutive rounds on the CT-side, and when they grabbed two of the next four, it seemed as though the series would come to a swift conclusion. MOUZ, though, had other plans as they rocked the server to win five rounds without fail to win the match by the barest of margins. Jame was once again superb for Outsiders, but Dorian “xertioN” Berman and a team effort from MOUZ sealed the deal.
Game 3
The third map, Inferno, was all about Outsiders as they absolutely bulldozed MOUZ. The youngsters started well on the T-side, and despite a 7-round streak by their opponents, managed to get a respectable 6 rounds on the attack.
This, however, would prove to be woefully inadequate as they could only claim one round on the defense. Outsiders wiped the floor with MOUZ as the duo of Evgeniy “FL1T” Lebedev and Pyotr “fame” Bolyshev shook up the venue with their incredible play.
Heroic vs FURIA Esports
With both teams having worked tremendously hard to have made it this far, and both teams highly deserving a spot in the final, it was going to come down to a battle of wits and nerves. The crowd that had been Heroic’s the day before now backed FURIA, and the Danes would have to deal with the hostility while doing their best.
Game 1
Things began well enough for Heroic on the T-side with the first 3 rounds going to them, but FURIA took 7 on the bounce to get the crowd to hit fever pitch with their cheers and chants. Heroic would get 3 more to end the half on 9-6, but as we would find out, it wasn’t nearly enough.
FURIA were beasts on the T-side. Heroic might as well have not even been on the server for all the difference it made, because FURIA won 7 rounds straight to close the map 16-6. It was an Andrei “arT” Piovezan show, but he had excellent assistance from his entire team.
Game 2
With the crowd borderline maniacal, it seemed as though nothing could stop FURIA from a Major final. On their map pick of Ancient, they did very well near the start to get 5 rounds from the first 8, but Heroic returned with a vengeance to limit the fan favorites to just those 5.
In the second half, Heroic took the first five to be on map point at 15-5. It was at this moment that FURIA, egged on by their fans, mounted an insane comeback to take 10 rounds straight and take the game into overtime. Heroic weren’t going out that easily though, and they managed to take four rounds in OT to win 19-16 and take the series all the way.
Game 3
If Game 1 was a FURIA Show, Game 3 on Nuke was a heroic performance from the squad of the same name. Almost every one of their players were absolutely on point, and they went on a rampage on the T-side, not letting FURIA build up anything of an economy as they took round after round on the typically CT-sided map.
With victory within their sights, they battened the hatches and completely shut out FURIA on the T-side, bringing the game to a premature ending at 16-5. Casper “cadiaN” Møller and the others were superb, but Martin “stavn” Lund was simply out of this world. He was running circles around the Brazilians and putting up a 1.96-rated performance which included a brilliant 1v4 Ace clutch.
There’s just one more match to go, so be sure to join us for the recap afterwards. Plus, find the best CS:GO betting sites here on ESTNN.
