Cloud9 and Complexity easily defeated their respective regional opponents, BIG and Team Liquid, in the final matches of the online BLAST Fall Showdown to secure the top positions. This tournament marked the last one before the first Counter-Strike competition played on CS2, the latest iteration of the franchise.
Despite being considered an underdog with a nearly defeated roster, Cloud9 successfully navigated their way through the tournament bracket. They only dropped a single map to a skilled G2 team while winning all other matches convincingly. Recently, they made changes by parting ways with the struggling in-game leader nafany and moving H0bbit into a crucial role. This decision allowed the world-class rifler “electroNic” to regain his form, evident in his impressive 1.19 HLTV Rating during the tournament. The team was also led by sh1ro, who boasted a stellar 1.30 HLTV rating.
Cloud9 wasn’t the only team in blue to achieve success in the tournament. A recently revamped Complexity secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory against Evil Geniuses, decided by just four rounds, before overcoming FURIA with a 2-1 score. Complexity had a tense encounter with FURIA, winning their two maps narrowly with a score of 16-14, while losing Overpass 16-7 to the Brazilian squad. Despite not winning more rounds than FURIA overall, Complexity emerged victorious in the series.
In a significant storyline, EliGE, the newest addition to Complexity, faced his former team, Team Liquid, in the final for the first time after spending eight years with the organization. The outcome was a complete domination by Complexity, as they crushed a struggling Team Liquid 16-4 on Overpass and followed up with a dominant 16-2 victory on Inferno.
Both teams secured their spots in the BLAST Fall Finals with these wins, which will serve as valuable preparation for the first CS2 Major scheduled for the following year. Complexity and Cloud9 will be among the competitors, alongside Team Vitality, Heroic, NAVI, FaZe Clan, Astralis, and Ninjas in Pyjamas, when the BLAST Fall Finals kick off later in 2023.