What was so special about DreamHack Masters Spring 2021?
Ihor MatusDreamHack Masters Spring 2021 came to an end on May 9th. It began, by the way, on April 29 and 16 teams took part in the division of the total prize fund of $ 250,000. The championship started from the group stage, in which the teams were divided into two groups of eight participants, and three of the best squads from each of them advanced to the playoffs. Already at this stage, most of the spectators were surprised by some of the things that happened in the framework of the championship.
Fall of Vitality
One of those unexpected moments was Team Vitality's departure from the group stage tournament. On the one hand, we all understand that the departure of RpK changed the state of affairs in the team and is unlikely to improve the performance of the French in the short term, but at the same time, the CS: GO community still remembers how recently ZywOo with his teammates shone with results on stage. The time of the French team has already passed, and all that we could see from them in this championship is the 7th-8th place in the standings. Despite this, Vitality showed dedication, and after almost instantly being sent to the lower bracket at the hands of Complexity Gaming, the team made it to the playoff match through Extra Salt and BIG.
Bad result from Virtus.pro
By the way, Virtus.pro came to the same result. Jame and his teammates defeated FaZe Clan in the first fight, and lost to NAVI in the semifinals of the upper bracket. In the lower bracket, they managed to defeat their fellow countrymen from Team Spirit, but overpowering G2 Esports turned out to be an impossible task for VP. NiKo and his teammates led Virtus.pro to the exit and went to the playoffs.
Heroic and Gambit Esports fell short of expectations
In DreamHack Masters Spring 2021, there were several teams that exceeded the expectations of the audience, and there were also those that disappointed their fans to some extent. These include Heroic and Gambit Esports, however, we will not speak too categorically towards these rosters either. The teams have done a great job and their results are worthy of special praise, since reaching the top 4 and the grand final is an extremely difficult task. Nevertheless, Heroic and Gambit Esports have established themselves more than once as some of the strongest teams. Gambit tops the list of the best CS: GO teams in the world according to HLTV. The team captain was recently interviewed and asked what he can say about the team's form. Vladislav 'nafany' Gorshkov replied that he does not consider his team the best in the world, as it plays on equal terms with Heroic and the latter are also worthy of being called the best team in the world. As we could see, the words are not only a kind of act of politeness, but also fully correspond to reality. This time, the Danes and Russians could not fall short of the two best teams in the world. Heroic took 4th place in the standings, losing to Natus Vincere in the battle for reaching the grand final, and Gambit Esports were defeated in the battle with the same NAVI in the grand final itself.
By the way, here is one of the interesting moments of the performance of Gambit Esports performed by the champion of the 2017 Major tournament Abay 'Hobbit' Khasenov:
Natus Vincere - "Born to Win"
Translated from Latin, Natus Vincere means "Born to Win". The tag was invented back in 2010 and fully embodied what is happening on the professional Counter-Strike scene. In the last year, the team's results, although it could not be called frankly bad, but it was also impossible to say that the team corresponds to the name "Born to Win". This time everything did not go according to the scenario in which their rivals expected to go. First, NAVI beat mousesports with the most even score of 16-14, after which they committed a kind of "fratricide" and sent their compatriots from Virtus.pro to finish the game in the lower bracket. In the final of the upper bracket, they failed to defeat Gambit Esports and the team was forced to start their journey from the quarterfinals. Perhaps this fight helped the “Born to Win” to cheer up, gather strength and make their way to the grand final of the playoffs. First, NAVI defeated FURIA Esports, after which they were able to gain the upper hand in the fight against Heroic, who are still in second place in the list of the best CS: GO teams in the world according to HLTV. There were some cool moments in the fight, but one of the brightest highlights of the match was this ace from s1mple. It looks like making -5 in the decisive round for a Ukrainian is something like buying bread in a store - it doesn't happen very often, but there is nothing extraordinary about it either.
In a duel with Heroic, the NAVI captain also showed a beautiful performance. In one of the rounds, he showed that he can not only coordinate the game, but also shoot accurately in non-standard situations, without having a lot of health and armor in reserve.
This was not enough for the players from Natus Vincere and they moved to the grand final to deal with Gambit Esports there and take a rematch. Revenge is a dish served cold and Natus Vincere tasted this sweet dessert with great pleasure. The meeting, from which 4-5 maps were expected, not only ended on map 3, but also in favor of Natus Vincere. As a result, the final fight took place according to the most unplanned scenario, and the audience received a dose of euphoria from what was happening on the screen.
Recall that before the start of DreamHack Masters Spring 2021, the club's management decided to put Yegor 'flamie' Vasiliev on the bench and immediately said that this act was temporary, and the replacement for Valery 'B1t' Vakhovsky was made only for one tournament. Now, when the team won the victory, the audience had a logical question, "Maybe the problem was still in the flamie?"
We will soon find out what awaits NAVI in the near future, but for now the players deserve a good rest.
DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 Results
- 1st place: Natus Vincrere - $ 100,000 and 1,000 ESL Pro Tour points
- 2nd place: Gambit Esports - $ 42,000 and 750 ESL Pro Tour points
- 3-4th place: G2 Esports - $ 20,000 and 525 ESL Pro Tour points
- 3-4th place: Heroic - $ 20,000 and 525 ESL Pro Tour points
- 5th-6th place: FURIA Esports - $ 10,000 and 350 ESL Pro Tour points
- 5th-6th place: Astralis - $ 10,000 and 350 ESL Pro Tour points
- 7th-8th place: Virtus.pro - $ 6,000 and 200 ESL Pro Tour points
- 7th-8th place: Team Vitality - $ 6,000 and 200 ESL Pro Tour points
- 9th-12th place: Team Spirit - $ 5,000 and 100 ESL Pro Tour points
- 9th-12th place: mousesports - $ 5,000 and 100 ESL Pro Tour points
- 9th-12th place: BIG - $ 5,000 and 100 ESL Pro Tour points
- 9th-12th place: Complexity Gaming - $ 5,000 and 100 ESL Pro Tour points
- 13th-16th place: Team Fiend - $ 4,000
- 13-16th place: FaZe Clan - $ 4,000
- 13-16th place: Extra Salt - $ 4,000
- 13th-16th place: paiN Gaming - $ 4,000