Kinguin take down Red Reserve 2-0; to DH Montreal semi-finals

Kinguin have assured themselves of a top-four finish at DreamHack Open Montreal after beating Red Reserve 2-0 in Group A's elimination match.

The first elimination match of the event kicked off on Dust2, Kinguin's map pick, with the Polish side jumping out to a 4-0 lead on the CT side. Red Reserve - who are attending the event with Alfred "⁠RuStY⁠" Karlsson as a stand-in, then got on the board with two rounds in a row, but the rest of the half was all about Kinguin's near-impenetrable defence as they shut down any chances of the Swedish side stringing rounds together to go up 11-4.

After switching to the CT side, Red Reserve won three of the opening four rounds of the second half to keep their comeback hopes alive. But Kinguin refused to let the game get away and upped the pace to secure a comfortable 16-9 victory and take the lead in the series.

Overpass, the map that followed, saw a different Red Reserve side as the Swedish side got out to a massive 8-1 lead - Kinguin's sole round coming on the back of a trio of kills by Paweł "⁠reatz⁠" Jańczak in monster.

The Polish team then finally improved their defence, bagging three rounds in a row, but Red Reserve refused to take their foot off the gas and won the remaining rounds to make it an 11-4 half.

Kinguin came out of the break with fire in their bellies and won four rounds without response to narrow the gap on their opponents. Red Reserve responded thanks to a successful 1v1 by Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson, denying Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas the clutch, but the Polish side fought back immediately by punishing the CTs' passive A setup.

With their economy in shambles, Red Reserve were unable to cope with the danger coming from Kinguin's executions and they looked extremely vulnerable on both bombsites. Led by captain TaZ, Kinguin went on an eight-round winning streak to complete the turnaround in the series and book a place in the semi-finals, in which they will face fellow Polish side AGO.