The triumph of Cloud9 and MOUZ: results of PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR B
The protracted PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR has come to an end. The qualifying tournament for the first Counter-Strike 2 major lasted more than a week, and before that there were closed and open qualifications for the right to take part in the battle for the coveted slots. Group B of the European RMR was less surprising than the first, but the past matches still provided several unexpected results. At PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, MOUZ, Cloud9, Team Spirit, Team Vitality, Apeks, ENCE, ECSTATIC and HEROIC qualified from it. In this material we will discuss the past qualifiers and the teams that will take part in the major.
Success of Cloud9 and MOUZ or failure of the favorites?
Unlike Group A, this week what was more surprising was the position of the teams in the final table, rather than the teams that received slots at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. Even before the start of European RMR B, almost the entire community gave the 3-0 pot to the two main favorites in advance: Team Spirit and Team Vitality. But things didn’t go quite according to their plan.
MOUZ and Cloud9 unexpectedly managed to pass without defeat. The first team had to face Spirit, and Kirill Boombl4 Mikhailov’s squad had to try their strength against Vitality. Before the start of these matches, the outcome of the meetings seemed obvious, but the teams gave it their all and surprised the entire community.
In the case of MOUZ, the victory turned out to be even easier than it seemed possible. The meeting ended with a score of 2:0 without much chance for Team Spirit. The Russian squad later noted that they were not in the best shape right now, but another factor was the key to MOUZ’s victory. The team admitted that they specially prepared for the game against Danil donk Kryshkovets and apparently not only them. The star player’s difficulties began in the match against Astralis, although he managed to win thanks to the merits of his teammates. A young player needs time to adapt to an environment where opponents place a lot of emphasis on making him uncomfortable.
Everyone expected great difficulties at the European RMR B from Cloud9. But the team was still able to find a suitable solution to some of their problems. For example, Kirill Boombl4 Mikhailov became the main sniper of the team – AWP no longer changes hands during the game. The player performed well in this role at the qualifications, but it is not a fact that this will be enough at the major. Before the meeting with Team Vitality, Cloud9 also dealt with Apeks, but the most interesting thing was the match for a slot at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. In this meeting, everything turned out well for the Russian squad, even the personal skill of the opponents. In an important match, one of the problems of the European roster was revealed – if Mathieu ZywOo Herbaut does not play to his maximum, the team faces great difficulties.
Well-deserved Major slots and natural relegations
After unexpected defeats with a score of 2-0, Team Spirit and Team Vitality did not experience any special problems and received well-deserved tickets to PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. Both teams were not happy with any other outcome: the Russian team had to gain a foothold at the top of the CS2 esports scene after their triumph at IEM Katowice 2024, and the roster of Mathieu ZywOo Herbaut will rehabilitate himself after a disastrous performance at the same championship.
The teams won their decisive games with a score of 2:0. Team Spirit’s opponent was HEROIC, and Team Vitality had to meet with ENCE. For this result, the Russian club still had to get rid of the problematic Vertigo, and ZywOo finished the match with statistics of 34-20.
Apeks was also able to get a slot at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 without any problems. The team has been experiencing great difficulties on the tier-1 stage lately, but at RMR they were lucky with their seeding. The team confidently dealt with equal opponents OG and Monte, and in the match for a ticket to the major they met ECSTATIC, who were clearly inferior in terms of performance and individual performance to most of the participants in the qualifiers. Apeks’ only loss came in a meeting with Cloud9, but even there there were chances to win: on Mirage the team led with a score of 7-2, but the European team took only 2 rounds for their defense and lost 10-13.
Naturally and absolutely deservedly, OG, Monte and Preasy will miss the major. The teams found themselves in completely different situations, but the final result was identical. In the case of OG, the roster was held hostage by management’s mismanagement. The club has assembled an absolutely uncombat-ready squad that can do nothing against even average teams. At European RMR B, the team was able to beat only Preasy, and lost to Apeks, ECSTATIC and GamerLegion. OG is certainly awaiting drastic changes, which will begin right after the completion of the qualifications. Only Nils k1to Gruhne and Maciej F1KU Miklas should be left in the lineup; the rest of the team members are not yet up to the tier-1 stage.
A different result was expected from Monte at RMR, but the forced replacement made its own adjustments. Without Victor sdy Orudzhev, the team lost an important opening match against ECSTATIC, and even the player’s return on the second day of qualifying did not help correct the situation. The team did not return to the desired rhythm and game form. Monte left European RMR B with one win over underdogs Nexus, losing to Apeks and Astralis.
Preasy performed well before RMR, but it seems that her opportunities have ended there. Peter dupreeh Rasmussen’s new team reached its peak without even qualifying for a major. She only managed to cope with PERA, which did not have a chance of even one victory within the RMR. Preasy turned out to be weaker than HEROIC, OG and Guild Eagles and its elimination from European RMR B was a natural result.
The outsiders of Group B failed to surprise anyone and quite expectedly, Nexus and PERA finished their performance with statistics of 0-3. Most likely, we will not see both teams at future tournaments and their appearance at RMR was an isolated case and a consequence of poorly organized online qualifications.
Fierce battle for the last slots
ENCE, Astralis, Guild Eagles, ECSTATIC, HEROIC and GamerLegion reached the last day of European RMR B. The decisive matches were more dramatic than the rest of RMR in terms of intensity before they started. After all, everything is decided in them; teams have only two options: a ticket to PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 or two more game days as part of the Last Chance Qualifier. No one wanted to get into the latter, because there is only one slot in it, and almost everyone has equal chances.
In the battle for the final direct tickets, ENCE, ECSTATIC and HEROIC turned out to be stronger. In absentia, all the matches were fairly equal, but it was Astralis, Guild Eagles and GamerLegion that went to Last Chance. The victories of ENCE and HEROIC were predictable, unlike the success of ECSTATIC. Nicolai device Reedtz, even after the match with Team Spirit, noted that he did not enjoy the game, which affected his individual form, and Rene TeSeS Madsen’s roster was gaining shape throughout the tournament and the victory over GamerLegion was predictable.
The long race for slots at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 in the European region is almost over. All that remains is to find out the last participant from the region who will go through the Last Chance Qualifier. The competition in the last stage of the qualifiers will be maximum and almost every team is vying for the desired trip to Copenhagen.