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Cloud9 win the iBUYPOWER 2016 Spring Invitational after defeating Team Liquid 2-1 (17-19 on de_dust2, 16-7 on de_train, and 16-5 on de_cache).

The iBUYPOWER 2016 Spring Invitational marked the computer hardware company's return to an online tournament format, in a similar style to its Fall, Summer, and Spring Invitationals of last year, with ten teams dueling for $15,000 over two days this time around.

Easily the the biggest upset stories from the first day's bracket were the Brazilian teams Luminosity and Tempo Storm, who are currently ranked #4 and #12 in the world, fall by the wayside against Selfless and CLG respectively in their quarter-final matches.

freakazoid was the highest rated player throughout the iBP Spring Invitational

By the second day, the semifinals saw Cloud9 and Liquid advance to the best-of-three grand final.

The first map of de_dust2 first appeared as if it would be a complete blowout as Kenneth "⁠koosta⁠" Suen and teammates of Liquid ran over Cloud9's defenses to finish up with a 12-3 half. However, dynamic T-side executes from Jordan "⁠n0thing⁠" Gilbert and his team somehow brought Cloud9 forwards into an overtime situation.

In overtime however, Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev helped his team buckle down and take the first map 19-17.

With Liquid's apparent inability to close the second half perhaps being an indication of them being the weaker outfit, Cloud9 showcased strong T and CT sides on de_train to clinch the map 16-7.

de_cache was also a downwards spiral for Liquid with Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip, Ryan "⁠freakazoid⁠" Abadir, and n0thing all playing at their peaks and in the end Cloud9 closed out the map 16-5 (which included a game closing highlight moment courtesy of Mike "⁠shroud⁠" Grzesiek) and won the iBUYPOWER Spring Invitational 2016.

iBUYPOWER Invitational Spring 2016Best of 3 Cloud9Matchpage 2 1 21st March 2016 Liquid 17Dust2 19 16Train 7 16Cache 5

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iBUYPOWER Spring Invitational 2016 final standings:

1. Cloud9 - $10,000
2. Liquid - $4,000
3-4. CLG - $1,000
3-4. Selfless - $1,000
5-8. Luminosity
5-8. Tempo Storm
5-8. TSM
5-8. OpTic
9-10. Renegades
9-10. Winterfox

stich writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter

Ryan 'freakazoid' Abadir Age: 23 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 242 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.71 Kenneth 'koosta' Suen Age: 19 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 162 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.66 Cloud9 #13 Jordan 'n0thing' GilbertTyler 'Skadoodle' LathamRyan 'freakazoid' AbadirMike 'shroud' GrzesiekJake 'Stewie2K' Yip Tempo Storm #12 Henrique 'HEN1' TelesLucas 'LUCAS1' TelesRicardo 'boltz' PrassJoão 'felps' VasconcellosGustavo 'SHOOWTiME' Gonçalves Luminosity #4 Lincoln 'fnx' LauGabriel 'FalleN' ToledoFernando 'fer' AlvarengaMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidEpitacio 'TACO' de Melo Renegades #20 Yaman 'yam' ErgenekonJustin 'jks' SavageAaron 'AZR' WardChad 'SPUNJ' BurchillKarlo 'USTILO' Pivac CLG #14 Stephen 'reltuC' CutlerJosh 'jdm64' MarzanoJames 'hazed' CobbJacob 'FugLy' MedinaTarik 'tarik' Celik Selfless #38 Skyler 'Relyks' WeaverMichael 'MAiNLiNE' JaberMichael 'Uber' StapellsNoah 'Nifty' FrancisMitch 'mitch' Semago Jordan 'n0thing' Gilbert Age: 25 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 362 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.67 Winterfox #35 Kyle 'flowsicK' MendezDavid 'Xp3' GarridoTodd 'anger' WilliamsDerek 'desi' BranchenAlexander 'LeX' Deily TSM #69 Kory 'SEMPHIS' FriesenPujan 'FNS' MehtaTimothy 'autimatic' TaHunter 'SicK' Mims Mike 'shroud' Grzesiek Age: 21 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 303 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.66 Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip Age: 18 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 139 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.72 OpTic #19 William 'RUSH' WierzbaShahzeb 'ShahZaM' KhanPeter 'stanislaw' JarguzKeith 'NAF' MarkovicDamian 'daps' Steele Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 18 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.19 Maps played: 396 KPR: 0.84 DPR: 0.70 Liquid #16 Spencer 'Hiko' MartinNick 'nitr0' CannellaOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiKenneth 'koosta' Suen