North and OpTic through to Europe Minor

North beat ex-Space Soldiers in two maps to qualify for the IEM Katowice 2019 Europe Minor, while OpTic did the same after beating HEROIC in a three-map series.

The first half of Inferno looked bright for ex-Space Soldiers as they were able to win the forcebuy in the second round despite losing pistols, and followed it up to take a 1-3 lead. The half went completely sideways for the Turks from there on out, however, as North crushed their attacks time and time again, giving up just the last round of the half, making it 11-4 before the switch.

The second half started with ex-Space Soldiers starting to come back by winning the first three rounds, but North were quick to get back on top once they got their money in order. Spearheaded by Valdemar "⁠valde⁠" Bjørn Vangså, the Danes went on to close it out after winning five rounds in a row, making it 16-7.

North then started out on the right foot on Overpass, winning the T-side pistol round and following it up in the anti-eco, but a solid defense by the Turks following a double by Ahmet "⁠paz⁠" Karahoca in the third round made it 2-1. Three more rounds in, the match was at a stalemate, 3-3, but ex-Space Soldiers were able to take the lead against a pistol buy. Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş tried to make the map go his team’s way with 19 kills and 114 ADR, but it was North who with 10 rounds went ahead into half-time.

Buğra "⁠Calyx⁠" Arkın helped ex-Space Soldiers win the second pistol round with three frags. The come back once again was happening, as the Turkish team made it 10-10 after several rounds in a row, one of which was a 2vs4 that paz and Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli were able to win on B. Finally, however, it was North who were able to figure out their rivals and get on a roll after building up a bank late in the match to stay ahead and go on to close the map and match out, 16-13.

HEROIC kicked Train off by winning the pistol round on the attacking side of Train, their map pick, and then resetting OpTic on the fourth round to keep the economic advantage on their side. After winning four more rounds, HEROIC gave up two more, but were then able to get three of their own before once again resetting OpTic late in the half to increase their lead to 11-4 before the break.

The reprise started with OpTic winning the second pistol round, and they were quickly in the driver’s seat as they asserted the same pressure on their rivals as had been asserted on them in the first half. After five rounds won, HEROIC got on the board on the CT side with doubles by Daniel "⁠mertz⁠" Mertz and Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen, but they were instantly reset as OpTic went on to win two more rounds to tie it up, 12-12. Ultimately, however, HEROIC were able to find just enough fuel in the tank to take it, 16-14, in a map that mertz ended with 36 frags and 123.6 ADR.

OpTic rushed B on Nuke through outer in the first round, but ended up in A winning a 2vs2 after being denied by es3tag in the lower site. OpTic then won two rounds before resetting HEROIC, making it a 5-1 lead early on. Two rounds later, HEROIC were able to take a second, but OpTic quickly reset them, further increasing their lead, and going on to dominate the half 12-3. OpTic then won the second pistol round and quickly closed the map out, 16-3, to take it to the decider.

The chosen map for the decider was Inferno, where OpTic were able to take round number one on the CT side. A triple by Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer followed by a double by Jakob "⁠JUGi⁠" Hansen in a 2vs2 made it 3-0 after the first gun round. The early game became a brawl, but it was OpTic who were able to stay ahead, 6-3, but were unable to win against a forcebuy, giving HEROIC an in back into the half. The latter were unable to take advantage of it, however, as they were only able to win one more round in the half, making it 5-10.

A solid B defense gave HEROIC some hope for the second half as they were able to win the pistol round, and followed it up with two more before OpTic were able to win a round, making it 11-8, although they were instantly reset. HEROIC then took the reins of the half, and got into the lead after winning seven of the first eight rounds. OpTic then struck back, tying it back up 13-13 ahead of the last stretch of the match. They then went head-to-head taking it to overtime.

OpTic managed to win the first two overtime rounds on the attacking side before giving up the third, and got on match point in the first round of the second half, 18-16, before sealing their pass to the Europe Minor.

So far, the qualified teams are: