Keyd Stars have secured a spot in the ESL One Katowice quarter finals after beating CounterLogic Gaming in the deciding game.
But that also meant their North American friends had to be sacrificed for the Brazilian squad to achieve their goals.
– I love CLG, but we had to cheer for them to lose against NiP. We would’ve liked us and them to pass the group but it didn’t happen, Gabriel ”FalleN” Toledo tells Aftonbladet Esport.

Once again, Ninjas in Pyjamas proved a too tough opponent for Keyd Stars and after losing against the Swedes on Inferno the Brazilian team had to take the scenic route on their way to the ESL One Katowice quarter finals. That meant they had to pass through Hellraisers, but they quickly found themselves at a disadvantage.
– They were securing their bomb site well so we only managed five rounds as T. We lost the pistol round as CT but managed to win an eco round through a setup that we’ve practiced. We managed to do the setup and we realized that when playing rounds like that, grenades are more important than pistols so we were using a lot of smoke mid and they lost when the time ran out, Gabriel ”FalleN” Toledo says.

”Finally showed we can play more maps than Mirage”

From there on, Keyd worked their way into the game and pulled off a 16-12 victory, meaning they would face their North American friends CounterLogic Gaming in the deciding game. Since FalleN and his teammates realized they couldn’t touch Ninjas in Pyjamas, they had to cheer for the Swedes in the winner bracket.
– I love CLG, ptr and all the guys, but when we were thinking about moving out of the group we were expecting to face them because right now we can’t beat NiP. We had to cheer for CLG to lose so we’d have a better chance. But we would’ve liked CLG and us to pass the groups but that didn’t happen.

Keyd proved against Hellraisers that they have other maps in their repertoire than Mirage, and against CLG they proved it once more as they flattened their friends 16-8 on Dust2.
– We finally showed we can play more maps than Mirage. CLG are really strong on Dust2 and beat a lot of teams there so maybe our Dust2 is the same level as our Mirage right now.

”Our first priority has been achieved”

And after securing the quarter final spot and also directly qualifying for the next major, a happy Brazilian team will return to their hotel rooms and prepare for Friday’s games.
– Our first priority has been achieved and we’ve secured the spot in the next major, that’s the most important thing. We don’t care too much about prizes, we just want to be here competing so we’re really happy right now. We did what we needed this tournament, everything that comes after is just profit. Of course we’re gonna do our best and maybe we can show even more but we’re satisfied with our results.