Luminosity see off Heroic; through to DH Valencia final

Luminosity are through to the grand final at DreamHack Open Valencia after beating HEROIC in a three-map series.

The second semi-final in Valencia kicked off on Train, Luminosity's map pick, with the Brazilians cruising to a 9-2 lead after shutting down any chances of HEROIC stringing rounds together. It was only then that the Nordic side's offence truly came to life as they bagged three of the remaining four rounds of the half to keep themselves in it.

HEROIC picked up where they had left off and secured the second pistol and the subsequent anti-ecos to reduce the gap to just two rounds. Luminosity responded in the first gun round despite making a blunder that almost allowed Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg to pull off a ninja defuse on the inner site.

The Brazilians kept pressing on and hit map point without dropping any more rounds after keeping HEROIC's players off any economic development. A triple kill from Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen with an AWP then brought that streak to an end and began another one as the Nordic side set up a very tight defence to win seven rounds in a row and force overtime.

Luminosity had struggled for most of their T half, but they came into overtime brimming with confidence, winning two rounds convincingly before being denied the 3-0 half by Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen with a quad kill. HEROIC's hopes would soon be dashed, however, as they had no response to the Brazilians' AWPs and lost two rounds in a row in the second half.

Mirage, the map that followed, began with another quad kill from niko, who denied Luminosity's B execute. That was the start of a fantastic half from the 20-year-old, who racked up 23 frags to help HEROIC cruise to a 12-3 lead.

es3tag went huge in the second pistol with three quick frags from palace in a 2v3 situation to kick HEROIC further into the lead. The Nordic team refused to let their foot off the gas after that and added three more rounds to their tally to seal a comprehensive 16-3 victory.

Carrying their momentum into the final map, Cache, HEROIC got off to a flying start and won five rounds right off the bat to build a solid economy. But the rest of the half was all about Luminosity's water-tight defence as the Brazilians frustrated the Terrorists time and time again to take ten rounds into the second half.

Now on the offensive side, Luminosity slaughtered HEROIC with an A execute in the pistol round to pile more pressure on their opponents. The Nordic side still tried to get back in the game, but they could not find a way to stop the Brazilians, who completed an impressive 16-round streak to seal passage to the final.