Review of DreamHack Open Leipzig 2020

The tournament in Leipzig was pretty predictable. The teams that were supposed to pass further failed their performances and that participants that were considered to be outsiders surprised the spectators.

Teams that surprised with their performances

Renegades

Before the start of the tournament, in our preview, we marked that DickStacy’s leave did not affect the results if the team negatively and the newbie Hatz managed to fit in the team where he got six wins in a row. On the ground of the fact that all the meetings were held with the representatives of a relatively weak CS:GO region, Australia, we thought that RNG might be not so strong internationally. Alongside we should not forget about the jet lag that could influence the team. We were surprised to learn that the change of the roster, the jet lag and playing with weak opponents could not affect the success of the team at the previous tournament in Leipzig. At the group stage, Renegades beat Cloud9, lost a battle with BIG and again defeated Cloud9. At the semifinal, the players got a victory over MAD Lions, and at the grand final, they were not able to win a re-match from BIG for a lost meeting at the group stage. The second place resulted in $20,000 for Renegades and this is a great outcome for the players.

BIG

BIG managed to spark furor at the tournament due to one reason. The expectations about this team were so low that just a few people believed that these players would make it to the playoff, and to the grand final in particular. We considered the Germans to be outsiders and the experts from sportsbooks set the win odds as 15 for BIG which was the smallest apart from Sprout. As a result, tabseN and his teammates performed just brilliantly and did not lose any map at the championship. At the group stage, BIG beat the main favorite Virtus.pro 16-8, after that the players defeated Renegades with the same results. That is how BIG made it to the playoff easily. At the semifinal, the players beat Heroic 2-0 and passed to the grand final. RNG was also able to make it to the final battle and tried to win a re-match from the Germans. BIG treated the last meeting seriously and defeated Renegades 2-0. Along with the cup raised over their heads, the German team not only gained the championship title and the money prize of $50,000 but also got the desirable invitation to DreamHack Masters Jönköping 2020 with a prize pool of $250,000. As a reminder, on 1 January, BIG made a reshuffle in the roster and replaced two players. Taking this fact into account, BIG deserves even more respect for the victory and the work the esportsmen have done. The home arena must have been an important factor as well, as the championship was taking place in their native country, Germany so the audience made them feel the energy and motivation to win which can be seen in their results.

Participants with mediocre results

Sprout

We were skeptical about Sprout’s successful performance at the tournament due to the same reason as in BIG’s situation. ВThe roster has been changed recently but unlike BIG, the home arena factor was not beneficial for the players from Sprout. As a reminder, the majority of the players in the team are native-born Germans. At the group stage, Sprout lost a battle with North, winning only four rounds in the first battle and at the elimination match, the team lost 0-2 with another Danish team, Heroic. This was the end of the performance of the new-comer oskar and his teammates. The 7-8 place in the tournament bracket brought Sprout a consolation prize of $2,000.

Cloud9

Cloud9 had a pretty mediocre performance but that is what we expected from them. The team got to Group A. Unlike our suppositions, BIG and Renegades became their stumbling blocks but not Virtus.pro and Renegades, for example. C9 must have become one of a few teams that did not disappoint us but played in the way we expected. The 5-6 place resulted in a reward of $3,000.

Heroic

Before the start of the championship, Heroic was higher than the opponents in the world rating but it did not reflect the reality of their gaming shape they came to the championship with. At the tournament bracket, the esportsmen got located in the 3-4 place. In the group stage, Heroic lost the first battle against MAD Lions, and at the elimination match against Sprout the players rehabilitated and beat the Germans 2-0. At the decisive match, they were expected by North in a very uneasy battle. The latter got prepared for it pretty well. Nevertheless, Heroic beat their countrymen successfully and made it to the playoff. It is remarkable that the first map was won by North, and at the second one, Heroic was very close to failure and Overpass ended up in 22-19 for es3tag and his teammates. After that North was broken morally and Heroic got the job done losing only two rounds to the opponents on the last map. At the playoff, the gamers were not able to do anything against the decisive BIG and lost 0-2. The taken 3-4 place brought Heroic $10,000.

MAD Lions

MAD Lions approached the tournament as one of the favorites of the competition. In Group B, everything went with no hassle so MAD Lions beat Heroic and North and made it to the playoff taking the first position in the quartet. At the final stage, the team was not able to show the same good game. Their battle with Renegades was uneasy and the Bo3 battle was full-blooded but the Australian players’ determination to make it to the grand final to try to win a re-match from BIG turned out to be stronger than MAD Lions’ desire to pass to the final of the tournament. As a result, MAD Lions, as well as Heroic, won 3-4 place and gained $10,000.

North

Kjaerbye and his teammates became participants we could foresee right. At the first battle, North beat Sprout 16-4, making great expectations about the performance. At the second match against MAD Lions, the game of the Danish players went wrong and they lost 10-16. The last accord of their song was a battle against Heroic. The match was uneasy for both of the participants. North started well and on the second map, the esportsmen were to defeat the opponents at the overtime and on the third map, they won two rounds with effort. The Danish took the 5-6 place and got a monetary award of $3,000.

Disappointing teams

Virtus.pro

The main, and perhaps the only disappointment of the tournament is Virtus.pro. The team was preparing for the tournament in Germany but it did not help. VP got to Group A where they looked stronger than the other participants of the quartet by the bare indicators. Nevertheless, the gamers were not able to beat BIG at the first match and lost the battle with Cloud9 at the second battle. Therefore, the main favorite took the 7-8 place out of 8 possible ones and got $2,000 as a consolation money prize.