DreamHack Masters Stockholm: The end of the run

A tough series

The quarterfinals of DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018 pitted  NAVI.GG.BET against a Danish team  North. The series was a tough one, and unfortunately,  NAVI.GG.BET lose the series, dropping out of the competition.

Train - Natus Vincere [0:1] North

The first game of the series started off quite tough for NAVI - the pistol round went the way of the opponent, and the subsequent 2 didn't amend much. The gun round didn't help us much either, as we continued to drop players and round, and we soon found ourselves in a quite big disadvantage. When the scoreline hit 0:5, we finally managed to come online with a good execute, but the trade in the following round denied us the chance of establishing a good streak.

Despite the rather unfortunate reset, we still gathered ourselves to take 2 more, but yet again, fallen short of reaching any meaningful series.  North took over the initiative again, as they realized their economy was at risk of failing them. Till the end of the half, there were no significant breakthroughs on part of  NAVI - despite coming close, we didn't manage to take any rounds, finishing the half at 3:12.

The second pistols didn't give us much hope either - 13:3. The score was getting very dangerous for  NAVI, and indeed, quite soon, the game came to the match point. Despite the best attempts of our players, it wasn't enough - Train goes the way of  North.

Inferno - Natus Vincere [0:2] North

The second game of the encounter started with a defeat in the pistols yet again, as we lost several players very fast. The second followed the suit, but the third saw a very close turnaround - bomb got planted, and there wasn't much North was able to do -  NAVI scored the first point.  From there onwards, we tried our best to avoid giving up the game initiative. Fair enough, with a solid map control, we caught up to  North and even advanced forth. By the 8th round, both sides had enough money to buy, but as the opponent got destroyed, they had to eco.

The eco saw  North pick up a few kills with a Deagle and manage to secure another point. We started to struggle financially, and another round the way of the opponent spelled an eco for NAVI. North too over the map and broke ahead, securing 8 points. We gathered our forces to retaliate for the last round of the half - the T side of NAVI ended at 7:8, minimal disadvantage.

The second half had North continue their domination - first the pistols, and then 2 more allowed them to establish a very good economy. NAVI only went online during the 21st round, but it was rather short-lived. Another round for North pushed them over to the match point - we had a challenging task ahead of us. 2 rounds went our way, but ultimately, North overwhelmed us - 16:9.

OVERALL MATCH STATS