The excitement continues to soar as the CS:GO Champions League tournament makes its way towards its climax. With a string of impressive performances in the playoffs, the team to watch heading into the business end of the tournament was surely Team.Dignitas.CS. The Danish team managed to surprise all by putting together a series of performances that made everyone stand up and take notice. It was certainly pretty exciting to see whether the Danes could manage to keep the momentum going or fail in the wake of exceeding pressure.
CS:GO Champions League. The Playoffs:
Having already made their way to the 4th Round of the Champions League thanks to an impressive and quite well deserved victory over Virtus.Pro.CS, Team.Dignitas showed everyone that it is not always paper strength that leads to results. Before we delve further into the details regarding the contests in the upper bracket of the tournament though, let’s
have a look at what went down in the lower brackets.
Ranked No.3 in the world, Virtus.Pro.CS has had it tough so far in the Playoffs. Owing to their top position in the group stages, the Polish team had its way through the Rounds 1 and 2. However, when the time came for some real matches, the Polish team certainly let itself and everyone else down. Losing 2-0 to Dig.CS, Virtus.Pro.CS had to play in the 3rd Round of the lower bracket of the Playoffs. This time around, the Polish team faced off
against team HR.CS.
First Match: Virtus.Pro.CS VS HR.CS
The first of the Best of 3 match was played out at de_cobblestone, where Virtus.Pro.CS playing as CT’s first, managed to win the round by an impressive 12 to 3. As the teams switched however, HR.CS did manage to make its way back in to the game. But even with a round score of 11 (HR.CS) to 4 (Virtus.Pro.CS), the Polish team took home the first game. The 2nd game was played at the legendary de_dust2, and this time around, Virtus.Pro.CS playing as Terrorists first, were beaten by HR.CS with a seriously dogged performance. The scores for the 1st round were 5 (VP.CS) to 10 (HR.CS); as the teams
switched, HR.CS once again took the lead with a score of 6 (HR.CS) to 5 (Virtus.Pro.CS), thus winning the overall game.
With neither team giving the other even an inch of breathing space, the last and final game of the Best of 3 contest was going to be epic, and it sure was. This time around, the teams battled it out at de_overpass, and Virtus.Pro.CS, once again played as Terrorists first. The scores for the 1st round were 11 (VP.CS) to 4 (HR.CS), leaving HR.CS with a lot of work to do. As the teams switched, it looked like HR.CS would fail to outclass their Polish opponents, but it wasn’t to be. Although a close affair, at the end of the round, the scores read 12 (HR.CS) to 3 (VP.CS), meaning that the team from Ukraine had done just enough to edge the game, and the overall match, and thus ending what was a terrible Playoffs performance by Virtus.Pro.CS.
Second Match: 1337 VS Gamers2
The 2nd match of the 3rd Round of the lower bracket Playoffs was held between 1337 and Gamers2. Gamers2 had already lost in the 1st Round of the Playoffs to FlipSid3, while 1337 had managed to beat SK.CS but lost to Natus.Vincere. The first game of the best of 3 contest was held at de_train. Here, playing as Counter Terrorists first, 1337 got off to a flier, managing to win the round 10 to 5. As the teams switched, 1337 managed to keep their opponents in check and the game ended with a final score of 16 (1337) vs. 11
(Gamers2).
The second game between the two sides was played out at de_cache. Here, 1337 played as Terrorists first and managed to win the round with a score of 9 to 6. After the switch, 1337 once again dominated and came out victorious with a round score of 7 (1337) vs. 4 (Gamers2).
The Thrilling Finale: Team.Dignitas.CS VS Natus.Vincere
With the lower bracket playoffs done and dusted, It is now time to look back at what happened in the upper bracket of the CS:GO Champions League Playoffs.
With their giant killer status now fully approved, it was time for Team.Dignitas.CS to show if it could hold its nerve and perform at the biggest stage. On the other hand, Natus.Vincere had everything to lose, as their big team status was truly on the line. Playing once again in a Best of 3 match type, the two teams first faced off at de_overpass. Here, Natus.Vincere, faced with some tough competition, managed to hold its nerve and show just why it is such a feared team in the world of CS:GO.
During the first round, Natus.Vincere played as CT’s first and won with a score of 8 vs. 7. After the switch, the gap became much clearer as the team from Ukraine came out as winners with a score of 8 vs. 7. Therefore, as the first game ended, the score read 16 to 10 in the favor of Natus.Vincere, leaving its Danish opponents with all the work in the world to
do or face defeat.
Unfortunately for the Danes, Natus.Vincere proved just too hard a barrier to overcome, and, as the two teams faced off at de_mirage, the score line read 16 to 10 once again in the favor of the Ukrainian team. During the first round, Natus.Vincere played as Terrorists first and managed to win the round with a score of 9 to 6. Although not too much of a gap the score line read 7 to 4 in the favor of Natus.Vincere.
Although there had to be a winner and a loser, one could not help but feel for Team.Dignitas. The Danish team not only managed to up its game when it mattered, but its also won a lot of hearts through sheer will and dedication. At the same time though, we would like to congratulate Natus.Vincere for a truly remarkable and consistent set of performances. The Ukrainian team played like true champions and it was no surprise that it ended up winning the tournament.
