CS:GO: Kio, autimatic and more react as Cloud9 crash out of StarLadder Major qualifiers

Cloud9 CS:GO were stunned in the qualifiers to reach the Americas Minor for the StarLadder Berlin Major, eliminated after suffering two massive upsets.

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The qualifying process leading into the next Major is only just beginning, but already one of the biggest names in North America and a former Major winner, Cloud9, have had their hopes of playing in Berlin ended.

For those teams that didn’t reach at least “New Challengers” status at the previous Major, IEM Katowice, qualifying for StarLadder Berlin is a gauntlet that begins with online qualifiers for the regional Minors.

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Teams must then hope to finish in the top two of their respective Minor for a guaranteed spot in the Challengers stage of the Major, while third-place teams get one final shot through the 3 Place Play-In.

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Cloud9 did appear at IEM Katowice and did earn a spot in the Challengers stage for Berlin with a 9-11 finish, but due to roster changes since then no longer field the minimum three players who participated in that result.

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The team were therefore forced to begin their run in the online closed qualifier for the Americas Minor, but they’ve fallen at the first hurdle – quite literally, losing consecutive matches in the double-elimination bracket to open qualifier teams New Identity and The Quest to be eliminated from the competition.

In the wake of such a disappointing result, Cloud9 stars Timothy ‘autimatic’ Ta and Will ‘RUSH’ Wierzba shared their thoughts on Twitter, with autimatic stating that “disappointment would be an understatement” and RUSH announcing “this is definitely the lowest point in my career.”

Former Cloud9 player Fabien ‘KioShiMa’ Fiey, who was part of the squad that competed at the IEM Katowice Major, also registered his surprise at the result.

The elimination match ended in rather spectacular fashion for The Quest, who pulled off a 2v5, which concluded with a 1v3 for Jack ‘xCeeD’ Holiman, to defeat Cloud9 and eliminate them.

The result caps off a series of underwhelming finishes for Cloud9, who have failed to achieve anything noteworthy since assembling this roster. Their results consist of fifth and sixth-place finishes at BLAST Pro Series events, failure to reach the playoffs of either the ECS or ESL Pro League, and a last-place finish at DreamHack Masters Dallas.