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Yesterday, we brought you the news that FaZe Clan claimed their third Intel Grand Slam victory of the past eight tournaments at the ESL One Belo Horizonte 2018.
However, the action in Brazil wasn’t the only big CS:GO event from over the weekend. There were two other massive tournaments: the CS:GO Asia Championships 2018 in Shanghai and the DreamHack Summer 2018 tournament in Jonkoping, Sweden.
Let’s take a closer look at how both these tournaments turned out.
Vincere victorious in Shanghai surprise
The CS:GO Asia Championships 2018 featured a number of teams from around the globe, including the team many feel is the top squad in the world at the moment — Virtus.pro.
They began the tournaments as the clear favourites, and the bookies faith in Virtus.pro looked well placed after the opening rounds.
Drawn into Group B, Virtus.pro made light work of securing the top seeding spot in Group B, winning their opening match 2-1 against TyLoo. In the second Winner’s Match, Virtus.pro clinched top spot with a comfortable 2-0 win over Heroic.
Joining them in the second phase would be those two vanquished teams, who both earned spots in the playoff quarterfinals by winning one game apiece. This left MVP.PK as the eliminated team.
Group A was equally interesting. Natus Vincere clinched the top seed after they won their opening game against Team EnVyUs 2-0 and then followed that up with a 2-1 victory over Ninjas in Pyjamas. Ninjas then made it through, as did Team EnVyUs. The latter who bounced back from their initial defeat to claim the third qualifying spot with a 2-0 win over VG.FlashGaming in the Elimination Match.
Playoff results
The playoffs began with something of a shock in the opening match. The home fans were delighted to see TyLoo come through 2-1 against Ninjas in Pyjamas in what was a fine display by the Chinese team. In the other quarterfinal, the No. 3 seed also earned a victory. Team EnVyUs secured a rare playoff win over Heroic.
However, the No. 3 seeds quickly saw their luck run out. Virtus.pro defeated TyLoo, and Natus Vincere vanquished Team EnVyUs in 2-0 sweeps.
As expected, Virtus.pro started the best-of-three final as the favourites, and the bookies looked right out of the gate. Virtus.pro ran out of the opening match as very comfortable 16-3 winners.
However, Natus Vincere then started to produce some of their best form of the tournament. They struck back to claim the second game on Nuke in equally emphatic fashion, a 16-4 win.
That set up a deciding game on Train, and the momentum that the Ukrainian team had gained from that second game continued into the third. Vincere produced another superb display to claim an emphatic 16-6 win and get their hands on $150,000. Virtus.pro won’t be too happy at the manner of their defeat in the final, but a cheque for $60,000 for second place will be some consolation.
Natus Vincere will next be in action at the forthcoming ESL One: Cologne 2018 event, which takes place from July 3-8.
The Imperial are imperious in Sweden
With many of the top CS:GO teams otherwise involved at either the Asia Championships 2018 or the ESL One Belo Horizonte 2018, the field for the DreamHack Summer 2018 event was perhaps a little thin.
However, with $100,000 up for grabs, the tournament offered a chance for a seldom-rewarded team to shine. It was an opportunity The Imperial took with both hands in what was an enjoyable and competitive tournament.
As with all DreamHack events, the tournament began with a group stage. In Group A, The Imperial made light work of qualifying. They defeated North 16-12 in their opening match in a decent encounter.
They followed that up with a comprehensive 16-4 win over AGO Esports to clinch top spot in the group. North trailed them into the semis from Group A with wins over Red Reserve and AGO Esports.
Group B was a little less competitive. OpTic Gaming landed the top spot by defeating Gambit Esports 16-7 and then compLexity Gaming 16-5.
Gambit Esports bounced back from their opening match loss to win their next two games against Renegades (16-6, 16-13) and compLexity Gaming (16-14, 16-9).
The top seeds from the group stage didn’t disappoint in their respective semis either.
Playoff results
In the game of the tournament, OpTic Gaming faced North in the first match. This classic saw OpTic take the opening game on Inferno 16-11 before North battled back to claim a 16-13 win on Mirage.
The final game played out on the Train map, another classic. The teams forced it into overtime where OpTic Gaming clinched an exciting 22-18 win.
The second semi was not nearly as dramatic. The Imperial clinched a 2-0 win over Gambit Esports (16-12, 16-9) in what was a very professional display by the team.
Finally, The Imperial mustered another solid display in the final. They defeated OpTic Gaming 16-7 and 16-12 to clinch the win and the $50,000 first prize.
