Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams battled it out this weekend in hopes of qualifying to compete at DreamHack Open Anaheim. The tournament’s final two spots were confidently claimed by Complexity and Gen.G.
Climbing the bracket to DreamHack
North America’s best teams prevailed through the open bracket as INTZ, Triumph, Chaos, and Riot Squad all advanced into the closed qualifier. Meanwhile, their invited counter-parts Complexity, eUnited, Singularity, and Gen.G awaited their matches.
With all eight teams ready to play the closed bracket, matchups were:
- eUnited vs. Triumph
- Complexity vs. INTZ
- Singularity vs. Riot Squad
- Gen.G vs. Chaos
Gen.G defeats Chaos and Riot Squad
The semi-finals bracket kicked off with a best of three between Gen.G and Chaos; the first map, Train, was Chaos’ pick. Gen.G had an impressive performance as they defeated their opponent 16-6. However, Chaos fought back and was able to secure a win on Gen.G’s map choice, Mirage (16-9). Going into the third map, Inferno, it was difficult to say which team would edge the other out. Both sides were assumed to have practiced Inferno; Chaos having a 57% win rate out of 79 games, and Gen.G a 100% win rate out of two matches according to HLTV. Despite Chaos’ past Inferno performances, Gen.G defeated the team 16-5.
Next, Gen.G faced Riot Squad in their final best of three; the winner would then qualify for DreamHack. Map one brought Dust II, picked by Riot Squad. Hansel ‘BnTet’ Ferdinand put Gen.G on his back, leading them to a 16-6 finish. BnTet ended with a beastly 46-25 K/D, 1.57 rating, and 103.5 ADR. Gen.G’s pick for map two was Train. Riot Squad was not trounced and performed considerably better. Despite their efforts, Gen.G edged them out of a DreamHack spot, besting Riot 16-12.
Complexity knock out INTZ and eUnited
The invited team, Complexity, started their day facing off against Brazilian team INTZ. Map 1 versus INTZ brought another close game on Train. By the end of the first half, Complexity only had three rounds on INTZ’s strong T-side (9-6). During the second half, Complexity secured their final seven rounds and ended the match 16-11. The second map pick belonged to Complexity, which landed the two teams on Overpass. After a strong T-side (7-8), it seemed that the series may end after map two.
However, INTZ bulldozed their way to victory (16-10), only allowing their competitors to snag three rounds their CT-side. Lastly, the two teams met on Mirage. Complexity’s CT-side was hugely successful (11-4), putting them in a comfortable spot going into the second half. Altogether, Complexity beat INTZ ending the set 16-10.
Complexity’s final match was against eUnited. Before the game started, CSGO fans watching in Twitch chat called for an easy win for Complexity. Unimpressed by eUnited’s recent performances, having lost to Mythic, success in their favor was considered unlikely. First, the two teams faced on Mirage, Complexity’s pick; Complexity swiftly defeated eUnited 16-6.
A stand-out was Complexity’s Benjamin “blameF” Bremer. BlameF had a significant impact finishing with a 27-10 K/D, impressive 125.6 ADR, and 2.01 rating. Surprisingly, eUnited chose to not ban Overpass, a map which they had previously banned while against Mythic. However, they chose to go up against Complexity, a team with a 66.7% win rate on Overpass over the last three months. While the second map was much closer, eUnited still fell to the group 13-16.
Final DreamHack Anaheim Bracket
To say the least, the DreamHack Anaheim qualifier brought big matches and impressive showings. The complete list, including European teams is as follows:
DreamHack Open Anaheim will take place in California on February 21-23, 2020.
Published: Jan 20, 2020 10:01 pm