DreamHack Winter Day 2: ENCE Falls, SSG and Liquid Shock All

The last DreamHack before the Invitational presents a unique opportunity alongside a $50,000 prize pool. Not only will the winner receive a well-reimbursed payout, but a spot at the Six Invitational 2019. Participants travel from near and far -- from the hometown representatives in Chaos to the S7 Champions in Team Liquid, a stacked lineup of teams from across the global competitive scene would prove to be a monolithic hurdle to leap for a spot in Montreal.

Featuring top caliber teams and a surprising lack of matching ugly Christmas sweaters -- this is your roundup for the second day of events at DreamHack Winter, live from Elmia in Jönköping, Sweden.

Group C Winners’ Match: Spacestation Gaming 2 - 1 LeStream Esports

Maps: Bank (7-4), Villa (6-8), Border (7-3)

Spacestation: Redeemer, Rampy, Chala, Bosco, ThinkingNade

LeStream: AceeZ, UUNO, risze, Alphama, Hicks

Following yesterday’s 2-1 victory against PACT, the former Millenium team, LeStream Esports, now faced a monumental task in the form of Spacestation Gaming. The North American powerhouses made an impact in Season 7, scoring the first-ever 14-0 after a victory over fan-favorites Minigolfgutta on the previous day, and now looked to make a bigger statement after picking up ex-Obey IGL Dylan ‘Bosco’ Bosco. It was not a first for either team to face each other at a DreamHack tournament, as this marked the third time risze and Hicks took on familiar faces in the form of Redeemer, Chala, and ThinkingNade.

Map One: Bank

Spacestation had seen some success on this map in the past three months, gaining two wins out of three times on the map, and the North American representatives start off on defense for the first half. The coordinated, precise defensive strategies from SSG proved helpful as they plowed through LeStream in the first half with the help of plays from Rampy and Redeemer to put themselves up 4-2. LeStream managed to climb back up to equalize the score, but another two wins in a row for SSG capped off by a clutch from ThinkingNade put the North Americans in the driver’s seat.

Map Two: Villa

The next map was a bit exotic, having almost never been picked or played in the Pro League as of recently, but as Parker ‘Interrobang’ Mackay shared that Spacestation had scrimmed G2 Esports on it and had ‘played well’.

The first half would say otherwise, though, with LeStream taking an early 4-1 lead. Spacestation would snag the final round of the first half and climb slowly back up to equalize the scoreline on round ten. Both teams would take a round -- sending the map into overtime. In overtime, though, Spacestation was not able to take any rounds -- giving LeStream the map victory to tie up the series.

Map Three: Border

A guaranteed spot in the quarter-finals was on the table, and both teams were pushing hard for the opportunity to gain a spot in Montreal. Spacestation surged forward with a massive 4-2 lead by halftime, and even claimed the first round on the swap. LeStream, though, would push back with a win on round eight, but Spacestation locked in match point with an incredible play from Dylan ‘Bosco’ Bosco, coming around with incredible energy throughout this whole map. Once again, Bosco came through with another massive play to close out the map 7-3.

Group D Elimination Match: Team Liquid 2 - 1 ENCE Esports

Maps: Bank (7-2), Consulate (4-7), Border (7-3)

Liquid: Nesk, ziGueira, xS3xyCake, Paluh, gohaN

ENCE: Sha77e, Gomfi, Bounssi, Willkey, Slebben

Following each team’s subsequent loss to teams within their groups, both ENCE and Liquid looked to stay in DreamHack. Team Liquid had just emerged from an absolute upset loss to BeNeLux underdogs Trust Gaming and ENCE came off a loss of a major team member, UUNO, and had picked up NYYRIKKI’s Slebben in his place -- not to mention their devastating 14-2 loss to Chaos the day before.

Map One: Bank

Liquid started off very strong on Bank, picking up the pace from yesterday’s upset loss, with a 4-1 lead before round six with Nesk and gohaN leading the scoreboard. On round seven, an aggressive Smoke play from xS3xyCake would shut out an attack push on CCTV/Lockers, giving Liquid the map point advantage. ENCE pushed back with a win on round eight, but it was too little too late, as Liquid closed out the map on round nine with a 7-2 victory.

Map Two: Consulate

ENCE knew that it was make it or break it for them, and they made that very clear with Bounssi grabbing a 4k on round one. With key frags also coming from ENCE’s newest fifth, Slebben, they managed to pull through the first half with an incredible 4-2 lead. Stil in the lead, with just two rounds to closing it out, an absolute flurry of teamkills from Team Liquid on round eight put the EU hopefuls on map point advantage. Liquid regained their composure, managing to grab round ten, but it would be a tense second floor standoff to give ENCE the map victory.

Map Three: Border

Liquid and ENCE started off explosively, going back and forth within the first half. Liquid established a sturdy 3-1 lead, but ENCE struck back on the fifth round with a rushed plant. The Brazilians take a 4-2 heading into the second half, swapping over on the attack after blistering plays on defense. On the second half, both teams managed to grab one round each before heading into round nine. Liquid proved to be too strong against the seasoned Europeans, though, snatching two wins to close out a 7-3 victory that locked in a rematch against Trust Gaming. Nesk also finished the match with an insane 11 Opening Kills, going 40-18 over the course of the three maps.

Group B Decider Match: Mock-it Esports 2 - 0 MnM Gaming

Maps: Villa (7-5), Clubhouse (8-6), Consulate (Not played)

Mock-it: KS, korey, BakaBryan, Ripz, Lazzo

MnM: FraO, neLo, Prox, f0nkers, Doki

MnM saw action yesterday in the opening match against Belo-Russian powerhouses, Team Empire, losing 2-0 in an absolute show of force from Empire to send them back to the Elimination Match. MnM had little issue in the elimination match in a 14-0 against ÄPÖL though, giving them another opportunity for the quarter-finals against one of the best in Europe. Mock-it finished Season 8 as the second seed for the Season 8 Finals, being eliminated in the quarter-finals by home favorites FaZe Clan. Yesterday, though, they lost to Empire in the Winner’s Match, and now looked to stay in the running with a possible win against MnM.

Map One: Villa

MnM had seen success on Villa against ÄPÖL with a 7-0 sweep, and it had also been a map that they defeated Team Secret on during the ESL Premiership. After a long back-and-forth, Mock-it grabbed match point after two consecutive wins, as MnM’s disjointed defense showed cracks in its foundations. MnM pushed back with a round eleven win, but Mock-It sealed the deal with the win on round twelve.

Map Two: Clubhouse

Mock-It moved on to their comfort pick on Clubhouse, a map they’ve lost just once out of five times in the past three months, most notably defeating FaZe Clan 6-2 at the Season 8 Finals with the previous match format. Mock-It played strongly, as expected from their comfort map and led 4-2 heading into the second half. Korey and KS put on a clinical showing in round nine, dropping MnM players left and right with a standoff in master bedroom to put themselves on match point.

MnM were able to win on round ten with Mock-It’s offsite hold on the second floor, and then made an amazing comeback to tie up the game 6-6, forcing overtime. Mock-It then secured the first round of overtime, with an incredible 3k from BakaBryan to set them off on the right foot, and a clutch denial against f0nkers in the final round put Mock-It on track for the quarter-finals.

Quarter-Finals Match 1: PENTA Sports 2 - 0 CHAOS

Maps: Clubhouse (7-3), Coastline (7-4), Border (Not played)

PENTA: ENEMY, RevaN, Hungry, SirBoss, Panix

Chaos: Renuilz, Vitoline, REDGROOVE, Secretly, Kripps

PENTA has spent their time rebuilding their roster since the loss of their star-studded lineup to European Tier 1 organization, G2 Esports. With the acquisition of the former Mock-It lineup of Panix, ENEMY, Hungry, SirBoss, and RevaN alongside coach & analyst Jess -- PENTA has begun impressing as of late.

Now armed with the tools they need, PENTA blew through NYYRIKKI in two different group-stage matches, while taking a 1-2 loss to G2 Esports in the Winners' match. Chaos had made changes as well, dropping sn0oken and picking up Vitoline, which led to a dominating 14-2 win against ENCE yesterday, and a 2-1 win today against Trust to make it to the quarter-finals.

Map One: Clubhouse

PENTA started off without one of their key operator -- Hungry being yet another victim of the usual Ying ban, yet it seemed like PENTA had some surprises up their sleeves with an unexpected Montagne strategy used to sweep through the first half to finish 4-2. In the second half, PENTA’s defense seemed to lose its steam after hitting match point on a 6-2 lead -- with Chaos being able to finally take back a win on round nine. PENTA though was able to close the game out on round ten, with a last-second push by Chaos thwarted by a Yokai burst.

Map One: Coastline

On the second map, by the halftime, PENTA was once more up 4-2 heading into their attacking half, and soon secured matchpoint on 6-2 yet again. While Chaos was able to strike back on rounds nine and ten, it would be PENTA to close out the series on the eleventh round with an incredible 7-4 win.

Offstream Recap - Group Stages

In Group A, we saw the long-awaited rematch of PENTA and G2, where G2 won the series 2-1, losing their strongest map 8-7 in overtime. PENTA would then re-match against NYYRIKKI for their second victory over the Finnish team, finishing second in their group.

The winner’s match in Group B saw Mock-It losing 2-0 to Empire, followed up by MnM putting on an pitch-perfect exhibition against ÄPÖL with a 14-0 sweep.

Group C’s fan favorites in Minigolfgutta forfeited after their loss to Spacestation on Day 1, giving PACT a bye to face LeStream. The PACT-LeStream matchup ended in a heartbreaking loss for LSE, with the former Millenium squad losing 1-2.

Finally, Group D’s winners -- Trust and Chaos -- finished their match in a 2-1 definitive victory for Chaos, while Trust faced Team Liquid once more for a spot in the quarter-finals, which Liquid took 2-1.

Offstream Recap - Quarter-Finals

PACT saw a rematch against fellow ex-Challenger League team, Team Empire, with Empire taking a definitive 14-2 victory against them. Spacestation continued their reign of terror with a 2-0 win against Mock-It Esports, effectively knocking out the second-best team in Europe with a 14-5 scoreline.

In what happened to be the most surprising outcome of events, G2 Esports took on their storied rivals of Team Liquid, a team that managed to beat their lineup at the Season 7 Finals. While it was not streamed, Team Liquid’s own senior esports manager, Tephus, streamed the event live on Periscope with an over-the-shoulder perspective of ziGueira. Liquid picked up Map 1 by the narrowest of margins as they defeated G2 on their best map by a score of 8-7.

G2 came back with a 7-3 victory on Bank, as the two would then end up in familiar territory with Consulate. The last time these two had met, G2 had lost on Consulate 5-1 in the definitive ending that had crowned Team Liquid as the Season 7 champions. However, this time around it would be G2 to get revenge with a 7-4 victory, moving on to the semi-finals.

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That was your roundup for Day 2’s action at DreamHack Winter, swing around tomorrow for the grand conclusion to the weekend’s worth of events. You can watch tomorrow’s events live from Twitch.tv/Rainbow6 starting at 11AM CET / 5AM EST / 2AM PST