This weekend is the first of many DreamHack events for 2017. Although the teams may not be considered Tier One, this tournament promises to be as competitive, if not more, as those before it. Here in snowy Leipzig, eight teams will battle it out for the title of DreamHack open champions and the lion’s share of $100,000.
We will be providing live coverage of the event from DreamHack itself on our Twitter: @GAMURS_CSGO. You can also follow us on Snapchat for exclusive pictures from the expo and the event: gamurscom.
This article will be updated live as the matches happen so make sure you check back regularly:
Match One: qwerty vs. Fnatic Academy – Loser goes home
Map one: Cache
Fnatic claimed the pistol round after a big 4k from Jayzwalkingz, putting the Academy on a risky 4-smg buy the next round. The risky buy from Fnatic didn’t allow them to counter qwerty’s force buy, allowing them to even the score. The early rounds were back-and-forth until qwerty was forced to eco and Fnatic Academy took control of the early game at 3-3. They maintained their vice grip on the game, as qwerty struggled for any entrance back into the game. The half ended 11-4 to the Academy, with qwerty’s wenton ending the half with one kill.
The second pistol round went to qwerty, which gave them the start they needed if they ever hoped to mount a comeback. Their CT half looked better than their attacking one, but Fnatic Academy simply outclassed them on Cache.
Map two: Train
Fnatic Academy came hot out of the gates in this map also, putting together a 11-1 lead in the early stages of the game. Karus was instrumental in the early dominance of their campaign, standing on 20 kills by the 13th round. The Academy ended the half on a powerful 13-2 scoreline, and only three rounds away from sending qwerty out of the tournament.
The second half began as you might expect, with Fnatic Academy winning the pistol round and then progressing on the few rounds that they needed in a winning manner, utlimately making the scoreline 16-2 in favor of Fnatic. The Academy will now face LDLC to battle for survival in the tournament, while qwerty leaves the event.
Game two: Rogue vs. BIG – Loser goes home
Map one: Mirage
BIG was playing with the crowd as a sixth player in this one, which led them to pick up the eight opening rounds on their Mirage CT campaign. A smart take of the A bombsite from Rogue put them on the scoreboard, but BIG answered back with three more rounds to make the score 11-1. BIG didn’t allow their lead to diminish as they continued the strong half and concluded it with a 13-2 score.
Rogue kick the second half off with a flawless pistol round as they attempted to build a CT economy sufficient to complete the epic comeback required. The CT side of Rogue looks a lot more organized than their Mirage T side as they brought the score to 13-7. BIG won a round to make score 14-7 in their favor, but are shutting down the next round as Rogue, spearheaded by cadiaN’s AWP, expertly defended the B site without losing a man. A 14-11 score prompted BIG to take a tactical pause in an attempt to quell the momentum fueled comeback from Rogue. Following the pause, BIG only let one round slip before closing out map one 16-12.
Map Two: Cache
BIG carried over their momentum from Mirage and claimed the pistol round on Cache, before a Tenzki 3k evened out the score 1-1. Rogue quickly bounced back from their pistol round loss as they started to stack a bountiful CT economy up, which helped them make the score 5-1 to them. The back-and-forth state of this map continued, seeing BIG tie the map up 5-5 after some great site takes on their Terrorist side. Rogue took a tactical pause as the score reached 7-5, having lost six rounds in a row to the home side, BIG. Taking a moment to regroup their thoughts and plan the next round didn’t work out for Rogue, as BIG made the score 8-5, having not lost a round since they were staring at a 5-1 scoreline. BIG closed the half with a knife kill on cadiaN and a score of 10-5.
A defuse won BIG the second pistol round of the map as they held back Rogue’s onslaught of the B site. tabseN utilized a boost on A perfectly, allowing him to pick off four approaching Terrorists and winning BIG the round, putting the score 13-5 to the predominantly-German side. The home team continued building rounds, eventually making the score 15-5 and having 10 match points in which to close out the series. The finishing blow was dealt to Rogue soon after match point was reached, with the final score being 16-6 to BIG, which caused Rogue to leave the tournament in the groups.
Game three: LDLC vs. Fnatic Academy
Map one: Cache
The early game was an intense battle to grasp the economy and take control of the match, with LDLC narrowly edging this battle. The back-and-forth nature continued throughout the first half, resulting in a 9-6 scoreline to LDLC by the end of the first half.
The second half saw Fnatic take the first three rounds on the back of a pistol round that, despite LDLC flanking them heavily, the Academy managed to secure the A site and defend it. Fnatic Academy smartly negated the force-buy that LDLC threw at them on the 21st round and made the score 11-10 on their Terrorist side. LDLC opted for a tactical pause as they stared down the barrel of a 13-10 score with them in the deficit. Their pause didn’t prevent the Fnatic Academy train from a fast mid take, which enabled them to take B and put them just two rounds from taking the first map. The LDLC side then found themselves closer to the end of the game once more and put three more rounds on the board in response to Fnatic’s one, putting the game at 14-13 to the Academy.
Fnatic Academy chose to pause the game at that point as the game stood on a knife’s edge, able to fall either way. The Swedes failed to keep hold of the B site after securing it and planting, giving perhaps the most pivotal round of the game to LDLC and evening up the score. One of the more impressive moments of the game came from the Swedish prodigy jayzwalkingz, who’s 1v3 clutch put Fnatic Academy on map point, 15-14. The Swedes then closed out the last round to secure Cache 16-14.
Map Two: Overpass
Overpass started off similarly to how the previous map, Cache, started off; a constant battle to string rounds together and win the half. The half ended at 8-7 for LDLC as they narrowly stayed above Fnatic Academy at the end of the half. The second half was a much less even affair, however, where Fnatic Academy found themselves unable to penetrate the defense of LDLC. Massively bolstered by a star performance by xms, LDLC put together the eight rounds they needed on the CT side, while only dropping one to the Fnatic Academy. The series went to 1-1 with Cobblestone to decide who would leave the tournament and who would progress.
Map Three: Cobblestone
The deciding map started off with Fnatic Academy claiming the pistol round. The early rounds continued to be won primarily by the Academy, who held back gun rounds and tec-9 forces alike. LDLC often chose to force-buy, yet rarely found success against the solid force that was Fnatic Academy’s Cobblestone defense. The LDLC squad didn’t manage to piece together many Terrorist rounds at all, ending the half with only three in answer to Fnatic Academy’s 12 rounds.
The second half started with LDLC controlling the game, as their pistol round win led them to pick up the first five of their Counter-Terrorist side. They had soon built enough momentum to worry Fnatic Academy enough to pause the game, at 12-9, in order to get back on the winning track. The pause didn’t result in a round for Fnatic though, as LDLC held back their B execute, helped by a early 2k from to1nou just as the T’s started to push. The end game was a lot more intense than the game had been before, as Fnatic added one more to the board after several LDLC rounds, making the score 14-14. The last round of the game witnessed LDLC fight for the series win and the Academy fought to stay in the tournament by bringing the game to overtime. In a messy round that ended in a showdown on A, LDLC pulled off a ridiculous comeback and claimed the map and the series.
Game four: BIG vs. Vega Squadron
Map one: Dust II
BIG won the first pistol round after retaking the A bombsite, much to the crowd’s delight. Due to a bomb plant, the first gun round appeared on the third round, where BIG shut down the CIS team. BIG continued the early dominance, helped by AWPer keev, and built up an eight round lead before Vega answered back with five of their own. BIG claimed the last two rounds as the halftime score stood at 10-5 in favor of BIG.
Vega took the pistol round on their CT half, as BIG chose to eco the following round, despite not getting a bomb plant, which usually warrants a force-buy. Their low second round buy did allow BIG to get rifles in the third round, which they converted into a round win.
Map two: Train
Vega Squadron started off strong this time, with four rounds in a row. The German crown cheered on their home team BIG with every kill, but they still failed to grab a round against the CIS pain train.
Round five rolled around, and a force buy from BIG led to a super close clutch on the A bomb site with their pistols and a fallen AK47 they stole from the T side. This was the coal that lit the German’s fire, granting them the economy and the momentum to string some rounds together.
After some back-to-back rounds and some close clutch situations from Nex and JR, Vega Squadron secured their lead at the half 10-5.
On the half switch, BIG had a flawless T side pistol round and set themselves up smoothly for the following three rounds. The 19th round was the first fair fight as both teams equally bought up for the first gun round. BIG kept on rolling and they eventually tied up the map 10-10. Round 21 was another full buy for both squads and Vega finally claimed their first round on the CT side.
Right after that, BIG bit back, forcing the eco for Vega and pushing the map score to 13-11, thus forcing Vega to take a tactical pause. In the past, Vega has benefited from a pause but BIG dominated the following round. Vega crushed the incoming Terrorist attack, but Keev had a massive 1v3 clutch that took them to 15-13. All of a sudden, the crowd was shadowed in silence as Vega threatened to comeback. The score was 15-14 and BIG took what they hoped was their final tactical pause of the map, and in turn, the series. Vega Squadron pulled it all out of the bag and forced the second overtime of the tournament.
Moving into overtime, Vega closed out the first half 17-16. On T side, Vega continued their comeback and shut down the CT’s in the first round. BIG claimed their first round on the second half and an early first blood from Keev and a great entry into the B bomb site, plus smoke defuse from Nex, took the two teams into a second overtime.
This time, BIG took charge, locking down the CT side 20-19 thanks to some solid AWP shots from Keev. Switching sides, Vega hit back with a left hook into B site and tied up the map 20-20. JR opened up the next round with an nice AWP pick in the B site and Keshandr helped lock down their 21st round win, pushing them to match point, but BIG channeled the crowd’s energy and took it to a third overtime.
21-21 quickly went to 22-21 as Vega once again took the first round. Gob b went around the CT defense but Vega shut down the T’s push and extended their lead. The third round of the third overtime was explored but ultimately ended with a 1v2 going in favor of the home team, BIG. In the opening seconds of the side switch, JR was knocked down to two health thanks to some cheeky spray through the smoke, and BIG tied up the map 23-23. After a super close plant situation, BIG clawed themselves within one round of the 2-0, but somehow, Vega clutched up one more time and brought us into a fourth overtime.
Exhaustion was setting in and the teams turned to individual plays. BIG held strong on the defense of B site and the Germans grabbed the first round. The score was 25-24 and Vega drew first and second blood, bringing themselves level for what seemed like the 100th time.
LEIGA had the biggest 1v3 of his life, dragging his team to 26-25. First blood seemed to be the key as JR dropped first, followed by Keshandr. This was the final nail in the coffin for the CT’s defense and BIG put themselves on match point. Vega wouldn’t go down without a fight and capitalized on some early aggression and threatened a fifth overtime, but BIG was having none of it. The Germans finally shut down the CIS defense and locked down Train 28-26.
This article will be updated throughout the day, so be sure to stay tuned for all the recaps from DreamHack Open Leipzig.
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