MOUZ ensured Evil Geniuses' early exit in Malmö following a 2-0 lower bracket series victory over the ESL One New York champions.

Mirage was the first map on the agenda, where Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz and company managed to get off to a solid start on the CT side by securing the first pistol round. Momentum was swept from under their feet shortly after, as a Krieg triple kill from Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool stunned the defence, and inspired MOUZ to convert a further four to a 5-1 lead. From here on forward, the European mix saw a slowdown in performance, that allowed the New York champions to not only close the gap, but emerge on top of the half at a close 8-7.

Having swapped to the CT side, MOUZ really started to shine through, commencing with a first pistol round victory, courtesy of a P2000 triple kill from Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker. The defence consistently shut down Evil Geniuses over the course the following seven rounds, producing a lop-sided half, as well as map point for Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and company. Evil Geniuses produced but two rounds in attempt to force overtime, followed immediately by a triple kill from David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský in round 26 to close Mirage 16-10.

The ball kept rolling for MOUZ, this time on the CT side of Train. A successful pistol round saw the European mix capitalise on early momentum, running away with consecutive rounds all the way to a colossal 9-0 lead. Only towards the latter portion of the half were Evil Geniuses able to stabilise on the offensive, securing a grand total of four rounds as a result.

Apparently more comfortable on the defence, stanislaw and his men commenced comeback efforts with a successful pistol round. Dominance followed, whereby a further six rounds were accrued to lessen the discrepancy at 10-11, accommodated by outstanding individual performances from Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte and Ethan "⁠Ethan⁠" Arnold. Despite the very convincing momentum, MOUZ were able to find a chink in the armor of Evil Geniuses, which allowed the team a foot back into the game in the form of three back-to-back rounds. Unwaivered by their opponents' map point, Evil Geniuses overcame a three-round discrepancy to force overtime on Train.

Overtime #1 saw the squads exchange 2-1 CT-side showings, with a massive performance seen from Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong in the form of a Krieg quad kill. The affair was settled in the second overtime, as MOUZ persevered despite some difficulties on the offense, closing the series 22-20.

Evil Geniuses	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Tsvetelin 'CeRq' DimitrovCeRq	51 - 43	+8	69.4	1.09
Ethan 'Ethan' ArnoldEthan	44 - 48	-4	81.7	1.04
Vincent 'Brehze' CayonteBrehze	49 - 53	-4	79.8	0.99
Tarik 'tarik' Celiktarik	38 - 47	-9	61.3	0.90
Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguzstanislaw	32 - 51	-19	51.3	0.68

MOUZ	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Özgür 'woxic' Ekerwoxic	59 - 39	+20	81.9	1.31
David 'frozen' Čerňanskýfrozen	52 - 40	+12	83.6	1.22
Robin 'ropz' Koolropz	50 - 42	+8	81.6	1.21
Chris 'chrisJ' de JongchrisJ	44 - 47	-3	68.2	1.01
Finn 'karrigan' Andersenkarrigan	37 - 46	-9	65.3	0.86