The first day of IEM Dallas has catapulted G2, Heroic and ENCE straight into the playoffs. G2 and Heroic won against OG and MOUZ, respectively, and ENCE took on FaZe. MOUZ managed to stay in the event because they defeated FURIA.
Fnatic and nouns are out
Fnatic and Nouns were the first teams to be eliminated from IEM Dallas after losing all their matches. Fnatic played 9z in Lower Bracket A and did not perform well. 9z won Nuke 16-14, Fnatic Overpass 16-12 and Ancient went to 9z 16-9.
We're no strangers to an elimination series but as 9z take their map pick of Nuke 16-14, we look to Overpass for redemption. Win or lose, let's give it our all.#ALWAYSFNATIC pic.twitter.com/JqJ7xNGwOh
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) May 30, 2023
So Fnatic had to go home. Nouns were eliminated in penultimate place after going down 0-2 (Inferno 16-4, Anubis 16-3) to FURIA.
G2 and Heroic in the playoffs
G2 are safely in the playoffs after crushing OG 2-0 (Mirage 16-2, Inferno 16-9). Heroic completed the first day of the IEM by beating Dallas MOUZ 2-0 (Mirage 16-6, Overpass 16-10) and also clinched a place in the playoffs.
Only 1 day of the #IEM Dallas Group Stage remains 👀
Check out the updated bracket below! 🔽 pic.twitter.com/vMEsKWU31B
— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) May 31, 2023
Next up, G2 and Heroic will play each other today for a ticket to the semifinals.
EG and Grayhound eliminated
Evil Geniuses has been eliminated after losing to Complexity, and Grayhound has also been eliminated after losing a match to Liquid. Complexity defeated Evil Geniuses 2-0 (16-2 Anubis, 19-17 Overpass). Team Liquid took close wins on both maps against Grayhound (22:19 Inferno, 25:23 Mirage). Grayhound forced Liquid into overtime on both maps and even had a clear lead once on the second map, but Liquid was still stronger.
.@TeamLiquidCS just won 7 rounds in a row to force OVERTIME on Mirage 😮#IEM pic.twitter.com/n9rCg1eXvj
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) May 30, 2023
Evil Geniuses was knocked out on the first map against Complexity, then had a 14:8 lead on Overpass, but still it was not enough to keep them in the tournament. EG started the match against Complexity on Anubis. Complexity led 13-2 at half-time and finished the map 16-2 when the sides were switched. On Overpass, EG took a 3-0 lead and autimatic was at its best. autimatic continued its strong performance in the second half, helping Evil Geniuses recover from a pistol loss to increase the score to 14-7. But Complexity did not give up and forced overtime and there they managed to win 19-17.
ENCE defeats FaZe
ENCE defeated FaZe 2-0 in the Upper Bracket B semi-finals of IEM Dallas to also secure a place in the playoffs. ENCE seemed to be in control of the game for long stretches and secured their second win in a row against Finn “karrigan” Andersen’s team.
THE AUG TRANSFER @karriganCSGO 😲 pic.twitter.com/4ZflB0sbJD
— FaZe Esports (@FaZeEsports) May 30, 2023
FaZe lost 2-0 to ENCE (7-16 Anubis, overpass 13-16). ENCE was very successful on Anubis thanks to Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia and also dominated on Overpass to win the match against FaZe.
MOUZ defeats FURIA
In Lower Bracket A, MOUZ and FURIA battled for survival, with MOUZ prevailing over his opponent with relative ease. For FURIA, the event was a shaky affair. They lost to OG and then sent Nouns home, only to fall short against MOUZ.
.@kscerato THE DESTROYER 💥#IEM pic.twitter.com/uCAsvjcvwj
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) May 30, 2023
For MOUZ, it was a case of everyone contributing, with Christopher “Dexter” Nong at the top of the leaderboard, FURIA were once again lacking in singles, with only Yuri “yuurih” Santos finishing the match with a rating above 1.00. MOUZ won 2-0 against FURIA (10-16 Inferno, 4-16 Vertigo).