Cloud9 have been shockingly successful at IEM Oakland so far, as they’ve surprised many of the world’s best teams in the $300,000 event.
After upsetting Astralis and SK in the group stage earlier this week, C9 continued to the quarterfinals to face Gambit Esports. They ended up winning the series after three close maps—Overpass, Cobblestone, and Mirage.
Related: SK Gaming sweeps OpTic Gaming in IEM Oakland quarterfinals
On Overpass, C9 started off strong on their Counter-Terrorist side with a 9-6 score at the half. They gained a bigger lead later on, but their momentum was short-lived, since Gambit mounted a defensive comeback while breaking C9’s economy multiple times in the process. When Overpass went into overtime, Gambit lost only one defense before sweeping the North Americans to finish the map 19-16.
Map two Cobblestone was close between both sides until the C9 defense came alive once again in the second half. A one-vs-two retake clutch from Tarik Celik prevented Gambit from coming alive late in the game, and C9 finished out Cobblestone with a 16-11 score.
The final map, Mirage, was arguably the most intense map of the series, with both teams’ tournament lives coming down to one map. Gambit and C9 traded strings of rounds in both halves with several successful executes, but C9 came out on top 16-11 when they overwhelmed the CIS-region team with fast and explosive site takes. Tarik and Tyler “skadoodle” Latham ended up top fragging for C9 at 24 kills per map throughout the match.
With their 2-1 series win over Gambit, C9 advances to the semifinals of IEM Oakland, where they’ll play with home-field advantage against FaZe Clan. That matchup will take place on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 7:50pm ET.
