IEM Chicago Day 3: eUnited's run comes to an end; NRG fall to LDLC
The third day of IEM Chicago kicked off with Luminosity taking on eUnited, who surprised many earlier in the group stage after taking down Natus Vincere and contesting Fnatic. Starting on Mirage, Kaleb "moose" Jayne and co. struggled to find an upper hand against Luminosity, as the Brazilians took a sliver of a lead going into halftime 8-7. In the second half, the Teles brothers crushed eUnited, giving Luminosity the first map 16-10.
Gabriel "NEKIZ" Schenato rose up as the star player on Train, with Luminosity taking eight rounds in a row as the player output 100 ADR, giving them a good 10-5 advantage going into the second half. moose continued his strong performance from Mirage, but was unable to carry his team to victory, as Luminosity closed the map 16-9, eliminating the North American team and moving Luminosity onto the lower bracket finals of Group B.
LuminosityeUnited| Luminosity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Henrique 'HEN1' Teles |
37 - 23 | +14 | 73.2 | 74.5% | 1.26 |
| Lucas 'LUCAS1' Teles |
42 - 30 | +12 | 88.7 | 70.6% | 1.26 |
| Lucas 'steel' Lopes |
40 - 34 | +6 | 86.3 | 68.6% | 1.20 |
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
34 - 28 | +6 | 70.6 | 76.5% | 1.16 |
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
35 - 37 | -2 | 78.7 | 70.6% | 1.03 |
| eUnited |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kaleb 'moose' Jayne |
46 - 38 | +8 | 94.1 | 74.5% | 1.26 |
 Michael 'dapr' Gulino |
33 - 37 | -4 | 69.4 | 60.8% | 0.89 |
| Will 'dazzLe' Loafman |
25 - 40 | -15 | 64.3 | 62.7% | 0.78 |
| Pujan 'FNS' Mehta |
21 - 37 | -16 | 49.5 | 62.7% | 0.75 |
| Skyler 'Relyks' Weaver |
27 - 36 | -9 | 56.1 | 58.8% | 0.75 |
On the other side of the bracket, mousesports took on BIG, who yesterday eliminated the Ukranian powerhouse Natus Vincere in two close maps. Chris "chrisJ" de Jong's team started out strong on Dust2, going 5-2 but began to falter as BIG began rolling the T-side momentum in their favor, just barely edging out a 8-7 lead in the first half. Taking advantage of the T-side, mousesports rebounded with a steadfast second half, winning them the first map of the series 16-10.
A similar story played out on Train, as both European teams were neck-and-neck in the first half as mousesports took the one-point lead this time. After successfully shutting down Owen "smooya" Butterfield, mousesports rolled in the second half once again, taking the second map 16-10 and the series 2-0. As BIG go home, mousesports move on to the lower bracket finals of Group B, where they met Luminosity.
BIGMOUZ| BIG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz |
36 - 40 | -4 | 69.4 | 55.8% | 0.92 |
| Tizian 'tiziaN' Feldbusch |
27 - 34 | -7 | 60.7 | 59.6% | 0.84 |
| Johannes 'nex' Maget |
29 - 37 | -8 | 65.1 | 59.6% | 0.82 |
| Fatih 'gob b' Dayik |
23 - 36 | -13 | 59.3 | 59.6% | 0.75 |
 Owen 'smooya' Butterfield |
27 - 37 | -10 | 51.9 | 50.0% | 0.69 |
| MOUZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Miikka 'suNny' Kemppi |
42 - 25 | +17 | 95.7 | 78.8% | 1.44 |
 Chris 'chrisJ' de Jong |
39 - 30 | +9 | 81.7 | 75.0% | 1.28 |
 Robin 'ropz' Kool |
34 - 25 | +9 | 71.9 | 75.0% | 1.20 |
 Martin 'STYKO' Styk |
36 - 33 | +3 | 68.4 | 67.3% | 1.02 |
 Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastný |
33 - 29 | +4 | 57.5 | 61.5% | 1.01 |
As the two most experienced teams in the world, Astralis and FaZe clashed in the upper bracket finals of Group A. While Astralis are typically known for their intense teamwork and structure, the Danish squad fell short against FaZe on Mirage, with the European mix making huge gains in the first half, going 11-4. The momentum continued into the second half, as Astralis lost the map 16-7.
Down 0-1, Astralis struggled to get back into the game, with FaZe remaining competitive on Inferno. FaZe took an 8-7 lead in the first half, and swiped the first five rounds of the second half, putting them up 13-7. Astralis stretched the map to its full 30 rounds, pushing the game into overtime. Nikola "NiKo" Kovač crushed Astralis, taking four straight rounds in overtime for his team, giving FaZe the map 19-15 and the series 2-0. FaZe are now seeded into the semifinals of the playoffs, with Astralis falling back to the quarterfinals.
AstralisFaZe| Astralis |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander |
38 - 45 | -7 | 73.6 | 59.6% | 0.95 |
| Nicolai 'device' Reedtz |
33 - 38 | -5 | 68.6 | 63.2% | 0.90 |
| Emil 'Magisk' Reif |
31 - 42 | -11 | 71.9 | 64.9% | 0.88 |
| Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen |
33 - 41 | -8 | 67.6 | 61.4% | 0.82 |
| Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth |
26 - 35 | -9 | 42.6 | 59.6% | 0.71 |
| FaZe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač |
56 - 35 | +21 | 111.9 | 80.7% | 1.60 |
 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard |
46 - 32 | +14 | 85.0 | 82.5% | 1.34 |
| Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács |
33 - 24 | +9 | 61.1 | 78.9% | 1.13 |
 Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer |
38 - 33 | +5 | 70.2 | 71.9% | 1.07 |
| Finn 'karrigan' Andersen |
28 - 37 | -9 | 57.3 | 73.7% | 0.89 |
With two titles behind them, NRG were poised to slide their way into the playoffs in Chicago. All that was standing between them and a seed into the quarterfinals was LDLC, whose underdog (heh) status and strong performance has allowed them to eliminate Renegades and North in the lower bracket. Not wanting to be LDLC's next victim, Ethan "nahtE" Arnold and Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov fought tooth-and-nail for Nuke, with two even halves and six rounds of overtime giving the North Americans the first map 19-17.
NRG successfully converted their win on Nuke into momentum on Overpass, taking five straight rounds off the bat and securing a 9-6 lead in the first half. That momentum came to a halt as LDLC dominated the T-side, taking ten rounds to secure the second map 16-11, tying the series.
LDLC remained stalwart on Train, but a continued performance from nahtE kept the Americans close to tying the first half, going 7-8. However, akin to Overpass, LDLC dealt a hard blow to NRG in the second half, only losing one additional round to close the map 16-8 and taking the series 2-1, eliminating NRG and moving the French team to the quarterfinals.
NRGLDLC| NRG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethan 'Ethan' Arnold |
68 - 62 | +6 | 92.9 | 67.8% | 1.22 |
| Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte |
66 - 61 | +5 | 79.8 | 71.3% | 1.10 |
 Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov |
58 - 57 | +1 | 63.2 | 67.8% | 0.98 |
| Damian 'daps' Steele |
43 - 61 | -18 | 61.1 | 65.5% | 0.83 |
| Jacob 'FugLy' Medina |
41 - 60 | -19 | 58.0 | 63.2% | 0.81 |
| LDLC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 François 'AMANEK' Delaunay |
59 - 50 | +9 | 77.6 | 69.0% | 1.10 |
| Logan 'LOGAN' Corti |
62 - 56 | +6 | 73.7 | 73.6% | 1.10 |
| Alex 'ALEX' McMeekin |
69 - 64 | +5 | 78.8 | 71.3% | 1.09 |
 Antoine 'to1nou' Pirard |
56 - 48 | +8 | 68.0 | 70.1% | 1.08 |
| David 'devoduvek' Dobrosavljevic |
55 - 59 | -4 | 76.4 | 69.0% | 1.02 |
After making eUnited see stars, Luminosity trodded forward to meet mousesports in the lower bracket finals of Group B. mousesports struck first on Cache, taking a 9-1 lead before Luminosity could respond, taking a few rounds to end the first half 10-5. The Brazilians pushed forward, reaching the double digits, but were unable to outpace mousesports, who successfully closed Cache 16-13, taking the first map.
Luminosity's strong scoreline on Cache seemed to be but a mirage, as Robin "ropz" Kool showed his true power on Mirage, striking down Luminosity 16-5, giving mousesports the series 2-0 and eliminating Luminosity from the tournament, putting Liquid as the only American team going into the playoffs in Chicago. mousesports move on to the quarterfinals of IEM Chicago, where they will meet the dreaded Astralis.
LuminosityMOUZ| Luminosity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henrique 'HEN1' Teles |
36 - 34 | +2 | 72.8 | 66.0% | 1.04 |
| Lucas 'LUCAS1' Teles |
32 - 33 | -1 | 69.6 | 70.0% | 0.98 |
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
27 - 39 | -12 | 60.1 | 64.0% | 0.80 |
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
27 - 42 | -15 | 65.3 | 70.0% | 0.79 |
| Lucas 'steel' Lopes |
23 - 39 | -16 | 53.0 | 60.0% | 0.66 |
| MOUZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robin 'ropz' Kool |
47 - 29 | +18 | 94.5 | 80.0% | 1.49 |
| Chris 'chrisJ' de Jong |
41 - 31 | +10 | 84.7 | 76.0% | 1.31 |
| Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastný |
38 - 25 | +13 | 78.9 | 80.0% | 1.31 |
| Miikka 'suNny' Kemppi |
38 - 27 | +11 | 81.5 | 68.0% | 1.16 |
| Martin 'STYKO' Styk |
23 - 33 | -10 | 50.3 | 72.0% | 0.86 |
The final series of the day featured fnatic and Liquid clashing in the upper bracket finals of Group B. Kicking off on Mirage, both the Swedish and American team seemed evenly matched, with Liquid pulling out the 8-7 lead in the first half. Going on the defense, Jesper "JW" Wecksell's team swept the map out from under Liquid, taking Mirage 16-12.
Liquid pulled in on a high tide on Inferno, squashing fnatic in the first half 12-3 with Epitacio "TACO" de Melo at the helm. fnatic attempted to return the favor in the second half, but were successfully shut down by Liquid, who closed the map 16-12, tying the series.
On Overpass, Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin and JW threw down Liquid, sweeping through an 11-4 first half while Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski struggled to get his team's head in the game. While the Americans were able to catch the first three rounds of the second half, fnatic hastily closed that avenue for Liquid, ending the map at 16-7 and giving them the series 2-1. fnatic move on to the semifinals of the playoffs, while Liquid mosey on along to the quarterfinals, where they will take on LDLC.
fnaticLiquid| fnatic |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin |
61 - 46 | +15 | 73.6 | 78.5% | 1.18 |
| Freddy 'KRIMZ' Johansson |
53 - 52 | +1 | 88.9 | 77.2% | 1.15 |
| Jesper 'JW' Wecksell |
53 - 48 | +5 | 79.5 | 67.1% | 1.12 |
| Simon 'twist' Eliasson |
52 - 50 | +2 | 69.5 | 64.6% | 1.04 |
| Richard 'Xizt' Landström |
43 - 52 | -9 | 63.8 | 72.2% | 0.93 |
| Liquid |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo |
51 - 51 | +0 | 78.1 | 70.9% | 1.06 |
| Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken |
53 - 52 | +1 | 69.9 | 74.7% | 1.05 |
| Keith 'NAF' Markovic |
50 - 51 | -1 | 77.4 | 67.1% | 1.04 |
| Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
51 - 55 | -4 | 66.4 | 63.3% | 0.97 |
| Nick 'nitr0' Cannella |
42 - 53 | -11 | 62.0 | 63.3% | 0.90 |
The matchups and schedule for today's matches are:
| Friday, November 9 | ||
| 1:00 PM | LDLC vs.  Liquid |
BO3 |
| 4:35 PM | Astralis vs.  mousesports |
BO3 |
