BIG defeat MIBR to punch their ticket to playoffs at IEM Dallas
Before the scores, it's important to put some context into the game. MIBR are playing with their coach, standing in for this tournament which they didn't know they were attending until just a few days before it began. With that being said, their performance was quite impressive.
On Mirage, the Brazilian CT-side took the pistol and converted the next two rounds until BIG managed to get guns of their own. BIG evened up the scoreline to three apiece and even took it one round further to take the lead. However, MIBR found their footing and stormed on to take every single round in the remainder of the half except the last, leading to a 10-5 scoreline. BIG started the second half strong, cutting MIBR's lead to only three rounds. Then, MIBR struck back to win five of the next six rounds, giving themselves seven map points to put sunny Mirage in their win tally.
Unfortunately for South American fans, BIG rallied every single one of those seven map points to secure overtime. The fun didn't stop there; BIG extended their win streak to ten rounds, giving themselves three map points to take it home. The Brazilian resistance shone however, and they stuck with it to deliver those three map points, sending us to a second overtime. At the start of the second overtime, CT's had won the previous 13 rounds, but BIG didn't get the message and rattled off three T-side rounds to give themselves once again three more map points. Finally, they closed it out, finishing in the 40thround to end on a 22-18 scoreline.
The second map, Nuke, was a lot less exciting. BIG got off to a rip-roaring start, taking five rounds in succession. They didn't let go of the gas after either. MIBR wasn't able to put together more than two rounds in a row in the first half, amassing only four rounds on their attacking half. They never had an opportunity to start their engines in the second half either as BIG repeated their first-half heroics, taking five rounds unanswered to close out the two map series. One highlight for Nuke was the Germans' most recent addition, Karim "Krimbo" Moussa, freshly promoted from the academy squad. He tallied up 21 kills in the twenty-round affair, almost as much as he had in the forty rounds of Mirage.
MIBRBIG| MIBR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes |
47 - 48 | -1 | 84.4 | 70.0% | 1.09 |
| Jhonatan 'JOTA' Willian |
37 - 42 | -5 | 71.0 | 63.3% | 0.99 |
| Matheus 'Tuurtle' Anhaia |
36 - 42 | -6 | 61.9 | 60.0% | 0.93 |
| Raphael 'exit' Lacerda |
34 - 44 | -10 | 62.5 | 66.7% | 0.81 |
| Bruno 'BIT' Fukuda Lima |
29 - 47 | -18 | 61.9 | 60.0% | 0.72 |
| BIG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz |
53 - 36 | +17 | 96.7 | 66.7% | 1.31 |
| Josef 'faveN' Baumann |
52 - 42 | +10 | 87.8 | 78.3% | 1.28 |
| Karim 'Krimbo' Moussa |
43 - 36 | +7 | 81.8 | 78.3% | 1.20 |
| Florian 'syrsoN' Rische |
39 - 35 | +4 | 70.3 | 68.3% | 1.06 |
| Tizian 'tiziaN' Feldbusch |
36 - 35 | +1 | 64.5 | 71.7% | 0.96 |
All is not lost for MIBR. They face Liquid tomorrow for a spot in the lower finals, whose winner will ascend to the quarterfinals. BIG on the other hand, have already secured a quarterfinals appearance, while a win tomorrow over another Brazilian squad, FURIA, would give them a path directly to the semi-finals.
The stand-in situation is of course disappointing for MIBR fans. Their coach Bruno "BIT" Fukuda Lima attained only a 0.72 rating throughout the two maps. If their usual fifth, Breno "brnz4n" Poletto, was in attendance, it's highly probably that MIBR close out Mirage in regulation and this series leads to a third map Ancient decider. In any case, both teams have something positive to take away from this game, and we can all look forward to seeing BIG on the big stage.
