With the group stage of DreamHack Masters Las Vegas almost over, four teams have advanced to the playoffs—and some of the teams continue to cause upsets.
After their upset wins over Fnatic and Natus Vincere yesterday, Gambit Esports and Mousesports have both continued their great form to claim a place in the playoffs of the $450,000 tournament as group winners.
Gambit defeated Virtus Pro in the winner’s match of Group C to advance, taking a 16-10 win on Cobblestone. Gambit looked confident on the terrorist side in particular, at one point leading by seven rounds before taking a 10-5 lead into the second half. Once the teams switched sides the match was closer, but Virtus Pro could not close the gap.
After Mikhail “Dosia” Stolyarov and captain Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko topped the scoreboard in their opener, Gambit also showed their strength across the lineup. This time it was Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev who shone with 27 kills and over 114 average damage per round.
Mousesports echoed Gambit’s scoreline on Mirage, taking out FaZe Clan 16-10. Nikola “NiKo” Kovac had a quieter game against the team he will join after the tournament, this time letting AWPer Tomas “oskar” Stastny lead the way with 33 kills. NiKo still bagged 23 kills however, and managed to die in only 12 of the rounds.
While Gambit and Mousesports were knocking out prospective playoff hopefuls, some tournament favorites were able to get the job done. ELEAGUE Major winners Astralis came out on top against rivals OpTic Gaming with a 16-9 win on Nuke. Astralis were only 9-6 up at the half, but a strong terrorist side saw them win seven of the next ten rounds.
The performance of new addition Spencer “Hiko” Martin will be a concern for OpTic, as the former Team Liquid in-game leader managed just six kills across the 25 rounds.
Double Major winners SK Gaming had the most comfortable route to the playoffs, following up their 16-5 win over Tyloo yesterday with a 16-6 defeat of Cloud9 on Overpass.
At the other end of the groups there were no surprises as CompLexity, Misfits, Tyloo, and Renegades were all eliminated.
The tournament resumes later today with four spots remaining in the playoffs. The decider matches will see OpTic rematch North, Fnatic meet Virtus Pro, Cloud9 take on Ninjas in Pyjamas and FaZe battle Na`Vi.
