EnVyUs take out Cloud9, NiP destroy TheMongolZ
On the main IEM Oakland stream, the Frenchmen of EnVyUs were up against the Americans of Cloud9. With the map vetoed down to Cobblestone, it was EnVyUs on their CT side starting the action, by taking the pistol round and it's two brothers. Cloud9 then started a small run of their own, thanks to consistent fragging power from Timothy "autimatic" Ta, heading on to pick up the next five rounds to give them a solid foundation in the half. The Frenchmen then went on to regain the lead once again, with Christophe "SIXER" Xia becoming a solid door on the A-site in the tying round. From there on, the two sides traded the final three rounds out, with the Frenchmen taking a narrow 8-7 lead at the half.
Cloud9 were next up on the CT-side and used such a position to take the pistol round, but disaster struck. EnVyUs then instantly replied on their eco round to start a run that lasted until the end of the game. An extremely strong performance from both Alexandre "xms" Forté and the tank of Cédric "RpK" Guipouy brought nV over the line and kept them within a hair breadth's of making it through to playoffs.
After a close half it all fell apart for Cloud9. Both of the teams are now on 2-2 records and it heads to the final games to determine who'll be the team to take the final play-off spot.
EnvyCloud9| Envy |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Vincent 'Happy' Schopenhauer |
18 - 9 | +9 | 79.0 | 79.2% | 1.50 |
| Cédric 'RpK' Guipouy |
21 - 13 | +8 | 88.6 | 83.3% | 1.44 |
| Alexandre 'xms' Forté |
18 - 15 | +3 | 93.3 | 83.3% | 1.40 |
 Adil 'ScreaM' Benrlitom |
18 - 8 | +10 | 79.9 | 79.2% | 1.30 |
| Christophe 'SIXER' Xia |
18 - 14 | +4 | 62.4 | 87.5% | 1.18 |
| Cloud9 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 William 'RUSH' Wierzba |
17 - 19 | -2 | 86.4 | 62.5% | 1.01 |
| Tarik 'tarik' Celik |
13 - 20 | -7 | 72.7 | 70.8% | 0.93 |
| Timothy 'autimatic' Ta |
11 - 17 | -6 | 62.6 | 45.8% | 0.76 |
| Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip |
13 - 20 | -7 | 65.8 | 50.0% | 0.64 |
| Tyler 'Skadoodle' Latham |
4 - 18 | -14 | 25.4 | 62.5% | 0.46 |
On the other hand, the on-form Swedes of NiP were up against the eternal underdogs of TheMongolz. Kicking off on Train, NiP saw themselves on the CT side where TheMongolz managed to take the pistol round and it's following round, before NiP showed why they were the favorites. Strong performances from veteran Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg kept multiple round streaks on their side. TheMongolz managed to pick up rounds outside of that, but the Swedes were the team with the upper-hand going into the half with a 11-4 lead.
The Mongolian side managed to once again take the pistol round, but from there NiP took the eco round and made a straight run to the end of the game. A strong performance from Temuulen "Zilkenberg" Battulga was not enough for his team, as their opponents were the better team on the day winning 16-5.
This result saw TheMongolz remain dead last in Group A, on a 0-4 record. NiP on the other hand secured their play-off spot by making it to a 3-1 record.
Ninjas in PyjamasTheMongolz| Ninjas in Pyjamas |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg |
23 - 9 | +14 | 113.9 | 76.2% | 1.83 |
| Richard 'Xizt' Landström |
20 - 8 | +12 | 94.3 | 81.0% | 1.50 |
| Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner |
15 - 7 | +8 | 74.7 | 81.0% | 1.38 |
| William 'draken' Sundin |
19 - 10 | +9 | 81.8 | 76.2% | 1.31 |
| Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund |
10 - 7 | +3 | 71.7 | 90.5% | 1.16 |
| TheMongolz |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Temuulen 'Zilkenberg' Battulga |
13 - 16 | -3 | 80.4 | 42.9% | 0.94 |
| Enkhtaivan 'Machinegun' Lkhagva |
10 - 18 | -8 | 53.9 | 28.6% | 0.56 |
| Bold 'ncl' Batsuh |
8 - 18 | -10 | 56.6 | 33.3% | 0.50 |
| Tsog 'Tsogoo' Mashbat |
7 - 17 | -10 | 41.3 | 42.9% | 0.49 |
| Erdenedalai 'maaRaa' Bayanbat |
3 - 18 | -15 | 26.1 | 38.1% | 0.24 |
The final games of Group A can give anyone a chance in the group. Astralis get the easier tie against TheMongolz, whereas Cloud9 have to face a strong SK Gaming side to retain a chance of qualification. The final game sees two hot-on-form teams of EnVyUs and NiP face off for a spot. It truly is all to play for in Oakland.
