Space Soldiers defeat Rogue to win Dreamhack Open Austin

Space Soldiers have claimed the title at DreamHack Open Austin after defeating Rogue 2-1 in the grand final of the $100,000 tournament.

The title decider in Austin kicked off on Space Soldiers' map pick, Mirage, where Ahmet "⁠paz⁠" Karahoca tapped down three opponents on the B site to shut down the North Americans. The Turkish team went on to secure the anti-ecos and rode that momentum to pick up a 5-0 lead.

A timeout called by Rogue earned the North Americans their first of the half, but, in the following round, an aggressive play in middle from Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş quickly silenced Rogue and set the Turks up for an 8-1 lead. Rogue would not go down without a fight and managed to pick up a few more rounds, but Space Soldiers remained composed to end the half up 11-4.

Rogue came out of the break determined to turn things around with a second pistol win that transpired into the anti-ecos as well as a full gun round to reduce the deficit to three rounds. However, it didn't take Space Soldiers T-side long to respond with their first of the half, and the team and pressed on to win four in a row to secure the map win.

Next in the series was Overpass, where Spencer "⁠Hiko⁠" Martin's triple in the post-plant on the B-site secured the pistol for Rogue. The North Americans' relentless aggression on the T-side took their lead to 6-0 before a flank from Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli finally put the Europeans on the board. Individual plays from Buğra "⁠Calyx⁠" Arkın and Engin "⁠ngiN⁠" Kor granted Space Soldiers two more rounds, but the North Americans remained in the driver's seat to take a commanding 11-4 lead into the break.

In the second half, Rogue secured a chaotic pistol round to beat their opponents on a slow rotation to the A-site, and they continued their dominance on the CT-side with four more added to their lead. Space Soldiers then managed to claim their first of the half, but it it wasn't enough to rattle the North Americans, who forced the decider, on Inferno.

Space Soldiers T-side got things started on the decider map with a quick 3-0 lead after winning the pistol with a B execution. The Turks then further added to their lead, but a triple kill spray-down from Hiko finally gave Rogue their first on the CT-side.

Space Soldiers marched on and gave Rogue little room for error to make it 13-2 and continued their dominance into the second half with three in a row to take home their first offline title in 2018 after runners-up finishes at the ESEA Season 26 Global Challenge, the Play2Live Cryptomasters and the WESG Finals.

DreamHack Open Austin 2018 standings:

1. Space Soldiers - $50,000
2. Rogue - $20,000
3-4. Fragsters - $10,000
3-4. HEROIC - $10,000
5-6. OpTic - $3,000
5-6. eUnited - $3,000
7-8. Complexity - $2,000
7-8. Luminosity - $2,000