MIBR has taken down Heroic in their first upper bracket best-of-three at the play-in stage of IEM Cologne 2024. MIBR will move on to face 9z Team in the next round of the upper bracket, while Heroic fights for survival in the lower bracket.
Map Veto
- MIBR banned Dust2
- Heroic banned Inferno
- MIBR picked Ancient
- Heroic picked Mirage
- MIBR banned Nuke
- Heroic banned Vertigo
- Anubis was left over
Game 1: Ancient (Pick: MIBR, Win: Heroic, Final Score: 13-10)
Heroic kicked off their CT-side of Ancient on the right foot by securing the pistol round, but a force-buy from MIBR was enough to shut them down as the latter snatched the lead for themselves by shattering Heroic’s economy. After MIBR had won six consecutive rounds in a row, Heroic tried to retaliate but still ended the first half trailing 4-8.
Heroic regained their composure on the T-side of Ancient, grabbing four rounds in a row before MIBR could grab a single round in the second half. Heroic maintained their momentum throughout the second half, and left little room for error as they mounted a comeback to steal the first game right from under their enemies’ noses, finishing with a score of 13-10.
Despite being on the losing side, Felipe “insani” Yuji dominated the leaderboard with a K/D of 23/17.
Game 2: Mirage (Pick: Heroic, Win: MIBR, Final Score: 13-10)
While MIBR found themselves a great start following a pistol-round win on the CT-side of Mirage, Heroic managed to bounce back swiftly, winning five rounds in a row and setting up an evenly matched second half with a 6-6 score.
MIBR looked much more comfortable on their T-side of the map, winning the pistol round and denying the Heroic force-buy to extend their lead to 9-6. Heroic could only grab a single round before MIBR secured game 2 with a comfortable lead of 13-7.
Insani was at the top of the leaderboard once again with a K/D of 18/10 and an impressive ADR of 118.4.
Game 3: Anubis (Win: MIBR, Final Score: 13-7)
A pistol-round win and a failed force-buy attempt from Heroic enabled MIBR to grab an early 3-0 lead on the CT side of Anubis. However, Heroic weren’t willing to give up that easily, as they equalized the score over the next three rounds before taking the lead for themselves. MIBR managed to win the last couple of rounds to head into the second half on an even playing field with a 6-6 score.
The second half of Anubis was a one-sided domination from MIBR, as Heroic could only grab a single round throughout the second half as MIBR secured the game 13-7.
Rafael “saffee” Costa performed incredibly on the final map with a 19/8 K/D.
