On the first day of play at the IEM Rio Major, CS:GO fans saw Grayhound pull off the upset over Cloud9 with a 1-0 victory to send sh1ro and company to the elimination pool of the Challengers Stage. aliStair and company completed the comeback in extra time with a 19-17 scoreline, after being down 5-10 by halftime.

The above-mentioned Aussie, aliStair, shined bright in the server on Dust2, where he powered his team through regulation and later got his squad rallying behind him in overtime. He finished the match with a 1.13 Rating.

Many had predicted that the Australian squad would fall with a 0-3 record and quickly be eliminated from the Major, with it being one of the most popular IEM Rio Pick’em choices. Grayhound’s aliStair had no sympathy after the victory for those who picked them to go down 0-3, shouting “F*CK YOUR PICK’EMS!” right as he and the rest of the squad had just closed out the action.

Watch aliStair’s reaction after the victory right here:

aliStair

Grayhound

In their second match of the day, MIBR had to beat Renegades to stay alive at the IEM Cologne Play-in. Two times during the day, they lost a 15-11 lead on the floor, and ended up being the first team to say goodbye to the tournament.

On Vertigo it was Alistair "aliStair" Johnston who effectively ended MIBR's dreams of a good run at the tournament with a perfect ace in the overtime.

You can watch all of this month's Pley of the Day's here.

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Renegades

It was the battle of the continents at IEM Katowice Play-in when South Americas TeamOne faced Oceanias Renegades in an elimination match.

The two teams had both lost their opening games at the tournament and could already be on their way out on Day 1. Bizarrely, both teams lost their own map picks by huge numbers (16-3, 4-16), which left Overpass as the deciding map.

Between it all, there was a big delay due to technical issues, which made the match stretch out over four hours despite the two quick maps.

Renegades was in control during Overpass, and the Australians looked destined to secure the win after going 15-11 up. But TeamOne still had a fight left in them. And rightly so. Both teams had travelled a very long way to participate in this tournament, and it would be a big blow to be sent home after just one day. The four Brazilians and Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa (Guatemala) made the comeback to 15-15 and forced the match into overtime.

TeamOne started best in overtime, but Renegades still managed to win the match in the end by 19-17. A devastating loss to TeamOne, who is eliminated from the tournament. Renegades face Virtus.pro tomorrow in an all or nothing match to qualify for the main event.

Renegades - TeamOne 2-1 (3-16, 16-4, 19-17).

MVP: Alistair 'aliStair' Johnston - 1.22 rating / 61-48 K-D / 82.9 ADR

TeamOne

Renegades have just announced their new signing in Alistair "aliStair" Johnston. With Christopher "dexter" Nong having left Renegades in order to join the Mousesports roster, Renegades needed a fifth and final member. On paper, the Australian AWP'er seems to be a perfect fit and will be seeking to prove exactly that in the upcoming future. 

"aliStair" leaves ORDER after having played for the organization for three years. Ranking as the best player from the ORDER roster in 2020, it is no surprise that Renegades have had the 22-year-old in their scope for a potential new signing. At Renegades he will be reuniting with his former teammates from ORDER in Simon "Sico" Williams and Joshua "INS" Potter. 

Renegades will put their newly shaped roster to the test at the IEM Katowice Play-In on Tuesday at 13:30 (CET). Their first BO3-series of the event is going to be against their former teammate "dexter" and the Mousesports roster. 

The new-look Renegades roster looks as follows: 

dexter

Sico

Order

mousesports

The Australian top team Order has just announced the departure of their devoted player Alistair "⁠aliStair⁠" Johnston. The 22-year old AWPer leaves the team after having featured for the Aussies since January 2018, being one of the strongest performers throughout his time. aliStair has averaged a strong 1.15 rating since his arrival three years ago, having played over 600 maps in total.

“It's hard to find the words to express my gratitude towards the environment this organisation created and the opportunity they gave me.

 I'm gutted the boys and I were never able to attend a LAN together, but I have no doubt they'll find a great replacement to grind and succeed with. I wish them all the best in their tournaments and future. It's hard to say goodbye to this chapter in my career but I'm also very excited for what my future holds.”

The Australian player has this morning been heavily rumoured towards a potential transfer to Renegades, which his departure from Order only strengthens. It’s the media HTT news who can inform that aliStair is close signing the team, as a replacement for Chris “dexter” who’s allegedly on the way to mousesports.

Read more. "mouz aiming to replace IGL and ChrisJ"

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/media-mouz-aiming-replace-igl-chrisj/"}]

The Australian team ORDER secured the first Grand Final spot in IEM Beijing Oceania earlier today when they defeated AVANT 2-1. The highlight player was ORDER’s star Alistair “aliStair” Johnston who played exceptionally and demonstrated his incredible abilities with the AWP like these two plays down below.

[twitchVideo:esl_csgob/clip/LaconicWiseEelNomNom]

[twitchVideo:esl_csgob/clip/KawaiiPuzzledSardineTwitchRPG]

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aliStair

Player stats

Articles mentioning aliStair

Grayhound after upsetting Cloud9: F*ck your pick’ems!

Pley of the Day: aliStair crushes MIBR on Vertigo

Renegades survives another day at IEM Katowice

Renegades sign AWP'er aliStair

Promising AWPer leaves Australian team

Video: Australian AWPer can’t be stopped

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