Outsiders best MOUZ in the Semis

Two teams dismissed by most. One forbidden and outlawed, bearing a false name. The other struggling just to make the main stage of most events.

And yet here they were, facing one another.

It was a semi-final that was at least half a surprise, with MOUZ upsetting Cloud9 to get here. Outsiders had been clinical the day before, when playing against the similar mix of interesting talent - FNATIC.

Pick’ems coped and seethed as the two teams started on Ancient during this second to last day of IEM Rio. MOUZ paid the price for their pick as they started off on the T-side, and as hard as torzsi and frozen may have tried, it was not enough.

Outsiders finished off the second half, and MOUZ were now a map down.

But something clicked for the international mix as they loaded up Overpass. Sht was about to go down.* The clinical look of Outsiders was gone, and in spite of Jame’s 1.55 rating worth of effort, MOUZ was disrupting the CIS team.

It was messy, but it was just enough. The scoreboard read 16-14 in favour of MOUZ as they went to map three with Grand Final dreams alive.

And what other map could it be than the one and only decider map: Inferno.

frozen started us off with a nice 3k on the pistol, and things looked close as the first half reached its end. Outsiders were ahead, but only by five rounds. MOUZ now seemingly had all winds in their favour, playing on the commonly considered “easy” side of CT.

But it wasn’t easy. It was heart-wrenching.

One measly round is all the men in red could muster – ignore the Brazil jerseys for a second, we’re trying to set a mood – as Jame gathered his disciples and booked their place for a last suppe- eh, Grand Final. It was over for MOUZ.

All in all, MOUZ did surprisingly well and punched above their weight.

However, cracks are still showing in the system, and some basics still don’t seem like they’ve been learnt. Even after all this time. Just as we saw with acoR, dexter seemingly doesn’t enable his AWPers, as torzsi struggled for impact.

Then again, there’s no shame in losing to the eventual winners. Read on for more on that my dear speed reader.