Gambit beat BIG for a WCA 2017 Finals spot

Two teams that were invited to the playoff portion of the WCA 2017 Europe Main qualifier, Gambit and BIG, made it past qualified teams Japaleno and FlipSid3 and met in the first semi-final. With three teams from the qualifier going through to the final LAN event—that will be held at an undisclosed location and will feature a yet unknown prize pool—, the semi-final was the decider in terms of which team will go through.

Gambit secured spots at both ROG Masters and WCA 2017 finals in the past week

Cache was the map to start off the series, with Gambit running away with the game early on, chaining nine rounds right from the beginning. BIG managed to recover towards the end of their CT half and bring the momentum into the second half by winning the pistol round and the first buy. However, the 10-5 deficit the German side brought over from the first half proved insurmountable and Dauren "⁠AdreN⁠" Kystaubayev and co. closed out their opponent's map pick 16-10.

Gambit once again had a strong Terrorist side on their pick, Train, with BIG only able to pick up two CT rounds after securing the pistol and the followup anti-eco. It was 11-4 and Gambit won the second pistol, but things got complicated as force-buy rounds were traded back and forth. The match was tied up shortly, though, with Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov's +13 K-D performance being enough for his side to secure a victory on Train.

WCA 2017 Europe Main QualifierBest of 3

Gambit

Matchpage

2

0

18th October 2017

BIG

16

Cache

10

16

Train

8

WCA 2017 Europe Main QualifierBest of 3

Gambit

Matchpage

2

0

18th October 2017

BIG

16

Cache

10

16

Train

8

Gambit	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Abay 'HObbit' KhassenovHObbit	49 - 30	+19	88.4	68.0%	1.33
Bektiyar 'fitch' Bahytovfitch	38 - 29	+9	80.5	76.0%	1.28
Mihail 'Dosia' StolyarovDosia	40 - 33	+7	86.5	70.0%	1.24
Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevAdreN	32 - 33	-1	87.7	68.0%	1.15
Rustem 'mou' Telepovmou	29 - 29	0	60.6	76.0%	1.05

BIG	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Johannes 'nex' Magetnex	45 - 38	+7	104.9	64.0%	1.24
Nikola 'LEGIJA' NinićLEGIJA	32 - 37	-5	70.2	76.0%	0.99
Kevin 'keev' Bartholomäuskeev	31 - 35	-4	54.1	56.0%	0.78
Fatih 'gob b' Dayikgob b	23 - 39	-16	65.0	56.0%	0.71
Johannes 'tabseN' WodarztabseN	23 - 40	-17	57.5	56.0%	0.65

With this win, Gambit have won a minimum of $10,980 from the online qualifier, with that amount potentially going up to $26,350 if they manage to win the grand final against Envy, Space Soldiers or HEROIC. BIG, despite losing, still have a chance to go through to the WCA 2017 Finals LAN if they secure a win in the third-place decider.