Souma Profile Blog Joined May 2010 2nd Worst City in CA 8905 Posts Last Edited: 2015-06-07 19:19:33 #1





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Team Liquid [4]

2





Team eLevate [5]

0



vs





MAP 1 Dust 2



FIRST HALF (T) 10

SECOND HALF (CT) 6





(CT) 5

(T) 9







The HTC Reborn event kicked off with the two closest seeded teams, Team Liquid and Team eLevate. The match started with Liquid on the Terrorist side of Dust 2. The first two rounds went in Team Liquid’s favor, but eLevate promptly answered back with a third round eco victory. Still, Liquid had enough money to buy and won the fourth round which forced eLevate into a save.



Devastatingly, Professor_Chaos team-killed during the ensuing eco round which eventually put eLevate down 6-1. Heading into the eighth round, eLevate rushed long A where roca grabbed the entry frag and Professor_Chaos added two of his own. The round belonged to eLevate, but the team selfishly chased frags and lost three men to FugLy’s exit kills.



A round later, it was Professor_Chaos and roca again adding to their frag count. Even when EliGE put his team in an early five versus three, roca and Professor_Chaos tag-teamed to win the round. Though eLevate picked up a round here and there, it was Team Liquid that dominated the half. Storm and Xp3 did manage to successfully protect the bomb in a two-versus-four situation, but still were down 10-5 at the half.



That final round gave eLevate a small boost of momentum as they headed into their Counter-Terrorist side. After a ninja smoke defuse in the pistol round, eLevate swept through the next five rounds thanks to a successful retake by Xp3 and RUSH shutting down middle. This brought the match to 10-10.



Team Liquid, after struggling at middle and B, went for an A split but eLevate quickly shut that down and took their first lead of the game with an 11-10 score. A round later, adreN sniped Xp3 from the pit while his supporting riflers rushed up long. However, Professor_Chaos did not let go of the bombsite. He fended off two which eventually gave eLevate their thirteenth round.



eLevate won nine straight CT rounds as they lead 14-10, but Team Liquid, who has recently had the upper hand against eLevate, started to fire back. A few won gun rounds forced eLevate into a save. flowsicK and FugLy rifled their way through a three-versus-four retake at the B bombsite and soon the match was tied up at 14-14. roca almost heroically held off B with two frags and damage dealt to a third, but his efforts weren’t enough. Team Liquid reclaimed the lead, put eLevate on low money and soon won their sixteenth round.





MAP 2 Train



FIRST HALF (CT) 10

SECOND HALF (T) 6





(T) 5

(CT) 2







While the first match was as close as you can get without overtime, the second match was a much different story. Again, the opening pistol belonged to Team Liquid, now starting on the CT side of Train. Instead of Liquid’s opening win streak ending at four rounds, they instead won six straight. That was capped by an impressive one versus three into defuse from nitr0.



With the match already slipping away, roca and Professor_Chaos showed up, taking down three on their own to eventually claim the first eLevate round win. Soon after, Storm and roca saved their team from nearly crumbling to an eco. With the score eventually at 9-3 after a big round from both flowsicK and EliGE, eLevate was forced to save. Realizing that, EliGE decided to push the pistolers and earned two frags, but RUSH answered with two frags of his own. The team double-faked before eventually moving towards the outside bombsite and winning their fourth round.



The teams traded the next two rounds, topped off by an eLevate force-buy win. The half ended in a similar fashion to Dust 2 with Liquid up 10-5. However, eLevate was unable to repeat their same second half success as they did earlier. Liquid won five straight rounds, reaching game point with a ten round lead. eLevate was lost and the match was out of their hands. roca and Xp3 earned back-to-back clutches but nitr0 had enough. He entry fragged his way through the final round to win 16-7.



With the victory, Liquid advanced to the next round where they’ll face the winner of Keyd Stars versus affNity.











Counter Logic Gaming [3]

2





Nihilum Gaming [6]

0



vs





MAP 1 Inferno



FIRST HALF (CT) 6

SECOND HALF (T) 10





(T) 9

(CT) 5







The second match of the day pegged Counter Logic Gaming against Nihilum. Hiko, Nihilum’s headliner, lived up to his name by clutching a one versus two on the Terrorist side to start the match. This allowed Nihilum to win the next two rounds.



The first gun round was won thanks to CLG’s newest recruit, jdm64, and his three AWP frags. However, Nihilum’s autimatic decided to top that in the next round. He scraped together four frags on a B take which was followed by a Nihilum anti-eco victory for a 5-1 lead.



Though jdm64 often out-picked the T’s, Nihilum was the one winning rounds. In fact, Nihilum ended up leading 9-3 on the more difficult side of Inferno.



Finally, jdm64 received some support late in the half. His early picks were backed by the rest of the CLG cast as a 9-3 lead was narrowed to 9-6 going into the second half..



To begin their Counter-Terrorist side, Nihilum opened with an aggressive push, giving themselves a four-versus-two advantage. Against all odds, tarik and hazed punched through the defense to pick up the pistol round. Nihilum force-bought in the next round, but were overpowered by CLG. A round later, Nihilum stacked B with pistols. CLG failed to clear all of their corners and were surprised to find a heavy defense. The round went to Nihilum as they led 10-8.



Wanting revenge, CLG made their way back to B but were shut down by Semphis and autimatic. Nihilum ticked a few more rounds in their win column, soon leading 12-8, but the higher seeded team wasn’t out of it just yet—CLG bounced back with several successful A takes. Subsequently, the team switched up their strategy, running a heavy smoke/molotov B execute that tied up the game, followed by an anti-eco win to take their first score lead.



As the next round started to fall apart on an A hit, reltuC rose up to the occasion as he made his way into the other bombsite. He won a one-versus-three situation that secured the team’s fourteenth round win. Keeping it interesting, autimatic helped Nihilum drain the clock two rounds in a row to tie up the game. After two ugly, slow rounds, CLG picked up the pace with a quick A hit that brought them through CT spawn to B. The strategy pushed the team to game point.



Semphis stood tall in the final round as he picked up two Five-Seven frags, but his efforts weren’t enough. CLG overpowered the A bombsite with rifles and won the match with a 16-14 result.





MAP 2 Mirage



FIRST HALF (T) 7

SECOND HALF (CT) 9





(CT) 8

(T) 0







The second match was not nearly as thrilling as the first. Starting on T-side Mirage, CLG rolled over Nihilum without losing a single member. It didn’t help that Nihilum spent money on three kits instead of some nades and armor. The team’s Round 2 purchases paid off, however. The forced pistol/armor round proved effective as they shut down CLG’s push into the B bombsite. Nihilum carried that momentum over to the following round and closed the door on CLG’s A attempt.



CLG went for another A take and this time fared much better, tying the score at 2-2 and kicking off a four-round streak. tarik’s team continued abusing the A bombsite until Nihilum finally won a site retake. A round later, Semphis boosted onto the fence in middle to snipe three players over smokes. Nihilum began to build up their economy after winning a few rounds. In the end, Nihilum won the half with a narrow 8-7 lead. Despite the late-half rally, Nihilum was not in the best of positions heading into the more difficult half.



Wasting no time, CLG went to work in the second half to regain their lead. The squad won the pistol round on the back of two great USP-S headshots from tarik. Again, Nihilum opted to buy in the second round, but this time the risk was higher. They purchased two AK-47s that were dropped to two players with armor. Semphis put the AK to good use, getting the opening pick, but even that wasn't enough. CLG's arms advantage helped them secure their ninth round.



Starting to gain confidence, CLG aggressively pushed middle as Nihilum struggled to set up. Semphis's squad was unable breach CLG’s defense at A. As the end of the match neared with CLG up 15-8, Nihilum pinned their hopes on a slow B take, but FNS was ready and waiting. He cleaned up with four frags to end the match and series in favor of Counter Logic Gaming.



CLG’s victory pushed the team to Round 2 of the HTC Reborn invitational where they’ll take on a familiar face in Cloud9.











Cloud9 [2]

2





Tempo Storm [7]

1



vs





MAP 1 Cache



FIRST HALF (CT) 7

SECOND HALF (T) 5





(T) 8

(CT) 8







One of the tournament's favorites, Cloud9, were unable to match the hype surrounding them as Round 1 against Tempo Storm kicked off.



The lower-seeded Tempo Storm started on the Terrorist side of Cache in which they won the pistol round. Cloud9 responded with a double scout and armor buy and the gamble paid off, yet this merely foreshadowed what was to come. The teams traded round for round, both failing to strengthen their economy. Even with Skadoodle equipped with an AWP in tow, Tempo Storm did not ease the pressure. With the score at 3-3, n0thing sprayed down four with one M4A1-S clip and completed the ace with his pistol. gloRinsz and stanislaw answered back by plowing through the A bombsite for a combined three kills and tied the score once again at 4-4.



A few rounds later, shroud received a boost onto his infamous spot and mowed down a handful of Terrorists, again tying the match at 7-7, but the half’s final round went to Tempo as they picked up the pace with a quick hit onto B.



To start their Terrorist half, Cloud9 hit A but faltered to Tempo’s flank as they were unable to hold the site from all angles. Tempo went on to win the ensuing round to lead 10-7.



But shroud had enough. He made his way up middle towards A and ripped through the lone defender at truck. Cloud9 planted the bomb uncontested as Tempo decided to save their guns and armor. In the next round, instead of the opening frag, shroud was able to clutch a one-versus-one post-plant situation, and Cloud9 eventually tied the match at 10-10.



With the score at 11-11, Tempo was forced into a save with the exception of ryx who held onto his gun from the previous round. Still, it was stanislaw and glornisz, with only pistols, that took down three to take the match lead once again.



ShahZaM began to display his AWPing prowess, killing players through smokes and doors. ryx added to the clamor with his own clutch against n0thing. Tempo Storm’s defense was surprisingly solid as they won round after round. With the score at 15-12, ShahZaM was left in a one-versus-two situation and needed to defuse. The former Cloud9 member made a statement to his old team, marvelously pulling off the clutch that led his new team to a 16-12 map victory.





MAP 2 Inferno



FIRST HALF (CT) 8

SECOND HALF (T) 8





(T) 7

(CT) 6







After a massive upset in Map 1, Tempo Storm looked poised for a repeat on Inferno. Starting on the disadvantageous side of the map, Tempo Storm cruised to a 7-0 start. Cloud9 finally came to life when seangares grabbed three kills to shut down Tempo’s B attack. Tempo tested B two more times but were similarly unsuccessful.



Switching it up, Tempo worked back towards A and punished n0thing for aggressively peeking balcony. With eight rounds to Cloud9’s three, Tempo Storm had already secured their victory for the half. However, Cloud9 kept the match close by winning the final four, steadying the score at 7-8 as they headed into the second half.



Despite Cloud9’s late-half hot streak, the second half started off just as dismal as the previous for one of North America’s favorites. Tempo swung momentum back in their favor with a pistol round win and two subsequent anti-eco victories. The first full gun round looked like it would go in Cloud9’s favor, but Tempo’s ryx had other plans. With a few clutch kills and a defuse with milliseconds to spare, Tempo Storm extended their lead to 12-7.



In the next round, however, Tempo Storm's greed got the best of them as they pushed through A apartments and right into the crosshairs of Cloud9’s rifles. That kicked off a new win streak for seangares’s team as Tempo Storm was eventually forced into a double save.



With the score at 12-10 for Tempo Storm, the Terrorists headed towards B. stanislaw was able to propel the aggression long enough for his team to rotate as they were up three men to two. When it came down to a two versus one, hades tossed a molotov towards seangares and died in the process, but his efforts took out the last remaining Terrorist and earned Tempo Storm their thirteenth round.



The veterans of Cloud9 were not about to let another map slip away without a hard fight, however. Cloud9 found success at the B bombsite, mowing over the CTs for three rounds straight.



Following their success at B, Cloud9 swept back to A. Thanks to their AWPing savior, Skadoodle, the squad managed to reach game point. Shortly after, the team reverted to their bread-and-butter strat, plowing through B to secure Map 2 and force a third map.





MAP 3 Dust 2



FIRST HALF (T) 12

SECOND HALF (CT) 4





(CT) 3

(T) 9







After mentally tearing apart Tempo Storm in Map 2, the veteran squad of Cloud9 started off hot on the third map. Working from the Terrorist side on Dust 2, fREAKAZOiD opened up with two one taps on a long rush. Though the round eventually ended in a 1v1 after a ShahZaM knife kill, the remaining CT was unable to defuse in time without a kit.



In the third round, Tempo Storm made a bold move: they bought out with four Famas and one AWP. ShahZaM posted at the top of A, but a pre-flash long caused him to whiff his shot, notify the Terrorists that he had an AWP, and indicate to Cloud9 that they should rush him with rifles.



Cloud9 brought the score to 4-0, but Tempo Storm successfully retook B in a three versus two to secure their first gun round.



Realizing they were able to take B rather effortlessly, Cloud9 opted to try and take the site a few more times. This time, they were on the winning end of a bombsite hold, and shroud and company extended their lead to 6-2.



Up 8-2, Cloud9 attempted to crush the A bombsite but ran into a surprising setup. Both ShahZaM and ryx were equipped with AWPs at the site and picked off Cloud9’s stars one by one. It was the final round Tempo Storm would win on CT side. Cloud9 impressed with a 12-3 halftime score while n0thing manhandled the Counter-Terrorists for nineteen frags, sitting well atop the scoreboard.



The team’s confidence was shattered in the second half. Consistency had been left behind on the Terrorist side. Tempo Storm devastated the CTs like a tornado, obliterating everyone in their way. Soon, a 12-3 lead for Cloud9 became a close 12-12 score.



Just as in the previous map, it was Cloud9’s hero AWPer that brought the team back to the winning side. At the same time, n0thing was nearly up to thirty frags when Cloud9 was two rounds away from the win at 14-12.



A late-match rally did not come to fruition for the lower seed, however, as Tempo Storm was shut down in the final rounds. After an early scare, Cloud9 managed to come out on top in the third map with a 16-13 result.



With the victory, Cloud9 advanced to Day 2 where they’ll meet Counter Logic Gaming.











Keyd Stars [1]

0





affNity [8]

2



vs





MAP 1 Cache



FIRST HALF (T) 6

SECOND HALF (CT) 4





(CT) 9

(T) 7







Taking on the top seed, affNity had a lot to prove as the lowest seed of the tournament. Still, affNity is a team that has been making strides in online leagues and was not going to be a pushover for the Brazilian favorites.



Rising to the occasion, affNity jumped off to a great start by picking up the first three rounds of the game. DAVEY kept the momentum rolling for his team by securing an ace whilst boosted on the white boxes outside A Main. Keyd was forced to eco and opted for a B rush supported by molotovs, but affNity was unphased and instead led 5-0. Feeling good about the score, affNity tried to press their luck by pushing through the blue door but were denied. Keyd picked up their first round win.



The resident North Americans weren’t ready to let the Brazilians infringe on their terrority. affNity answered back a round later, bringing the score to 6-1. Unfortunately, in a situation that is common for Keyd, the team was DDoSed and the match had to resume offline and unstreamed. Keyd managed a few offensive rounds, but the half belonged to affNity.



Heading over to the second half, Keyd was on defense but instead it was affNity that was rock solid. The crew led by arya was able to close out a huge victory, winning 16-10 against the top seeded team.





MAP 2 Dust 2



FIRST HALF (T) 8

SECOND HALF (CT) 2





(CT) 7

(T) 9







The second map continued offline to avoid further connection issues for Keyd. The first half of Dust 2 was even closer than the first half of Cache. Keyd was finally on the winning end of a half, but their lead quickly diminished. affNity cruised through their Terrorist side, winning nine of eleven rounds. With a second 16-10 result, affNity closed out the map to eliminate the top seeded team from the tournament.



affNity has advanced to Day 2 where they’ll take on the fourth seed in Team Liquid for a chance at the finals.







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