Team Nemesis beat Nuclear TigeRES 2-1 on Monday 19 October in the lower bracket semi-final of the PGL Bucharest Closed Qualifier 2027. The Counter-Strike 2 series went the distance, and the side ranked 13th in the Elo power rankings came through against the 15th-ranked team.
A 65-minute opener for Team Nemesis
The first map set the tone for a tight contest. Team Nemesis took it after 65 minutes, by far the longest of the three games.
Nuclear TigeRES answered quickly. They levelled the series in 33 minutes, the shortest map of the day, to force a decider.
The third map lasted 40 minutes and went the way of Team Nemesis. That closed out a series between two closely matched sides: Team Nemesis carry a rating of 1817 and an 89-47 record from 136 rated matches, while Nuclear TigeRES sit on 1808 with a 92-54 record from 146.
Third straight 2-1 win over Nuclear TigeRES
This was a familiar pairing. The two teams had already met in this qualifier on 16 October, when Team Nemesis won their upper bracket quarter-final by the same 2-1 scoreline.
The pattern goes back further. Team Nemesis also beat Nuclear TigeRES 2-1 at the CIS LAN Championship Season 8 on 2 October. The last time Nuclear TigeRES came out on top was on 31 August, a 2-1 win at the Moscow Cyber Games European Qualifier. Team Nemesis have now won three meetings in a row, every one of them decided on a third map.
Defeat ends a strong lower bracket run from Nuclear TigeRES. After losing that first meeting, they swept Eternal Fire 2-0 and then ex-RUSTEC 2-0. Before the closed stage, they had come through the second open qualifier with wins over Butterfly and FOKUS.
Betclic Apogee and BBL settle the upper bracket
Team Nemesis have taken the long route. Their only loss in the event came in the upper bracket semi-final, a 2-0 defeat to Betclic Apogee Esports. They recovered by edging EYEBALLERS 2-1 in the lower bracket quarter-final, so this was their second successive series to need all three maps.
Elsewhere, the upper bracket final went to BBL, who beat Betclic Apogee Esports 2-1. BBL had reached that stage by beating ex-RUSTEC 2-1 in their semi-final.
Team Nemesis have little time to rest. On Tuesday 20 October they switch events to face FN Team at the CIS LAN Championship Season 9.
Read also: FOKUS sweep Just Players on the way to the PGL Bucharest qualifier final
