Favorites advance from DreamHack Open Rio open qualifier
The DreamHack Open Rio North America + North Latin America open qualifier has concluded, seeing the top seeded teams from each portion of the bracket earn spots in the upcoming Closed Qualifier.
Swole Patrol were the first to earn their spot with a narrow 16-13 win over Black, the recently renamed InControl lineup playing in ESEA Advanced. The first half saw Swole Patrol deal a number of economical resets against their opposition, managing nine rounds on their CT side and winning a trio of rounds to start the second half with a 12-6 lead. Black pushed back against Swole Patrol by dealing an economical reset of their own, winning seven of the next nine rounds before Braxton "swag" Piece and co. closed out the map.
Swole Patrol's win was closely followed by iNTACT, who defeated another Advanced squad, Unity, 16-8 on Overpass to earn their own spot in the Closed Qualifier. Gabe "Spongey" Greiner powered his team to a 7-0 start on the T side, with the rest of iNTACT combining to lead 11-4 at the half. Unity fought back for four of the first five rounds in the second half, but were unable to maintain control as iNTACT brought the map to a swift end.
The final two teams to earn their spots in the Closed Qualifier were LiviD and FULL SEND, picking up overtime wins over Hot Ass and Legacy, respectively.
LiviD's matchup saw a clash between two of the top three teams in the current ESEA Advanced standings, with Hot Ass currently sitting one spot above LiviD in second place. Hot Ass started cool on Overpass, with LiviD taking the first three rounds of the map before Alex "vek" Voynov's side got on the board with two of their own. LiviD further extend their lead by winning six rounds straight, but Hot Ass managed to keep themselves competitive by snagging the final four of the half for a 9-6 scoreline.
LiviD refused to let the lead slip as the moved swiftly up to a 13-6 lead to start the second half, but were unable to maintain momentum as Hot Ass won nine of the next eleven rounds to take the map into overtime. There, LiviD reigned supreme as they let just one round slip on their road to victory, edging out a 19-16 victory.
FULL SEND's matchup saw far more one-sided halves, with the Colombian side initially taking an 11-4 lead on the T side of Train against the fourth place Advanced side of Legacy. That lead dwindled rapidly in the second half as FULL SEND mustered just two sets of two rounds on their CT side, with Legacy pushing the map into overtime. With a proper economy in hand, FULL SEND fought to win four straight rounds in overtime, with Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa powering his side to a win by ending the map at 38 kills and a 1.67 rating.
With the conclusion of the open qualifier, the DreamHack Open RIo Closed Qualifier teamlist has now been finalized. The four matchups, kicking off simultaneously at 2 PM EST tomorrow, are as follows:
March 10th |
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eUnited -vs- LiviD |
Spacestation -vs- Swole Patrol |
INTZ -vs- iNTACT |
oNe -vs- FULL SEND |
The DreamHack Open Rio Closed Qualifier will see the new-look eUnited lineup play their first official match tomorrow as the single-elimination, best-of-three bracket commences.