Nafany, sh1ro, interz, Ax1Le, and HObbit won their first match under the Cloud9 banner against Outsiders in the opener of PGL Antwerp Major Legends Stage today.
They traded Gambit for C9 in April amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions that were imposed on organizations such as Gambit and Virtus Pro, which have “apparent ties” with the Russian government, according to ESL. There were great expectations on their debut for C9, given the players did not perform so well in big tournaments this year compared to 2021, and because the North American organization returned to CS:GO after ceasing the activities in Valve’s FPS in March 2021.
C9’s debut couldn’t be tougher. They were drawn against Outsiders, one of their main rivals in the CIS regions, and overcame them thanks to a few clutches and the brilliant performances of Ax1Le (22-17 K/D), sh1ro (18-15 K/D), and interz (21-12 K/D). The latter made the play of the match as he nailed four USP-S kills in the second pistol when Outsiders rushed the B bombsite.
This victory sees Cloud9 move to the 1-0 pool of the PGL Antwerp Major Legends Stage. The teams need to win three matches to advance and lose three to be eliminated from the $1 million competition. Only eight of the 16 teams will advance to the playoffs.
The first day of the Legends Stage is packed with action. Every team will play two best-of-one series, and you can keep track of the PGL Antwerp Major’s scores and standings here.
