MOUZ live to fight another day at StarLadder StarSeries Fall after a come-from-behind victory against Natus Vincere, who have been eliminated from the $500,000 tournament in last place.
The series was defined by slow starts from Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen's troops across all maps, though they managed to recover on Cache and put up a strong fight on Inferno.
The loss sees them miss out on the chance to gain over 70 Valve points, putting extra pressure on their last two events before the Major cutoff, ESL Pro League 24 and PGL Masters Bucharest.
"It's pretty hard to add any more pressure," Aleksib told James "BanKs" Banks after the match. "We all know where we are currently and how we are playing is not good. We're in danger of not doing anything. But, to be fair, we don't even deserve to play at the Major if this is the way we play.
"We just need to step up. We need to try to find something to get us rolling. But currently, it's not looking good."
Natus Vincere caught everyone by surprise by going for Cache, their first time playing the map since it returned to the pool, perhaps as a punish pick after MOUZ were defeated on it by NRG the day before.
A woeful offensive showing ended with Natus Vincere chasing a 9-3 deficit — a scoreline that would have been even more lopsided if it weren't for 1v2 clutches from Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy and Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov.
But the tables instantly turned once the teams switched sides. A triple kill from Drin "makazze" Shaqiri in the pistol round marked the beginning of a dominant run as NAVI took control of proceedings. MOUZ's firepower was utterly moot on the T side as they won just one opening duel and posted 14 frags during a 1-11 run.
MOUZ shook off the loss and jumped out to a commanding 7-0 lead on the T side of Inferno before Natus Vincere strung four rounds together to prevent things from spiraling out of control.
The second half began with NAVI winning a 2v3 post-plant and securing the conversion off of a 1v2 clutch from b1t. Momentum was firmly on their side, but they couldn't close out the map, as MOUZ mounted a strong defense to force a decider.
MOUZ carried that intensity into Mirage and comfortably strolled to a 10-2 lead. NAVI quickly found themselves with their backs against the wall after losing the conversion, and their comeback attempt was cut short by an overwhelming A execute from MOUZ in the 21st round.
Drin 'makazze' ShaqiriPast 3 months
MOUZ
Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás
Lotan 'Spinx' Giladi
Dorian 'xertioN' Berman
Oldřich 'PR' Nový
Adrian 'xelex' Vincze
Dennis 'sycrone' Nielsen
NRG
Nick 'nitr0' Cannella
Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek
Håkon 'hallzerk' Fjærli
Michael 'Grim' Wince
Jeorge 'Jeorge' Endicott
Damian 'daps' Steele
Aleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenPast 3 months
James 'BanKs' BanksPast 3 months
Valeriy 'b1t' VakhovskiyPast 3 months
Natus Vincere
Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen
Mihai 'iM' Ivan
Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy
Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov
Drin 'makazze' Shaqiri
Andrey 'B1ad3' Gorodenskiy
Ihor 'w0nderful' ZhdanovPast 3 months