9z upset 00NATION in thrilling overtime clash
In thrilling all South American match-up, 9z came out on top against their favoured Brazillian opponents. 00NATION are desperate to prove that they have finally found the golden recipe, with their mix of legendary experience and young firepower, but it seems like there are still chinks in the Brazillians armour.
The series started off as expected with 00NATION securing the pistol and follow-up rounds on the CT-side without any problems, not even giving up a bomb plant. In the fourth round 00NATION's star AWPer Santino "try" Rigal established his dominance in the A Bathroom with a quick four-piece; it would have been a clean ace had Bruno "latto" Rebelatto not stolen the final scalp from him.
In the next gun round, 9z showed a bit of fight despite losing the opening kill and forced try into saving his AWP. This proved to be a shrewd bit of business from the teenage sniper as two early kills in the following round allowed 00NATION to pick up another two rounds. 9z managed to force the Brazillian teams onto a force buy, a round which they ended up losing after Lucas "nqz" Soares failed to convert the last kill in a 1v3 attempt.
However, 9z managed to recover the half and closed the gap from a 2-5 scoreline to 5-6, thanks in large parts due to nqz and Franco "dgt" Garcia managing to put in stellar performances. On the traditionally CT-sided map of Overpass, 9z could be satisfied with their five rounds in the opening half but would need the pistol to give themselves a chance at the upset.
By the halfway point, try's fellow teens had begun to catch up with the AWPer's fast start and, despite losing the pistol, a well-timed "Astralis" nade stack towards the boost position was rewarded with two kills and the Brazillian team took full advantage converting the 5v3. But a resolute nqz and a 4k from Nicolás "buda" Kramer in the 23rd round helped 9z get a comeback started.
The 27th round came down to a massive 1v1; had dumau come out on top it would have been match point, but buda shut down 00NATION's star rifler in a huge play that put 9z to within one round of their Brazillian opponents. Seven rounds in a row meant 9z had tied up the game and had forced the Brazilians onto an eco.
00NATION managed to force overtime when nqz, who had been on fire all game, couldn't find TACO as the last kill in a 1v2 retake. The teams split the first two rounds of overtime and some wild aggression from 9z gave 00NATION the advantage in the third round. nqz hit a crazy shot flying out of heaven and left dgt in a 1v1 which he closed out, giving 9z a marginal advantage going into the second half.
For 9z, nqz dropping a stand-out 30 kill performance, but huge rounds from buda and Maximiliano "max" Gonzalez on the CT-side aided the team's comeback. Worrying signs for 00NATION came in the form of try, despite his fast start, failing to have any impact after the first half.
00NATION9z| 00NATION |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Eduardo 'dumau' Wolkmer |
28 - 24 | +4 | 89.9 | 80.0% | 1.21 |
| Bruno 'latto' Rebelatto |
29 - 22 | +7 | 80.1 | 80.0% | 1.18 |
 Santino 'try' Rigal |
19 - 24 | -5 | 53.5 | 54.3% | 0.86 |
| Marcelo 'coldzera' David |
16 - 22 | -6 | 57.5 | 68.6% | 0.86 |
| Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo |
14 - 29 | -15 | 51.6 | 60.0% | 0.63 |
| 9z |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucas 'nqz' Soares |
30 - 15 | +15 | 74.4 | 82.9% | 1.37 |
 Maximiliano 'max' Gonzalez |
25 - 24 | +1 | 87.4 | 74.3% | 1.24 |
| Franco 'dgt' Garcia |
23 - 20 | +3 | 84.6 | 77.1% | 1.18 |
| Nicolás 'buda' Kramer |
20 - 22 | -2 | 62.2 | 68.6% | 0.95 |
 David 'dav1deuS' Tapia Maldonado |
21 - 25 | -4 | 59.4 | 68.6% | 0.90 |
9z now await the results of the first round of matchups as they head into the 1-0 group, while 00NATION will need to quickly address their grievances before their game in the 0-1 group.
