DH Open Fall: Vitality Upset Astralis!

This night, Vitality delivered an absolute shocker of a match. Astralis were the favorites in this game and the event as a whole, but Vitality beat them on three maps to be the first to reach the Grand Finals. However, Astralis still have a shot at revenge.

G2 ESPORTS IN LAST PLACE

With teams like Sprout, GODSENT and North in attendance, the Frenchmen surely hadn’t expected to land in the very last place of playoffs. But following multiple losses, Kevin “kRYSTAL” Amend and his men finally managed to take down one team in the form of G2. Kenny “KennyS” Schrub actually put up a convincing show throughout the tournament, it’s just that his team completely failed to support him. For instance, Audric “JaCkz” Jug only got a 0.76 rating in their last match. On two maps, GODSENT delivered the upset and Pavle “maden” Bošković proved that he might eventually deserve a spot on a bigger team.

FaZe secured a 9th place finish at DreamHack Open Fall over North. First of all, this is a disappointing result for a team that had just won IEM New York EU a few days back. But secondly, and most crucially, they almost lost this match. North dragged them all the way into overtime on the first map, only narrowly losing on a 17-19 scoreline. On Overpass, they came close to Marcelo “coldzera” David and company again, but failed once more on a 14-16 scoreline.

HEROIC AND NIP WALK ON

Nothing has changed with regards to yesterday’s story line. The teams that had won in the Lower Bracket won again today. This time around, BIG had to fight Heroic.

On the first map, the Danes got into the game well. They secured 13 round points in the first half and had quickly gathered the remaining three. Closing the map on a 16-5 scoreline, they entered Mirage, where BIG finally managed to strike back. Nils “k1to” Gruhne carried his team through a rather decisive T side and quickly ended it on the CT side. With 24 kills, he was the top performer on the German camp. A 16-8 helped them reach the Decider Map.

There, Heroic reprised their performance from the first map. Their Nuke CT side held sway and gave them a 10-5 score at half time. Theoretically, there was still time for BIG to bring it back, but Heroic were in full control on their T side. They quickly got their 6 rounds on the board and ended the match on a 16-5 scoreline.

The Ninjas in Pyjamas had a much more competitive opponent in the form of fnatic. While they did get their win on Overpass, fnatic came dangerously close with 12 points. On Inferno, the (orange) Swedes even took the lead. Freddy “KRiMZ” Johansson and Maikil “Golden” Selim got their team a 16-11 win, which meant that the overall score was tied heading into the Decider Map. There, the Ninjas finally took the lead again. Simon “twist” Eliasson helped his team to a 16-10 victory, which has helped them advance in the Lower Bracket.

The Lower Bracket race of Heroic and NiP will come to an end for one of the two sides, as they are facing each other next. Both competitors have put up a solid show so far, which makes it incredibly difficult to point towards a winner.

VITALITY UPSET ASTRALIS

The Danes went into this match with the performance and the history to back up their claim for a Grand Finals spot. After all, they had basically stomped all teams, except for Heroic during their nail-biter overtime victory. At first, it looked as though they could repeat this performance versus the Frenchmen.

On Nuke, the Danes secured 9 rounds in a row, until Vitality finally managed to find an answer on their CT side. But this only helped them win two rounds, so Astralis quickly got onto a 13-2 lead. On the CT side, they swiftly secured a 15-2 scoreline. After they stopped a weak attempt at a comeback in its tracks, Vitality were defeated. Nicolai “device” Reedtz and Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen each recorded 20 kills and Patrick “es3tag” Hansen was the worst player on the team with a 1.23 rating.

Letting Dust2 through would prove to be a grave mistake. On virtually every other map, Astralis could have jumped onto a quick 2-0, but instead they entered a battleground where individual talent reigns supreme. They should’ve known better than to challenge Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut. The player secured a 16-10 victory on a 1.58 rating – but the surprise star of the map was Kévin “misutaa” Rabier. Usually a rather quiet player, the young Frenchman earned himself a 1.48 rating for his efforts.

On Overpass, the unthinkable took place. Vitality suddenly ran away with their CT rounds! Similarly to Astralis on the first map, the Frenchmen held a 12-3 lead at halftime and were just four rounds shy of match victory. The Danes mounted a comeback, which was undercut by a few well placed AWP shots courtesy of ZywOo. On a 16-11 scoreline, Vitality made the ultimate upset happen and are the first team to make Grand Finals during DreamHack Open Fall.

Astralis are going to meet either NiP or BIG next. During ESL Pro League, the Danes had to fight through the Lower Bracket as well, winning the Grand Finals over Natus Vincere in spite of a map deficit. Will they manage to achieve a similar feat here?