dignitas send HellRaisers home

dignitas are through to the semi-finals at EMS One Katowice following a 2-0 victory over HellRaisers.

Starting off on the Counter-Terrorist side, dignitas came out the brighter and denied Hellraisers’ mid-B split in the pistol round, with René "cajunb" Borg picking up four frags.

After the two anti-eco rounds had also gone dignitas’ way, HellRaisers tried to make amends in the first gun round and pushed catwalk. Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov got four kills to his name on the A site but he could not seal the deal as he was picked off by the last dignitas member.

HellRaisers then finally responded and reduced the deficit to 3-4, but dignitas kept their composure and denied the Ukrainians as they were about to enter the B site. Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen picked up two frags from distance and then Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth shut the tunnels down when he was rotating from A.

dignitas remained in the driving seat in the next following rounds, but their overconfidence almost proved costly in the 13th round: HellRaisers were slaughtered inside B following a rush, leaving Emil "kucher" Akhundov alone against three opponents. The Ukrainian player took down two dignitas members and moved back to A to plant the bomb. Luckily for the Danish side, Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth won the individual duel with a stunning headshot from long range.

The former Astana Dragons side then reduced the deficit to 5-9 following a quick push onto long, with Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov picking up two entry kills, but in the following round dignitas shut down both bombsites as the Danes secured a commanding 10-5 lead.

dignitas were able to pick up where they had left off, as the Danes were in dominant fashion during the early stages of the second half, taking the score to 14-5, after which HellRaisers found a lifeline when they pulled two back, powered by Yegor "markeloff" Markelov’s AWP shots.

With the score now 14-7, Nicolai "device" Reedtz put dignitas one round away from victory with an eco ace as he gunned down one man on long with the CZ75-Auto pistol before picking up an M4A1. He then killed two more players near the A site before moving to B, where the bomb was planted, and taking down the remaining two opponents in a 1-on-2 situation. The Danish team would go on to win the following round, this way running out 16-7 winners on this first map.

cajunb has been on fire in Katowice

On de_mirage, HellRaisers, who started out on the Terrorist side, went for a A push in the pistol round but were completely massacred by dignitas, whose impressive grenade work inflicted some serious damage on the Ukrainian players.

In guy play, HR went for their traditional slow-paced mirage attacks, rarely making a move before the 45-second mark, and their strategy paid immediate dividends as they pulled two rounds back to make it 2-3.

René "cajunb" Borg, with a triple eco kill, put dignitas back in the game and eventually inspired the Danish team to take the score to 6-2. It seemed like the Danes had everything under control, but HR picked themselves up and embarked on a seven-round streak, with Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev leading the score for the Ukrainian side.

In the second half, dignitas went for a no-nonsense approach in the pistol round and rushed B, taking down the entire HR team without losing a single player in the process.

The Danish team were able to build on those early rounds and kept pushing during the gun rounds, eventually making it 13-9. Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov still tried to put HellRaisers back in the game with triple kills in two different eco rounds, but to no avail: dignitas' players were filled with confidence, winning every clutch round, and so the Danes ran out 16-11 winners on de_mirage to seal a 2-0 victory.

Xyp9x: the clutch master