The debut match at Blizzard’s new Esports Arena saw Misfits, the most formidable team in Europe, face off against a Cloud9 EU squad presumably in poor form. The analysis desk alluded to the potential mismatch, but Cloud9 quickly shattered expectations.

Oasis

The game began with a scrappy opening on City Center and both teams eventually obtained 99% capture. An eventual pick on Logix by his Tracer counterpart MikeyA set Cloud9 EU up for victory in the first round. Gardens followed and saw TviQ switch to Pharah and give his team a strong 50% lead, but a coordinated attack by Cloud9 EU allowed them to flip the point. TviQ switched to Genji for the retake but despite a promising attempt, Misfits were thwarted by MikeyA as he clutched two kills with a Pulse Bomb and followed with three more eliminations to clinch the first map for Cloud9 EU.

Eichenwalde

Misfits looked to even the series as they chose Eichenwalde for game two, but a rough start on offense saw them fail three attacks in a row. Misfits continuously lost members to early picks but eventually a RIP-Tire from TviQ opened up the first point and allowed Misfits progress. It was a relatively easy second phase for Misfits but mismanagement of ultimates and an interesting Lucio, Zenyatta, Sombra defense from Cloud9 EU caused delays. One final push from Misfits, intiated by a Graviton-Pulse Bomb combo, opened up the final stage and allowed them to complete the map in overtime.

Cloud9 faced similar struggles on first point offense until Nevix switched to Pharah. As Cloud9 moved into the second phase, they eventually stalled after several slow-paced attacks. Despite some last minute heroics from Greyy, Cloud9 could not make progress as their time expired.

Volskaya Industries

With the series tied the teams moved on to Cloud9’s choice of assault map. Cloud9 planned a patient attack while building ultimates. Their execution was perfect and they moved on with six minutes remaining. Misfits held aggressively with their ultimates on Point B, getting picks before Cloud9 could even reach the point. Misfits aggression eventually cost them as their tanks were caught too far forward and resulted in an unanswered push that ultimately lead to Cloud9's capture of B with just over a minute left, thanks to some great D.Va play from SPACE.

A convincing first attack by Misfits led to an immediate point A capture and a wasted EMP from Greyy allowed Misfits to snowball point B. Cloud9 gave up two ticks before eventually stabilizing with five minutes left to defend, but Misfits managed to get the final tick in just two minutes.

Cloud9 attacked again with just over a minute on the clock. Using the exact same strategy as their first offense, they met a prepared Misfits who split them apart and picked them off before they could make any progress. With an ample 2:45 remaining on their offense, Misfits were able to close out the game but not without heavy resistance from the Cloud9 squad.

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

Cloud9 unexpectedly picked Gibraltar but quickly shut out any doubt after a convincing first point offense that they propelled through the hangar phase. A fortunate Self-destruct kill from Manneten along with strong flank play from Logix helped Misfits delay the aggression. As the timer ran down, a final Sound-Barriered push from C9 showed promise, but they failed to touch the point in time, ending their attack before map completion.

With a clear win condition in sight, Misfits started their attack with Manneten on Widowmaker. Good work from the young Swede allowed them to take first point comfortably. As Misfits moved into the hangar phase Greyy, became a significant thorn in their side. Despite a hefty time bank, Misfits were stalled until TviQ eventually made the most of a questionable Dragon Blade to secure the second checkpoint. As round drew down Greyy once again shone with spectacular EMP play as Cloud9 closed out the defense, stopping Misfits just short and sending the series to a final map.

Ilios

Ilios started with a Widowmaker mirror matchup that saw Manneten prevail over Nevix, forcing his counterpart onto Genji. The swap made little difference though as Misfits conclusively took Round 1. Lighthouse followed with TviQ once again playing his Pharah that was dominant earlier in the series. Misfits took control first and only relinquished control after 85%. However, Cloud9 ran it all the way back, claiming 92% of their own before a TviQ Dragon Blade allowed Misfits to take final control and book themselves a place in the European grand finals.

Final: 3-2 Misfits