The second and final day of DreamHack Open Anaheim’s group stage has come to an end. It was quite a long day of games full of overtimes and drama. North and Complexity remained in the final two advancement spots after defeating the elimination match winners. They will join FURIA and Gen.G in the playoffs.
Complexity have advanced to the semifinals after a dominant performance. (Photo courtesy DreamHack)
Group A
Endpoint 2 – 1 forZe
The first DreamHack match of the day also turned out to be the longest one as Endpoint and forZe fought for their tournament lives. Map one on Vertigo was a sight to behold, as it took four overtimes to complete. The teams were inseparable during regulation, as both halves ended 8-7 for the T side. At the end of the second half, forZe looked to have control over the game, until Thomas “Thomas” Utting pulled off a game saving clutch to send them Endpoint to overtime.
Four nail biting OT periods later, Thomas broke the 50 frag barrier with a 4k to secure the map for the underdogs.
Inferno would be forZe’s pick, and it would pan out well for them. After a strong opening T side which included the first five rounds in a row, forZe pulled ahead. Although they gave up the first five rounds to Endpoint on their T side, forZe were able to stabilize on the defense. A dominating streak saw them win seven of the final eight rounds to secure the 16-12 victory and a tiebreaker map.
The final map of Train was thankfully the shortest map of the match. Endpoint began the map on the preferred CT side and ran away with the game. The first ten rounds in a row belonged to them, netting Endpoint a 12-3 halftime lead. Once their T side economy was in order, closing the match out was trivial. Endpoint completed the 2-1 upset over forZe to advance to the decider match.
North 2 – 0 Endpoint
Unfortunately for Endpoint, the magic would end as they matched up against North. Endpoint picked Vertigo once again, but the surprise was just not there anymore. After North put up a standard 8-7 CT side, they went on an offensive rampage. An 8-0 sweep in the second half allowed North to close out map one 16-7.
Dust2 on the other hand would be a much closer affair. Endpoint won all but one of the initial rounds, but then North’s T side started rolling. The Danish squad took nine of the final ten rounds to secure a 10-5 lead at the half. Endpoint were no slouches on the attack themselves. Whenever they won a round, they were able to chain it into multiple. Eventually, they took the lead going into the final three rounds.
