PGL Antwerp: Cloud9 loses to FaZe over ‘human error’ in map selection
In the third round of the PGL Antwerp Major’s Legends Stage, Cloud9 was forced to a defeat against FaZe Clan, following a poor map veto decision on Nuke. Cloud9 is now on a 1-2 win-loss record and only a series play away from getting eliminated in this year’s CS:GO Major.
Aside from C9 sitting on the brink of elimination, Team Liquid and Bad News Eagles were also eliminated, with both wrapping the Major with a 0-3 record.
Defeat to FaZe over ‘human error’ in map pick
Seeded from the Europe region alongside FaZe, Natus Vincere, Copenhagen Flames, G2 Esports, and others, C9 offered a trivial performance in the Major. Joining C9 in the 1-2 bracket are Team Vitality and Outsiders, who are too close to comfort in missing out Champions Stage.
C9’s defeat might have been a result of a poor team decision over Nuke, which almost the majority of teams in the Major avoid. Nuke is a defusal map, meaning that an early start as counter-terrorists is a great opportunity for an early game headstart of racking up as many points over the contending team.
While both C9 and FaZe are two of the world’s most prominent CS:GO professional teams, They refrained from going head-to-head with the team on the map. FaZe displayed a stellar performance on Nuke, recording a 16-8 victory over C9.
C9 had always picked another map and preferred to ban Nuke ahead of every matchup in PGL Antwerp. C9 also does not play on Nuke in other competitions. In addition to that, the current C9 lineup had not played on Nuke for the last 12 months, and the match against FaZe was their first time on Nuke in a year.
After the defeat, FaZe’s team captain Finn “karrigan” Andersen wrote on Twitter that C9 made a “human error” when the team vetoed Nuke. He explained that C9 picked the wrong map and game officials were not able to reverse the selection. The FaZe skipper added that C9’s case was unfortunate and praised the opponent team for their great play.
“2-1 after winning against @Cloud9 on nuke. They made a human error in veto by vetoing the wrong map and admin couldn’t reverse it. It sucks but obviously I didn’t want to end on ancient as bans couldn’t be reversed, GG WP,” karrigan’s tweet reads.
During the matchup, FaZe started as the terrorists and managed to win eight rounds over C9, which is a remarkable achievement on the map that is usually avoided by most teams. Meanwhile, C9 appeared to be clueless after switching sides from CT, being defeated by their opponents after only one round.
C9 is now only a single defeat away from getting eliminated from this year’s PGL Major. FaZe, on the other hand, qualified for the Major’s Champions Stage. FaZe is now the top-performing team in the Major alongside NAVI. Both finished the Legends Stage with a clean 3-0 win. Both have also been seeded to the final leg of the tournament.
