9z have advanced to the quarter-final of the Roobet Cup 2022 after beating FURIA 2-1 in the decider match of Group D. The Andrei “arT” Piovezan-led squad successfully converted their lead on Overpass (16-11) before being wiped out on Ancient (4-16). Maximiliano “max” Gonzalez and co. then managed to pull off a comeback on the T side of Mirage (19-17) to close the match in overtime.
It was an underwhleming event for FURIA, with the Brazilian squad counting only one victory over Outsiders in the lower bracket of the group before being eliminated by a second defeat against 9z, who had previously sent them down in the opening series of the group.
dav1d led the way on Mirage with 29 frags to his name
9z brought the series to Overpass in an attempt to replicate the success from the opening series against FURIA, but they quickly realized that the Brazilians had come back stronger into the rematch. arT‘s men took the opening pistol and after an early exchange of rounds, they were able to stabilize to take a 9-3 lead. The Brazilian captain was on his usual flanking shenanigans while Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato was unplayable on the B bombsite.
A late resurgence in the first half allowed 9z to limit their disadvantage to 6-9, but their comeback would not last long. FURIA converted the second pistol after switching sides, cruising all the way to a 13-6 scoreline before max‘s men were able to get on the board with a CT stack on B. A chaotic end saw both teams go back and forth, with 9z almost starting a comeback before Rafael “saffee” Costa put an end to the map 16-11 with a 1v2 clutch.
Moving to their opponents’ pick of Ancient, 9z quickly put their foot down on the CT side. Franco “dgt” Garcia started the map on fire, finding frag after frag as his team took the early advantage, before a couple of hits on the B site from the offense found their first rounds. It did not take long for the South American mix to go back to their winning ways, bullying the Brazilian Squad on both sides of the map during a fantastic eight-round winning streak. In the second half David “dav1d” Tapia Maldonado came online and powered 9z to a comprehensive 16-4 victory.
dgt was a joy to watch on Ancient
After a relatively quiet series from Yuri “yuurih” Santos and saffee, the duo truly came alive on Mirage, powering FURIA to the early 4-0 advantage on the decider. Despite dgt‘s best efforts, 9z were unable to organize a defense strong enough to consistently contain the Brazilians and moved into the second half trailing 5-10 behind.
9z came out firing on all cylinders in the early stages of the second half as they took the pistol to kickstart a seven-round streak and take the lead on the T side. FURIA struggled to defend the B bombsite, and round 27 was the perfect example of that, with newcomer Lucas “nqz” Soares sneaking behind them from kitchen to backstab the CTs and gift the round to the offense despite their minimal investment. The Brazilians had seemingly stolen the game after a failed push from the Ts on B, securing their fifteenth round, but against all odds, 9z forced overtime with just tome upgraded pistols.
Extra time started with a back-and-forth between the two teams, but after max‘s squad moved to the CT side, dav1d went nuclear. The Chilean player single-handedly pushed 9z over the finishing line with some fantastic frags on the B site.
