Misfits outlast CLG to secure Americas Minor final and Major Qualifier spot
With the first Major Qualifier spot now up for grabs, it came down to upset-takers Misfits to battle against CLG. The two sides narrowed the maps to Cobblestone, Overpass and Mirage for this tournament shoot-out.
CLG came running out of the blocks on Cobblestone, taking the pistol round and it's customary followers starting on the T-side. In the first buy-round, Misfits got on the board, partly in thanks to François "AmaNEk" Delaunay picking up a triple-kill. CLG refused to let their opponents carry on with anything else, helped along by strong performances led by the Australian Ricardo "Rickeh" Mulholland to bring them up to a 6-1 lead.
Misfits refused to sit down at this point, as a team ace saw them start a string of rounds that allowed them to pick up three further rounds. CLG then replied with a three-round set of their own, before Misfits took one more round before CLG took the remainder, securing the half 10-5. Hunter "SicK" Mims pulled Misfits up by their bootstraps for the second pistol round, which gave them a solid start to get back into the game.
After the customary following rounds, Misfits just kept rolling up on their T-side to even out the game at 10-10. CLG managed to collect a round of their own, but Misfits had the composure of an animal smelling blood, seeing themselves take a 14-11 lead. CLG looked as if they'd managed to stop the rot and take the game back to within a round, but Misfits had the composure to take the final two rounds and claim Cobblestone, 16-13.
Next up saw the two face off on Overpass. With the momentum solidly in their favour, Misfits could not care for any form of opposition as they barreled into taking the pistol round on their T-side. The side led by Sean "seang@res" Gares then just kept going, picking up seven rounds afterwards, just letting CLG manage to grab the one in the middle. CLG did not let the game slip out of their grasp from here, managing to claim four rounds in a row to keep the game within reach. Swapping the two rounds at the end of the half, Misfits went in with a 9-6 advantage.
CLG were now the team with the momentum, grabbing the pistol and then the five following rounds. Misfits then return to the game, constantly trading rounds in a ratio of 2:1, until drawing the game at a tense 14-14, giving them control of the game. CLG then grabbed match point thanks to a 1v3 clutch from Rickeh, before taking the final kills in the following round to make sure his team remained in the series with a 16-14 win, as Misfits saw the map slip away from them.
On came the decider of Mirage, where CLG started by picking up the pistol round. As is tradition, they manage to take the two anti-eco rounds following on and then grabbed the first gun round. Misfits then managed to grab a round they forced into, but CLG refused to yield any further ground as they saw themselves run to a phenomenal 10-1 lead.
With the half coming to a close, Misfits managed to pick up a few more rounds to give themselves a fighting chance, with CLG having an 11-4 advantage. The second pistol round saw CLG once again claim it for themselves, but Misfits were able to win the following rounds after winning a force-buy and started to close the gap.
In what started to feel like a repeat of the first map, Misfits kept on picking up rounds, with seang@res and AmaNEk clutching rounds out to force the game to an even 13:13. Shazeb "ShahZaM" Khan picked up an ace to allow his side to finally take the lead in the match, before CLG instantly answer back to keep the game level.
With the end of the match in sight, a carefully worked B-site take saw Misfits reach match point, and even with a slight misbuy in the final round they manage to secure the comeback to take the game 16-14.
MisfitsCLG| Misfits |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 François 'AMANEK' Delaunay |
72 - 55 | +17 | 87.0 | 71.9% | 1.25 |
 Shahzeb 'ShahZaM' Khan |
65 - 54 | +11 | 69.4 | 70.8% | 1.13 |
| David 'devoduvek' Dobrosavljevic |
49 - 60 | -11 | 74.5 | 73.0% | 1.03 |
| Sean 'seang@res' Gares |
59 - 59 | +0 | 69.1 | 73.0% | 1.02 |
| Hunter 'SicK' Mims |
47 - 59 | -12 | 63.3 | 70.8% | 0.93 |
| CLG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethan 'Ethan' Arnold |
80 - 64 | +16 | 103.2 | 80.9% | 1.39 |
| Stephen 'reltuC' Cutler |
57 - 57 | +0 | 68.4 | 70.8% | 1.03 |
 Ricardo 'Rickeh' Mulholland |
43 - 54 | -11 | 65.6 | 69.7% | 0.97 |
 Pujan 'FNS' Mehta |
60 - 61 | -1 | 69.0 | 65.2% | 0.97 |
| Kenneth 'koosta' Suen |
46 - 56 | -10 | 50.2 | 65.2% | 0.85 |
With the win, Misfits are guaranteed a spot at the Major Qualifier in Atlanta during January 2018. The final spot shall be decided tomorrow, where the winner of Team Liquid versus compLexity will face off against CLG.
