eUnited have secured passage to IEM Chicago 2018 after defeating Cloud9, who had a map advantage coming from the upper bracket, 3-2 (16-13 on Mirage, 16-6 on Overpass, 13-16 on Cache, and 22-19 on Train).

The best-of-five grand final kicked off on Mirage, Cloud9's map pick, which saw Maikil "⁠Golden⁠" Selim and co. jump out to a 5-0 start on the Terrorist side. eUnited then finally got on the board in the sixth round, thanks to Skyler "⁠Relyks⁠" Weaver securing a 2v1 with an AWP, which inspired his team to go on a great run and even the score at 5-5. Cloud9 would not let the half slip away, however, and picked up the pace to secure a 9-6 lead.

The second half saw Relyks and his men get out to a clean 3-0 start on their T side before a triple-kill from Golden gave Cloud9 their first in the second half. The two sides once again traded rounds, but this time around eUnited's aggression allowed them to rack up five straight to hit map point. Cloud9 sill tried to respond, but, in the end,eUnited would secure the 16-13 map victory to even the series 1-1.

The series then moved on to Overpass. Cloud9 got the lead after Tyler "⁠Skadoodle⁠" Latham tapped down three with the USP-S, but eUnited swiftly charged back, evening the score before picking up two more (3-1). Cloud9 immediately brought the deficit to a minimum, but there was no follow-up on their part, with Michael "⁠dapr⁠" Gulino and go. going on to claim nine of the last ten rounds of the half for a commanding 12-3 lead.

Cloud9 contested in the second half by securing the pistol round, but they could not build on that, with eUnited managing to lock down the map at 16-6.

The fourth map of the series landed on Cache, where eUnited jumped out to a clean 4-0 start. The rest of the half was highly-contested, with dapr and co. eventually securing a narrow 8-7 lead. Cloud9 came out in the second half with fire in their bellies, dropping just one of the first eight rounds for a 14-9 lead. eUnited responded with a stern defense to contest the game, winning four of the next five rounds, but in the end, Cloud9 sealed a 16-13 map victory to keep their hopes alive and force the decider.

The decider came down to Train. eUnited got off to a flying start on their T side, claiming five in a row, but Cloud9 tightened up their defence in the remainder of the half and managed to go to the break down by just one round.

dapr and co. got off to a great start as CTs, winning four of the first five rounds, but Cloud9 were in control of the economy for the rest of the half and managed to hit match point at 15-14 after shutting down any chances of their opponents stringing rounds together. With no margin for error, eUnited fought back to force the equaliser, and, after a first overtime that could not determine a winner, they managed to prevail in the second OT, securing the 3-2 series victory and earning a spot a the prestigious IEM competition.

Broken tag

Broken tag

IEM Chicago will run from November 6-11 at the Wintrust Arena, with $250,000 on the line. With two slots in this 16-team tournament still undetermined, the list of participants currently looks as follows: