BIG and FURIA win DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 divisions

As the European bracket kept throwing up surprise after surprise, FURIA continued their steady march towards the top tier of North American Counter-Strike, scoring another win over Team Liquid in comfortable fashion in the grand final.

It was a BIG day

Once again, G2 fell at the last hurdle, map advantage or not, as BIG completed a reverse sweep over kennyS and co. despite their one-sided loss on the opening map of Vertigo, which ended in 16-6. With G2’s upper bracket run giving them a map win my default, this meant that they only had to win one of Nuke, Dust 2 or Mirage to clinch the title. However, similarly one-sided losses – 16-5 and 16-6, but this time in the other direction – meant that BIG had the mental advantage by the time Mirage rolled around. It was a closely fought affair, though it initially seemed like G2 may have got their groove back after romping to a 7-0 lead on the CT side of the map.

With an 11-4 halftime score to celebrate, it seemed like they got their head back into the game just in time, but BIG’s defenses proved to be just as impenetrable, with srysoN’s highlight performances pushing the series – and the tournament – into overtime. It was an exciting conclusion to a great event as BIG completed the unexpected turnaround, pushing G2 into back-to-back second places at top tier CS:GO tournaments.

FURIA’s fury

The slow-motion revolution of North American Counter-Strike continued at DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 as FURIA breezed through the regional bracket, only losing three maps across the five series they’ve played against top-tier opposition. A flawless group stage run meant that they only had to win a single series in the upper bracket against 100Thieves to make it to the grand final with a map advantage in hand. It was a task they accomplished, though not without a wobble, as the Aussies inflicted a heavy 16-4 defeat on them on Inferno. However, a 16-11 Vertigo and a close-fought 16-14 Train win gave the Brazilians the edge, and 100Thieves eventually ended up losing to Liquid in the lower bracket final.

Despite all the excitement in the playoffs, the grand final turned out to be a straightforward affair. Liquid already had a mountain to climb due to the default one-map deficit, and things went from bad to worse after they lost their own map pick of Mirage 16-13, as FURIA continued to steamroll their opposition on Vertigo, winning 12 T rounds and quickly closing out the map 16-5.