North overcome Windigo; to EU Minor playoffs

North came from behind in the series to beat Windigo and book their spot in the double-elimination playoffs at the Europe Minor.

The Group B decider match began with North getting off to a flying start as CTs on their opponents' map pick, Overpass. Despite winning their first round when they were down 0-5, Windigo did it with just Deagles, and followed that up with a triple-kill from Valentin "⁠poizon⁠" Vasilev in a successful 2v4 situation, which led them to eventually equalize the score.

Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller then called for a tactical pause, inspiring his men to keep their cool. The Danes looked sharp from that moment, stringing four rounds together to bag a 9-5 lead, but still could not stop the Bulgarians from winning the last round of the half.

Windigo started the second half well, winning their CT pistol, an anti-eco, and the first gun round as Viktor "⁠v1c7oR⁠" Dyankov denied Philip "⁠aizy⁠" Aistrup from clutching a 1v2 situation. The Bulgarian side would not let go off the gas and went on to take the lead in convincing fashion, 14-9.

North still responded with a three-round winning streak, but there was little they could do to stop Windigo, who saw poizon find two consecutive triple-kills with an AWP to close out the map for his team, 16-12, and top the scoreboard with 31 frags.

Next up was North's map pick, Inferno, where Windigo took control of proceedings after winning four rounds in a row on the CT side. cadiaN's men responded with a trio of rounds, but their opponents quickly got back to the driving seat, eventually bagging a 6-4 lead. However, North got back on the board with an ace and a great flank from Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye, storming to a 9-6 half-time lead from there on out.

North further added to their lead after winning a chaotic pistol on the back of a 1v2 clutch from aizy. Windigo still found a lifeline on the map with Georgi "⁠SHiPZ⁠" Grigorov pulling off a seemingly impossible 1v4 post-plant clutch, which they followed up with two more rounds, but Inferno was done and dusted as North steadily took the series to a third map, 16-9.

The decider, Dust2, kicked off with Kjaerbye winning the CT pistol for his team with a ninja defuse in a 1v1 against SHiPZ. Windigo could not win the next round despite buying up weapons, but still managed to secure the subsequent one with doubles from SHiPZ and Yanko "⁠blocker⁠" Panov.

The game entered a back-and-forth period as neither team could take full control of the map, with North eventually bagging a narrow 6-5 lead. blocker and SHiPZ then turned a 2v5 situation around, however, inspiring their team to go up 8-7 by half-time.

North strung four rounds together to start off the second half on the right foot, 11-8. SHiPZ responded with a triple-kill in a great flank to help his team win their ninth round, and, although Windigo lost the following round, the Bulgarians managed to break North's economy at 11-12.

Still, with nothing but pistols, North reached the 13-round mark, and, from that point, remained calm and collected to seal the deal with a 16-13 scoreline.