eUnited find a huge upset against Natus Vincere, bringing them up to the semifinals

November 7, 2018 01:21AM

Written by bleghfarec

IEM Chicago Day 1: eUnited finesse a win against Natus Vincere

The first day of IEM Chicago has come to a close, with four teams eliminated and eight teams set to duke it out in the upper bracket. Among the prominent contenders, eUnited and Liquid both survived their opening matches, with Renegades and NRG being relegated to the lower bracket.

Also read: ESL release IEM Chicago schedule

Group A kicked off with a double Danish feature, with Astralis taking on MVP PK and North taking on NRG. Astralis were caught offguard by the Korean roster, but kept the lead at halftime with an 8-7 scoreline on the CT-side. MVP PK were unable to take on the Danish force despite the advantages of the CT-side, as Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen quickly wrapped up the map 16-8.

IEM Chicago 2018

Nuke

Astralis

16 - 8

MVP PK

All maps

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen	26 - 12	+14	106.2	87.5%	1.74
Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth	21 - 16	+5	105.1	83.3%	1.37
Nicolai 'device' Reedtz	18 - 13	+5	75.1	62.5%	1.18
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander	18 - 15	+3	87.0	70.8%	1.09
Emil 'Magisk' Reif	13 - 13	+0	56.0	79.2%	0.90

MVP PK	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Min-Seok 'zeff' Park	16 - 17	-1	81.6	54.2%	0.99
Hyun-Pyo 'XigN' Lee	15 - 20	-5	73.6	58.3%	0.91
Seon-Ho 'xeta' Son	15 - 20	-5	61.2	62.5%	0.90
Min-Soo 'glow' Kim	13 - 20	-7	65.0	58.3%	0.66
Keun-Chul 'solo' Kang	10 - 19	-9	50.6	50.0%	0.64

Maps

dupreeh26 kills

Most kills

dupreeh1.74 rating

Best rating

dupreeh1.94 rating

Best t-side

dupreeh1.63 rating

Best ct-side

Nuke Rounds

North and NRG was a similar contested match, with both teams starting out neck-and-neck on Cache and Ethan "nahtE" Arnold just barely edging out the lead for his team at halftime 8-7. North rebounded in the second half, with Nicklas "gade" Gade cleaning up NRG to give his team the map 16-10, knocking the North American team down to the lower bracket.

IEM Chicago 2018

Cch

NRG

10 - 16

North

All maps

NRG	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Ethan 'Ethan' Arnold	22 - 19	+3	82.5	65.4%	1.23
Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte	18 - 22	-4	82.9	69.2%	0.94
Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov	12 - 18	-6	61.3	65.4%	0.91
Damian 'daps' Steele	13 - 22	-9	66.4	65.4%	0.77
Jacob 'FugLy' Medina	14 - 17	-3	54.5	50.0%	0.73

North	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Nicklas 'gade' Gade	24 - 15	+9	96.4	84.6%	1.56
Markus 'Kjaerbye' Kjærbye	22 - 18	+4	97.8	96.2%	1.35
Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså	23 - 15	+8	87.0	65.4%	1.34
Casper 'cadiaN' Møller	16 - 14	+2	64.2	76.9%	0.98
Philip 'aizy' Aistrup	13 - 17	-4	59.2	69.2%	0.81

Maps

gade24 kills

Most kills

gade1.56 rating

Best rating

gade2.18 rating

Best t-side

Kjaerbye1.44 rating

Best ct-side

Cache Rounds

Hindered by the absence of their coach, Renegades were set to take on MIBR, who have made themselves out to be a world-class team in recent events. The Australians kicked off the map with a strong lead in the first half, putting them up 10-5 with Joakim "jkaem" Myrbostad shining. MIBR turned up the heat in the second half, with Jake "Stewie2K" Yip pulling off a string to clutches to usurp the map 16-12, nearly going uncontested on the T-side.

IEM Chicago 2018

Inf

MIBR

16 - 12

Renegades

All maps

MIBR	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip	25 - 19	+6	102.8	78.6%	1.44
Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo	24 - 16	+8	91.2	75.0%	1.41
Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga	21 - 16	+5	78.6	78.6%	1.20
Marcelo 'coldzera' David	17 - 16	+1	63.3	82.1%	1.05
Tarik 'tarik' Celik	14 - 15	-1	58.6	78.6%	1.00

Renegades	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad	23 - 21	+2	81.9	67.9%	1.19
Sean 'Gratisfaction' Kaiwai	19 - 19	+0	76.5	71.4%	1.01
Jay 'Liazz' Tregillgas	16 - 22	-6	66.5	75.0%	0.97
Aaron 'AZR' Ward	14 - 21	-7	61.4	60.7%	0.80
Justin 'jks' Savage	10 - 18	-8	42.7	60.7%	0.63

Maps

Stewie2K25 kills

Most kills

Stewie2K1.44 rating

Best rating

Stewie2K2.06 rating

Best t-side

FalleN1.36 rating

Best ct-side

Inferno Rounds

Despite their shaky performance in the past few events, FaZe started out confident against LDLC, taking nine rounds in a row during the first half against the French team. The mixed European squad were soon met with difficulties in the second half, as Antoine "to1nou" Pirard went on a miracle run to nearly push the match into overtime 14-15, before FaZe finally closed the map 16-14, knocking LDLC down the bracket.

IEM Chicago 2018

Mrg

FaZe

16 - 14

LDLC

All maps

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač	22 - 19	+3	92.9	63.3%	1.22
Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács	23 - 18	+5	64.3	63.3%	1.06
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard	19 - 18	+1	65.9	63.3%	0.98
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen	17 - 23	-6	71.7	70.0%	0.94
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer	13 - 18	-5	51.5	63.3%	0.83

LDLC	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Antoine 'to1nou' Pirard	26 - 17	+9	92.8	83.3%	1.50
David 'devoduvek' Dobrosavljevic	24 - 19	+5	89.1	70.0%	1.20
François 'AMANEK' Delaunay	16 - 15	+1	58.3	70.0%	0.97
Logan 'LOGAN' Corti	14 - 19	-5	55.6	70.0%	0.81
Alex 'ALEX' McMeekin	16 - 24	-8	57.5	53.3%	0.72

Maps

to1nou26 kills

Most kills

to1nou1.50 rating

Best rating

NiKo1.05 rating

Best t-side

to1nou2.41 rating

Best ct-side

Mirage Rounds

In the Group B opener, eUnited's fresh new roster took on Natus Vincere, who recently took a strong victory at BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen. In the biggest upset of the day, the American roster dazzled on Mirage, with Chicagoan Will "dazzLe" Loafman dominating the Ukranian and Russian powerhouse to take their first map 16-6. The North American teeam move on to the upper bracket semifinals, as Natus Vincere experience an early demotion to the lower bracket.

IEM Chicago 2018

Mrg

Natus Vincere

6 - 16

eUnited

All maps

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Denis 'electroNic' Sharipov	20 - 16	+4	94.7	81.8%	1.26
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev	18 - 14	+4	84.5	68.2%	1.21
Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev	8 - 16	-8	59.7	59.1%	0.69
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev	9 - 16	-7	51.5	68.2%	0.67
Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko	6 - 17	-11	37.1	54.5%	0.45

eUnited	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Will 'dazzLe' Loafman	24 - 13	+11	115.7	72.7%	1.69
Kaleb 'moose' Jayne	18 - 11	+7	106.5	81.8%	1.49
Skyler 'Relyks' Weaver	16 - 13	+3	76.1	72.7%	1.28
Pujan 'FNS' Mehta	9 - 12	-3	57.0	77.3%	0.94
Michael 'dapr' Gulino	12 - 12	+0	55.2	63.6%	0.90

Maps

dazzLe24 kills

Most kills

dazzLe1.69 rating

Best rating

dazzLe2.03 rating

Best t-side

moose2.15 rating

Best ct-side

Mirage Rounds

Fnatic went big against BIG on Cache, taking a strong 11-4 first half with Freddy "KRIMZ" Johansson and Simon "twist" Eliasson at the helm. Overwhelming the German core, Fnatic swiped away the map 16-9, moving them to the upper bracket.

IEM Chicago 2018

Cch

fnatic

16 - 9

BIG

All maps

fnatic	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Freddy 'KRIMZ' Johansson	29 - 14	+15	119.8	84.0%	1.82
Simon 'twist' Eliasson	27 - 10	+17	97.8	84.0%	1.77
Jesper 'JW' Wecksell	14 - 12	+2	65.8	72.0%	1.13
Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin	13 - 14	-1	68.8	76.0%	1.10
Richard 'Xizt' Landström	13 - 13	+0	59.0	68.0%	0.92

BIG	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Johannes 'nex' Maget	17 - 19	-2	74.2	60.0%	0.90
Tizian 'tiziaN' Feldbusch	16 - 18	-2	76.9	52.0%	0.85
Owen 'smooya' Butterfield	12 - 20	-8	51.8	64.0%	0.69
Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz	12 - 20	-8	56.0	52.0%	0.67
Fatih 'gob b' Dayik	6 - 19	-13	49.8	44.0%	0.49

Maps

KRIMZ29 kills

Most kills

KRIMZ1.82 rating

Best rating

twist1.91 rating

Best t-side

KRIMZ1.85 rating

Best ct-side

Cache Rounds

Looking to compete against world-class talent, AVANGAR were unable to contest mousesports on Train, as Martin "STYKO" Styk led his squad through the Kazakhstani team, taking the map 16-5 and moving them up the bracket, while the optimistic CIS team fall down the bracket.

IEM Chicago 2018

Trn

MOUZ

16 - 5

AVANGAR

All maps

MOUZ	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Martin 'STYKO' Styk	24 - 7	+17	108.1	76.2%	1.89
Miikka 'suNny' Kemppi	24 - 13	+11	110.3	85.7%	1.86
Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastný	17 - 10	+7	81.2	76.2%	1.40
Robin 'ropz' Kool	13 - 12	+1	63.6	66.7%	1.03
Chris 'chrisJ' de Jong	7 - 11	-4	43.0	85.7%	0.91

AVANGAR	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Aidyn 'KrizzeN' Turlybekov	12 - 18	-6	75.2	47.6%	0.79
Alexey 'Qikert' Golubev	13 - 17	-4	74.1	71.4%	0.79
Dzhami 'Jame' Ali	12 - 16	-4	64.5	57.1%	0.76
Timur 'buster' Tulepov	10 - 16	-6	48.5	61.9%	0.65
Bektiyar 'fitch' Bahytov	5 - 18	-13	48.0	38.1%	0.42

Maps

suNny24 kills

Most kills

STYKO1.89 rating

Best rating

STYKO1.81 rating

Best t-side

STYKO2.10 rating

Best ct-side

Train Rounds

In a clash of the Americas, Lucas "steel" Lopes led Luminosity against his old team Liquid on Cache. In spite of an outstanding performance from Henrique "HEN1" Teles, Luminosity fell short as Liquid took the best-of-one 16-11, knocking the South American team down to the lower bracket and moving Liquid closer to the grand finals.

IEM Chicago 2018

Cch

Liquid

16 - 11

Luminosity

All maps

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski	21 - 19	+2	88.9	77.8%	1.32
Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo	22 - 16	+6	81.4	66.7%	1.26
Nick 'nitr0' Cannella	20 - 19	+1	78.1	70.4%	1.12
Keith 'NAF' Markovic	16 - 19	-3	79.7	74.1%	0.99
Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken	17 - 18	-1	62.8	66.7%	0.94

Luminosity	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Henrique 'HEN1' Teles	26 - 15	+11	107.7	81.5%	1.56
Gustavo 'yel' Knittel	17 - 17	+0	75.0	77.8%	1.11
Lucas 'LUCAS1' Teles	17 - 20	-3	72.2	66.7%	1.02
Lucas 'steel' Lopes	15 - 21	-6	63.4	70.4%	0.86
Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato	16 - 23	-7	50.1	55.6%	0.66

Maps

HEN126 kills

Most kills

HEN11.56 rating

Best rating

HEN12.11 rating

Best t-side

EliGE1.23 rating

Best ct-side

Cache Rounds

Down in the lower bracket, NRG went up against MVP PK, a team who has been steadily rising in the Asian scene. While the Korean team started with a decent 5-1 lead, NRG reversed the scoreline, taking a 9-6 lead at halftime. MVP PK struck a huge blow to NRG in the second half, as Keun-Chul "solo" Kang demonstrated his firepower capabilities, as MVP PK took the map 16-11 against the North American team.

Also read: ImAPet to miss remainder of IEM Chicago

NRG retaliated on Train, where Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov led the American squad to another strong 9-6 half, despite a stunning 1v5 clutch by Seon-Ho "minixeta" Son. NRG's conquest continued into the second half, as NRG tied the series 1-1 with a 16-9 victory on Train.

Also read: NRG win cs_summit 3

With the series tied on Inferno, minixeta continued to try to take back the series for his team, but was halted by Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte, who dominating the Asian team, giving NRG a massive 12-3 lead in the first half. MVP struggled to find footing in the second half, with NRG ultimately closing Inferno 16-8, giving them the series 2-1 and eliminating MVP PK from Chicago.

IEM Chicago 2018

Bo3

MVP PK

1 - 2

NRG

All maps

MVP PK	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Seon-Ho 'xeta' Son	66 - 50	+16	86.7	75.0%	1.25
Hyun-Pyo 'XigN' Lee	47 - 58	-11	69.4	71.1%	0.95
Keun-Chul 'solo' Kang	48 - 58	-10	71.9	59.2%	0.90
Min-Seok 'zeff' Park	36 - 60	-24	54.0	64.5%	0.74
Min-Soo 'glow' Kim	38 - 59	-21	56.8	63.2%	0.73

NRG	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte	67 - 47	+20	90.9	80.3%	1.36
Ethan 'Ethan' Arnold	65 - 50	+15	90.3	77.6%	1.31
Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov	58 - 42	+16	74.8	78.9%	1.28
Jacob 'FugLy' Medina	49 - 46	+3	82.4	78.9%	1.16
Damian 'daps' Steele	44 - 50	-6	59.6	72.4%	0.88

Maps

solo25 kills

Most kills

solo1.42 rating

Best rating

xeta1.00 rating

Best t-side

solo2.00 rating

Best ct-side

Dust2 Rounds

CeRq26 kills

Most kills

CeRq1.77 rating

Best rating

xeta1.44 rating

Best t-side

CeRq2.47 rating

Best ct-side

Train Rounds

Brehze33 kills

Most kills

Brehze2.05 rating

Best rating

FugLy1.55 rating

Best t-side

Brehze2.63 rating

Best ct-side

Inferno Rounds

Danish rivals Astralis and North clashed in the first upper bracket semifinal of Group A, albeit there was little contest for North. dupreeh crushed North on Inferno and Nuke, with 16-5 and 16-4 scorelines knocking Casper "cadiaN" Møller's squad down to the lower bracket.

IEM Chicago 2018

Bo3

Astralis

2 - 0

North

All maps

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen	42 - 20	+22	101.6	73.2%	1.65
Emil 'Magisk' Reif	33 - 16	+17	83.0	75.6%	1.36
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander	33 - 23	+10	86.0	80.5%	1.35
Nicolai 'device' Reedtz	29 - 24	+5	79.4	85.4%	1.28
Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth	20 - 19	+1	55.8	68.3%	1.02

North	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangså	21 - 31	-10	65.2	63.4%	0.81
Casper 'cadiaN' Møller	23 - 29	-6	53.2	56.1%	0.78
Markus 'Kjaerbye' Kjærbye	23 - 32	-9	69.8	51.2%	0.77
Philip 'aizy' Aistrup	18 - 34	-16	58.5	51.2%	0.68
Nicklas 'gade' Gade	17 - 31	-14	47.5	56.1%	0.60

Maps

dupreeh24 kills

Most kills

dupreeh1.85 rating

Best rating

Magisk1.67 rating

Best t-side

dupreeh2.16 rating

Best ct-side

Inferno Rounds

dupreeh18 kills

Most kills

dupreeh1.44 rating

Best rating

Magisk1.50 rating

Best t-side

dupreeh2.11 rating

Best ct-side

Nuke Rounds

In the second upper bracket semifinals of Group A, FaZe and MIBR duked it out for the second spot in the upper bracket finals. FaZe dealt a hard blow to MIBR in the first half of Cache, taking a clear 10-5 lead in the first half, lead by Håvard "rain" Nygaard. MIBR turned the map around in the second half, nearly tipping the map into overtime before before shut down by FaZe, who closed Cache with a tight 16-14 scoreline.

Also read: ECS Week 5 Recap - NRG surge to the top; MIBR on the hunt

Mirage played out in a similar fashion, ableit in reverse, with MIBR taking a strong 10-5 lead in the first half, this time with Tarik "tarik" Celik at the helm. FaZe mirrored the Brazilian's reverse sweep in the second half, but also fell short of closing the comeback, as MIBR tied the series 1-1, clutching the second map 16-14.

Also read: First two rounds of BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen complete; MIBR winless as Cloud9 see some success

On the decider map of Train, MIBR repeated their 10-5 lead in the first half, with tarik once again leading the Brazilian core up to halftime. Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer confidently took the map in his team's hands, as FaZe mounted an incredible comeback on the CT-side, taking the first ten straight rounds of the second half, flipping the scoreline and putting them at match point. After one last round win from MIBR, FaZe closed the station 16-11, giving them the series 2-1 and advancing them to the upper bracket finals.

FaZe will take on Astralis in the Group A upper bracket finals, which will determine the seeding for the playoffs, while MIBR are set to take on NRG in the second round of the lower bracket.

IEM Chicago 2018

Bo3

FaZe

2 - 1

MIBR

All maps

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer	67 - 54	+13	78.1	72.4%	1.19
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard	63 - 56	+7	76.7	70.1%	1.14
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač	59 - 54	+5	69.0	69.0%	1.07
Finn 'karrigan' Andersen	57 - 63	-6	74.3	67.8%	0.95
Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács	46 - 54	-8	55.7	59.8%	0.87

MIBR	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip	60 - 60	+0	81.1	69.0%	1.06
Tarik 'tarik' Celik	56 - 56	+0	70.2	70.1%	1.02
Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo	58 - 54	+4	69.6	66.7%	1.01
Marcelo 'coldzera' David	57 - 58	-1	75.3	63.2%	1.00
Fernando 'fer' Alvarenga	50 - 65	-15	65.3	62.1%	0.90

Maps

rain25 kills

Most kills

rain1.27 rating

Best rating

rain1.45 rating

Best t-side

Stewie2K1.46 rating

Best ct-side

Cache Rounds

NiKo29 kills

Most kills

NiKo1.48 rating

Best rating

karrigan1.17 rating

Best t-side

NiKo2.27 rating

Best ct-side

Mirage Rounds

olofmeister26 kills

Most kills

olofmeister1.41 rating

Best rating

FalleN0.86 rating

Best t-side

olofmeister2.15 rating

Best ct-side

Train Rounds

After nearly mounting a comeback against FaZe, LDLC were set to take on Renegades, with the latter team nearing elimination without their coach. Aaron "AZR" Ward led Renegades to an incredibly dominant first half on Overpass, taking thirteen of the fifteen rounds in the first half. François "AmaNEk" Delaunay attempted to mount a comeback with LDLC, reaching the double-digits before Renegades were finally able to close the map 16-12.

Wednesday, November 7
1:00 PM	Natus Vincere vs. BIG	B Stream	BO3
1:00 PM	AVANGAR vs. Luminosity	A Stream	BO3
4:35 PM	eUnited vs. Fnatic	A Stream	BO3
4:35 PM	MIBR vs. NRG	B Stream	BO3
8:10 PM	mousesports vs. Liquid	A Stream	BO3
8:10 PM	North vs. LDLC	B Stream	BO3