MOUZ has booked their spot in the next round of Blast Open Lisbon. Having already bested Falcons in EPL, MOUZ has pulled off a double, beating them here to start their campaign. Supreme form coming into the event, MOUZ has posted a statement of victory to announce themselves as serious contenders.
VETO
- Falcons removed Nuke
- MOUZ removed Anubis
- Falcons picked Train
- MOUZ picked Ancient
- Falcons removed Inferno
- MOUZ removed Dust2
- Mirage was left over
Map 1: Train; Pick: Falcons; Winner: MOUZ
Starting well on the defense, MOUZ put the pistol on the board and set the Falcons on the back foot. Train being a CT-sided map gave the Falcons enough room to come back after winning 7 rounds on the T side. Starting their defense with a win, they failed to gain momentum as MOUZ pulled ahead with a few rounds of their own. Winning 6 rounds in a row, MOUZ took control of the game they found themselves 11-9 up. Failing to make a comeback, MOUZ closed the game with a close scoreline of 13-11. Jimpphat led MOUZ to a win on Falcons’ pick with 18 kills to his name and posting an IR of 1.21.
Map 2: Ancient; Pick: MOUZ; Winner: MOUZ
With Ancient being one of their better maps, MOUZ got off to a blistering start. With Falcons’ defense having little room to breathe, MOUZ had their aim and their tactics on point which led to them winning 9 rounds leaving Falcons little room to mount a comeback. Winning the pistol round they did manage to bring a few rounds back but failed to level as MOUZ pulled in their first gun round of the defense in Round 18. While Falcons did manage to cut the game close MOUZ managed to shut the game down. Both maps went close which shows that the game could have gone either way but it was MOUZ who pushed it over the line.
With their 3rd big loss in a row against MOUZ, NiKo’s signing feels to be going in vain. The Falcons are closer to the exit than the next round of the tournament despite playing together for quite a while. Changes are needed and with the major approaching, time is of the essence. While Falcons will have another shot in this tournament and a disappointing result might take them out of HLTV’s top 10.