INTZ outlast Cloud9; to face FURIA in ECS Season 7 Week 3 grand finals
The grand finals of ECS Season 7 Week 3 is set to be a (mostly) Brazilian derby as INTZ have defeated Cloud9 2-0 in their semifinal matchup, placing them against their countrymen from FURIA for a spot at the ECS Season 7 LAN finals. Notably, Soham "valens" Chowdhury occupied the coach role on the server for Cloud9, with Ron "Rambo" Kim mysteriously absent from the proceedings.
Continuing to field Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker as a stand-in for Marcelo "chelo" Cespedes, INTZ began the series on their own pick of Train. Cloud9 took a trio of rounds to kick off the map, with INTZ managing to even the score with three rounds of their own. Timothy "autimatic" Ta stepped up for his side, allowing for Cloud9 to dominate the T-side of the map, granting INTZ just two additional rounds in the half as Cloud9 worked their way up to a 10-5 lead.
INTZ quickly closed that deficit as four rounds at the start of the second half brought the scoreline to a much more manageable 10-9, but Cloud9 rallied back as they won five of the ensuing six rounds to attain match point. Despite their lead throughout the map, Cloud9 were unable to close out Train, with INTZ fighting back for five straight rounds to push the map to overtime. Only the first round of overtime went the way of Cloud9 as yay helped INTZ to a 19-16 finish, ending the map with 30 kills and a 1.38 rating.
Cloud9 attempted to get back in the game as the first two rounds of Overpass went their way, but from here, the half was firmly in control of INTZ. Vito "kNgV-" Giuseppe lead the charge for INTZ, winning eleven straight rounds before Cloud9 finally put one on the board. INTZ further extended their dominance as the final round of the half went their way, granting them a 12-3 lead as they swapped over to their T-side.
Cloud9's fate looked grim as the first two rounds of the second half also went the way of INTZ, but a heroic comeback effort allowed for the American-European roster to grind their way back into the match. A 1vs2 clutch by autimatic kept Cloud9's hopes alive along the way, allowing the team to string together eight rounds before INTZ finally attained match point. Cloud9 replied back with a round of their own, but INTZ held fast and closed out the map in the ensuing round for a 16-12 map victory.
INTZCloud9| INTZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alexandre 'xand' Zizi |
52 - 40 | +12 | 92.6 | 73.0% | 1.35 |
 Jaccob 'yay' Whiteaker |
49 - 40 | +9 | 79.9 | 69.8% | 1.23 |
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
42 - 40 | +2 | 70.3 | 71.4% | 1.04 |
| Vito 'kNgV-' Giuseppe |
39 - 38 | +1 | 66.3 | 68.3% | 0.99 |
| Lucas 'destiny' Bullo |
35 - 44 | -9 | 67.5 | 63.5% | 0.86 |
| Cloud9 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 René 'cajunb' Borg |
50 - 40 | +10 | 89.5 | 68.3% | 1.18 |
| Timothy 'autimatic' Ta |
45 - 37 | +8 | 75.6 | 73.0% | 1.15 |
 Maikil 'Golden' Selim |
36 - 47 | -11 | 64.1 | 73.0% | 0.88 |
| William 'RUSH' Wierzba |
38 - 47 | -9 | 63.2 | 68.3% | 0.88 |
| Daniel 'vice' Kim |
33 - 46 | -13 | 58.4 | 57.1% | 0.78 |
INTZ have advanced to the grand finals of ECS Season 7 Week 3, where they will face off against FURIA. The two teams are set to clash at 5 PM EDT tomorrow for a spot at the league's LAN finals.
