HellRaisers, OpTic go 2-1 in Katowice

The first set of matches featuring teams with a 1-1 record began with a Nuke clash between dignitas and HellRaisers. The Danish team had pulled off a fantastic comeback the day before on this very same map after a strong CT display, but this time around they were simply outgunned.

A blazing start from HellRaisers saw them get out to a quick 5-0 lead as dignitas struggled to keep up with the pace of their opponents. After getting their economy stabilised, dignitas were able to get a couple of rounds, but HellRaisers still had plenty of money in the bank and hit back in the following round.

Down 2-7, dignitas were handed a heavy blow as they allowed Kyrylo "⁠ANGE1⁠" Karasiow to win a 1vs3 clutch. HellRaisers continued on a roll, eventually reaching 10 rounds, with their streak coming to an end thanks to a quadra kill from Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke. But that did little in the way of stopping the European mixture, which took a commanding 11-4 half-time lead.

HellRaisers acquitted themselves really well against dignitas 

The second half began with Tomáš "⁠oskar⁠" Šťastný getting a trio of kills during dignitas' ramp rush to give his team a more substantial lead. After picking up both anti-eco rounds, HellRaisers went on to win the first full gun round to reach match point, when dignitas' Terrorist side finally flourished.

The Danish team went on a six-round winning streak, forcing HellRaisers to call a tactical pause. The break gave HellRaisers the time they needed to adjust their defense as they came back into the game in full force and stopped dignitas' rush without losing a single member to seal a convincing 16-10 win.

Next up was an intercontinental battle between FlipSid3 Tactics and OpTic Gaming on Train. The Ukrainian team came out the brighter, picking up the pistol round in a B retake and following it up with an anti-eco round to get a 2-0 lead.

But once OpTic bought up, the impetus of the game changed completely as the Canadian team secured seven rounds in a row. The rounds FlipSid3 edged out were few and far between as OpTic sat on a comfortable 11-4 lead at the end of the half.

OpTic barely broke a sweat against FlipSid3

After the break, OpTic came out with fire in the belly and reached match point with a string of four rounds. FlipSid3 would still get three rounds on the board before the Canadian team eventually locked down the map, 16-7.