Not too long ago our Aussie representatives left Paris with very little to show for their efforts in CS:GO’s final Major. Halfway across the world at IEM Dallas, Grayhound, MOUZ, and G2 each looked to prove they could do better than what we saw in Paris.
After falling just shy of a trophy in Dallas, Dexter and his crew at MOUZ can hold their heads high and put their abysmal performance at the Major in Paris behind them. ENCE managed to edge out the victory in the end, but dexter and the Aussies across the event saw positive results—as well as some glaring opportunities for improvement.
All three squads featuring Aussie representation were in attendance at IEM Dallas, with all three teams coming away from the Major with mixed results.
Grayhound’s stint in Dallas was short but we got to see some amazing performances from Joshua “INS” Potter who continues to put forward high-level performances while captaining the squad. Cloud9 handed the ‘Hounds a swift 16-2 loss on Ancient but INS managed to finish with the highest ADR in the server despite going down heavily.
With elimination on the line in Group B, Grayhound found themselves playing Liquid in what felt like a grudge for their elimination match at the Major in the Challenger Stage.
Staying true to the region they call home, the boys put up a fight against the North American squad, with Declan “Vexite” Portelli lighting up the server this time. The young star finished with 82 kills but it wasn’t enough in what ended up an exhausting series that had it all. Inferno finished 22-19 and Mirage 25-23, knocking the Aussies out and handing the series to Liquid.
Jks found himself in the playoffs as G2 cruised through Group A with wins over Nouns and OG. They were unable to earn an early path to the semifinals as their decider match went the way of Danish squad Heroic.
In the quarterfinals, G2 met FaZe who were firing on all cylinders and in the end proved too much for jks and Co. to handle. After barely scraping the win together on Ancient 16-14, G2 dropped Inferno 16-6 and 16-10 to FaZe.
The highlight of the event for Aussie fans was MOUZ turning around the shock exit from the BLAST Paris Major and landing themselves in the final of IEM Dallas.
After getting an early win in the event over Fnatic, dexter and his team faced Heroic in the upper bracket semifinal of Group A. The series was a no-contest for MOUZ and the Danish side rolled through 16-6 and 16-10, thus sending MOUZ into the lower bracket and setting them up for elimination.
Dexter himself was able to put up numbers in the series against Furia and OG to keep the dream alive for the team and land themselves a spot in the quarterfinals.
Despite a scare on Inferno, MOUZ was able to edge out a win against Astralis with Nicolai “device” Reedtz on an absolute tear. A double overtime scoreline of 22-20 and a much more comfortable 16-9 win on Ancient meant MOUZ would meet Heroic in a semifinal rematch.
Once again up against a Danish side, MOUZ traded back and forward with Heroic as each team secured their map pick and left the series down to the decider, Ancient. The final map went the full distance but David “frozen” Čerňanský led by example to get his team over the line 16-14.
In the final against ENCE, things didn’t go the way of MOUZ, who lost the series 0-2, but overall caps off a spectacular return to form—in stark contrast to the team we saw a fortnight ago in the French capital. Consistency will be key for dexter moving forward if he wants to avoid a repeat of the Major heartbreak we all witnessed.
This all but ends the competitive season for MOUZ, while G2 will remain in the States ahead of their BLAST Premier Spring Finals stint in Washington D.C. on Thursday, June 8. GH return home to finish their season at ESL ANZ Champs.
Aussie export BiBiAhn returns to the stage for ESL Impact
IEM wasn’t the only Counter-Strike action in Dallas as ESL Impact Finals for Season 3 also took place at DreamHack.
The event is part of ESL’s ongoing effort to support talented females in CS:GO and one of our own Australian talents, Vivienne “BiBiAhn” Quach, featured on stage with FlyQuest RED (formerly CLG Red).
FlyQuest kicked off their campaign in Group B where they started with a loss to 9Pandas Fearless. With elimination on the cards, BiBiAhn and co. followed up with victories in best-of-three matches against Shimmer and in the rematch against 9Pandas, both 2-0 sweeps.
With their ticket punched through to the semifinals, FlyQuest faced off with the Polish side, NAVI Javelins, where their ESL Impact journey was cut short with a 0-2 loss on Inferno and Anubis.
Although they fell short of the finals, the top four finish pockets the squad some cut of the prize money and once again gives another Aussie prodigy the chance to represent and show what OCE has to offer on the international stage.
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- Source: https://snowballesports.com/2023/06/05/iem-dallas-2023-redemption-for-dexter-early-exit-for-grayhound/