TI 2024 Finals Weekend: Cloud9 bow out in 5th-6th place after getting swept by Team Falcons

Image: Valve Software

Cloud9 lost only one game prior to TI 2024's Finals Weekend, and are now eliminated after four straight losses.

The first of the Western European heavyweights has now fallen on the road to the Aegis of Champions. Cloud9 (C9) has been eliminated in 5th-6th place after they were soundly swept by Team Falcons, 2-0, in the first of two lower bracket quarterfinal elimination matches of The International 2024 (TI 2024) Finals Weekend.

Falcons and C9's respective journeys through TI 2024 have taken both teams on paths that not many expected they would be on.

While C9 did come from the scene's strongest region in Western Europe and earned their place in Copenhagen through the regional qualifiers, they weren't seen as heavy contenders. However, in the Group Stage, C9 had a stellar start and finished as the top seed of Group B with a 5-1 record. They then earned an upper-bracket berth in the Playoffs after sweeping 1win in the Seeding Decider.

Meanwhile, Falcons entered the tournament as the biggest favourites to claim the Aegis after dominating the scene all year long. Falcons stumbled to start the Group Stage by getting forced to a 1-1 draw by Chinese upstarts Team Zero, but later exacted revenge to claim the top seed of Group C with a 4-2 record. Falcons again looked beatable in the Seeding Decider, getting forced to three games by a previously winless beastcoast but advancing to the upper bracket all the same.

In the Playoffs, C9 swept Aurora in the upper bracket quarterfinals to advance to the upper bracket semifinals and earn a spot in TI 2024's Finals Weekend. But while C9 continued to look strong, Falcons floundered as they were swept by Tundra Esports and knocked down to the lower bracket. Despite that setback, Falcons swept 1win in the third round of the lower bracket to also make it to the Finals Weekend.

The opening day of TI 2024's Finals Weekend then saw Falcons sweep BetBoom Team while C9 suffered their first match loss of the tournament at the hands of Team Liquid. That set up the Falcons-C9 matchup in the lower bracket quarterfinals, where a spot in the lower bracket semifinals was at stake.

Cloud9vsTeam Falcons

Falcons opened the series by drafting a lineup of their signature heroes this tournament. Oliver “skiter” Lepko on Dragon Knight, Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak on his mid Monkey King, and Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf on Broodmother served as a mobile and hard-hitting tri-core. Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen on Hoodwink provided crowd control and magic damage from the backlines while Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun on a support Mirana buffed everyone's damage with his hero's powerful Solar Flare Facet.

Meanwhile, C9 countered with two long-range carries in Terrorblade for Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov and a mid Nature's Prophet for Volodymyr “No[o]ne” Minenko. Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin on Kunkka manned the front line while Vladislav “Kataomi`” Semenov on Rubick and Dzmitry “Fishman” Palishchuk on Bane provided single-target control spells from long range.

C9 was the more active team to start the game and getting an early 5-3 kill lead 8 minutes in. Falcons then went on the offensive after a quick Blink Dagger pickup from skiter, which put them up 8-5 in kills and 5,000 gold by the 13-minute mark.

With Falcons gaining momentum, C9 slowed things down to give watson time to come online and get Eye of Skadi by the 28-minute mark. But at the same time, Falcons dived into C9's Tormentor area where they outplayed their opponents to get a decisive teamwipe. C9 was left reeling from that loss and could do little to stop Falcons from forcing the GG call after 33 minutes.

Skiter and Malr1ne paced Falcons' 24-9 kill lead in game one by scoring seven kills and nine assists apiece, with skiter only suffering one death. ATF also pitched in with five kills and 11 assists against three deaths.

Game two saw both teams draft high-tempo lineups that could end the game quickly.

Falcons picked Dragon Knight for skiter again and put Malr1ne on a mid Timbersaw, ATF on his signature Mars pick, Cr1t on Snapfire, and Sneyking on Enchantress. On the other side, C9 hedged their bets on watson's Luna alongside No[o]ne's Earth Spirit, DM's offlane Sand King, Kataomi's Winter Wyvern, and Fishman's Clockwerk.

Falcons were the ones to kick off the action in game two, with an active Malr1ne scoring a Triple Kill just 7 minutes in and putting his team up 8-5 in kills and 2,000 in net worth.

But C9 managed to match Falcons' aggression, which gave watson space to free farm and claim the Aegis of the Immortal at the 23-minute mark to lead a strong midgame push. However, that Aegis was essentially wasted as Falcons repeatedly picked off isolated C9 heroes to prevent them from balling up.

Falcons continued outplaying C9 in clashes out on the map, repeatedly starting fights off by picking off watson and demolishing the rest of the team afterwards. Despite C9's best efforts to mount a comeback, Falcons simply could not be denied as they secured the 2-0 series victory after 41 minutes of action and knocking C9 out of TI 2024.

Malr1ne shined in the closeout game with a stellar 17 kills and nine assists on two deaths out of his team's final 36-16 kill score. Sneyking also pitched in with eight kills and 15 assists on three deaths while skiter had seven kills and 19 assists on just one death.

With their victory, Falcons have secured a spot in the Top 4 as well as over $152,000 in winnings. Their day is far from over, however, as they are set to play in the lower bracket semifinals at the end of the day against the winner of the other lower bracket quarterfinals match between Tundra Esports and Xtreme Gaming.

Meanwhile, C9 bow out of TI 2024 run with a commendable 5th-6th place finish and will go home with over $88,000 for their efforts.

TI 2024 is this year's iteration of Dota 2's annual world championship tournament and features 16 of the best teams in the world fighting for their cut of the growing $2.36 million prize pool and the Aegis of Champions.

The event is being hosted from September 4 to 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark and is split into two distinct phases: the Group stage (September 4 to 5) and the Seeding Deciders (September 6 to 7). The first two rounds of the Playoffs (September 8 to 10) are branded as part of The Road to The International, while the remaining portion of the Playoffs for the remaining eight teams (September 13 to 15) are branded as The International itself.

For everything you need to know about TI 2024, check here.