magic edges past 9z to reach Esports World Cup playoffs

magic eliminated 9z 2-1 at the Esports World Cup to secure a playoff berth. The series went three maps: Ancient, Dust2 and Inferno.

On Ancient the teams traded rounds and the match went to overtime after 9z recovered from a late deficit. Nikita ‘tenzy’ Kochenyuk opened overtime with a three‑kill round and Vitaliy ‘sFade8’ Marushka posted a four‑kill round to keep magic competitive. Ignacio ‘meyern’ Meyer recorded an AWP ace in overtime for 9z, but magic won the final rounds to claim the opener.

Dust2 swung in 9z’s favor. The South American side led 7-5 at halftime and ran the CT half to a 12-6 advantage. Svyatoslav ‘MaSvAl’ Masko and tenzy made strong B-site plays for magic, but meyern produced multi-kill rounds that helped 9z close out Dust2 and force a deciding map.

Inferno featured alternating stretches of strong CT defense. magic built an early lead as Andrey ‘AW’ Anisimov and tenzy produced several high-impact rounds. 9z fought back to tie late, including a three‑kill round from Maximiliano ‘max’ Gonzalez, and AW answered later with a three‑kill sequence. magic closed Inferno 13-11 to win the series.

Across the three maps AW led magic with 72 kills and a 1.42 rating, while tenzy posted 74 kills and a 1.35 rating. For 9z, meyern finished with 60 kills and a 1.12 rating. Luciano ‘luchov’ Herrera and Matias ‘HUASOPEEK’ Ibañez Hernandez recorded roughly even kill-death totals across the series.

Prior results: 9z placed in the top eight at the IEM Cologne Major and won the XSE Pro League in the last month, and they held a top-five position in the VRS standings entering the event. magic previously finished fourth at PGL Astana and second at Stake Ranked.

Several individual rounds shifted momentum in the series, including tenzy’s three‑kill opening of Ancient overtime, sFade8’s four‑kill round, meyern’s multi-kill sequences on Dust2, and matched three‑kill rounds by max and AW on Inferno.