Ghost send OpTic packing at ZOTAC Cup Masters

In a shocking upset, underdogs Ghost beat the #15-ranked Danes in OpTic 2-1 to move on to the semi finals of the Hong Kong event.

The series started out on OpTic's pick, Nuke, where the Danes narrowly took the pistol round as Ts after a 3k from captain Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer. Ghost quickly fired back, though, and won their following eco round. The teams continued trading messy rounds until Joshua "⁠steel⁠" Nissan's men finally pulled ahead to 4-2 on the back of a Kenneth "⁠koosta⁠" Suen 4k.

The North Americans completely shut down anything OpTic had to offer, with Matthew "⁠WARDELL⁠" Yu especially showing good form, covering the outside with brilliant AWP play. Ghost made it to 10-2 before OpTic finally managed one round after a plant on the B site. That was all the seemingly bewildered Danes could manage, though, as Ghost went to halftime with a 12-3 lead.

koosta was the man to solidify Ghost's domination on Nuke, as the American managed four kills in their win in the first pistol round after the switch. OpTic won the following eco round, but couldn't convert the next, putting Ghost in the driving seat once again, as they made it to a 15-4 lead.

With their backs against the wall, the Danes embarked on a campaign to bring themselves back in the map. They managed four rounds, almost getting the fifth in a close race by Nicklas "⁠gade⁠" Gade to defuse the bomb, before Ghost shut it all down as they won Nuke 16-8.

Ghost started out strong as CTs on their own pick, Overpass, winning the pistol round and the following anti eco with ease. OpTic bought up in the third round to take it, which prompted a series of rounds traded between the two teams that took the map to 5-4 in favour of the Danes, with 4ks on the AWP from both WARDELL and Jakob "⁠JUGi⁠" Hansen on the way.

OpTic then took control as Ts, stringing together rounds together without much of an answer from the North Americans before the half ended at 10-5 in favour of Snappi's men.

An admirable 3k in the second pistol round from up-and-coming talent gade put OpTic in a good position to build on their lead from the first half. With a 4k in the following round, their captain Snappi put OpTic at 12-5. They took one more before Ghost won two of their own. In the end though, it wasn't enough for the North Americans to come back as OpTic dominated in the last rounds of the map and won it 16-7.

Then came time for the decider, Inferno, where Kevin "⁠kRYSTAL⁠" Amend helped Ghost take the first pistol round with a 3k. Two quick anti-eco later, another 3k secured a round for the North Americans, this time managed by Yassine "⁠Subroza⁠" Taoufik with the Galil in hand.

Finally, OpTic put themselves on the board to make it 4-1, but Ghost fired right back and put together a dominating streak. At 10-1, OpTic had the round in the bag until WARDELL put up a massive 4k round that included a 1v3 clutch and a bomb plant from the 20-year old Canadian AWPer. The North Americans looked rock solid throughout the first half, ending up with a 13-2 lead at the break.

With the OpTic favourites starting to look visibly shaken, the Danes couldn't close out the second pistol round, putting Ghost in an optimal position to end it all. And sure enough, the North Americans put the lid on the match with two quick rounds, sending the Danish favourites packing with a 16-2 win on Inferno.