Vega Squadron beat North in two maps; to New Legends Stage

Vega Squadron won 16-8 on Inferno and 16-13 on Mirage to qualify for the New Legends Stage over North.

The match started on Inferno, with Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen tapping four players with the USP to give North the first round. Vega Squadron then won the anti-eco on the pistol force, but then North won a pistol force buy of their own, to keep the lead. Once again Vega Squadron won the forcebuy as Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov was able to open the round with an AK. Finally, the Russian-Ukrainian side were able to follow it up to make it 4-2. The first gun round then went to North, as the Danes were able to keep it within one by stopping an A execute. North kept it close, making it 5-6, but from there on it out was a one-sided half as Vega Squadron won the half out 10-5 taking the last four of the half.

Doubles by chopper to open the round and Pavel "⁠hutji⁠" Lashkov to close it, gave Vega Squadron the second pistol round, and after taking both anti-ecos were able to establish a solid 13-5 lead. The first retake went the way of North, and so did the second round, but having built a solid bank the Russian-Ukrainian team were able to still buy on the third. Off of the back of an M4A1 triple by chopper, Vega Squadron were able to make it 14-7, following it up with a solid A defense to get on match point and closing it out the following round, 16-8.

North started out the second map winning the pistol round once again as Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså came in big with a triple, before Philip "⁠aizy⁠" Aistrup clutched out a 1vs1 against Igor "⁠crush⁠" Shevchenko in an afterplant situation to make it 2-0. With money in the bank, the AKs of Vega Squadron gave them their first round on the board, but unable to follow it up quickly found themselves down 1-4 after a weak forcebuy in the fifth round. Soon Vega started playing a scrappy style on attack, which North struggled to stop, and the match was quickly at a tie, 6-6, with a multi-pronged attack across the whole map ending in chopper winning a 1vs1 against aizy to take the lead. They would then win one more before North could answer to make it 8-7 at the half.

The second half started with North hitting B and being able to defend the site as Mathias "⁠MSL⁠" Lauridsen, niko, and valde defended the site after planting in a 3vs3. The Danes won the two anti-ecos, but were then unable to further their lead, which was 10-8 by then, as Vega Squadron’s crush mowed three players down to give his team the round. After a fast entry on B, North were able to reset the CTs and stay ahead, 11-9.

Having won a couple more to make it 13-9, both teams traded frags midway through the round, ending in a 4vs3 for Vega Squadron. Dmytro "⁠jR⁠" Chervak then flanked the Danes who were trying to execute on A to make it to double digits, 10-13. Up by two, North were finally able to scramble another buy, but an AWP opener and doubles by chopper and crush kept the game within one. With the economic advantage, Vega then tied it up, 13-13. With the momentum on their side, the CIS team went on to shut North down and win the match out, 16-13.

The final standings of the FACEIT Major New Challengers Stage is: