Tricked eliminate AVANGAR; progress to DH Summer playoffs

Tricked beat AVANGAR in two closely contested maps, Train (19-17) and Mirage (16-14), to advance to the DreamHack Summer semi-finals.

The series began on Tricked's map pick, Train, where the Danish squad cruised to a 5-0 lead on the T-side. With their loss bonus extended, AVANGAR were able to produce a double AWP setup to pull back four consecutive rounds on the defence. A Rasmus "⁠sjuush⁠" Beck 1v2 clutch ensured a 6-4 lead stayed in favour of Tricked, with the following round also going their way. AVANGAR were able to salvage two of the final four rounds of the half, switching sides at a 9-6 deficit.

Nicolai "⁠HUNDEN⁠" Petersen and his squad looked to close out the map swiftly, picking up four consecutive rounds on the defensive side, but the CIS side refused to give up. An aggressive solo push from Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov onto A site opened up the round for AVANGAR, who went on to lock down 8 of the next 10 rounds, forcing overtime in the process.

The two sides could not be separated in the opening rounds of overtime, but a Johannes "⁠b0RUP⁠" Borup quad-kill was enough to make it 18-17 in Tricked's advantage, with the Danes scrapping the final round to take the map 19-17.

Mirage followed, and AVANGAR looked to come out strong. An A site rush on the pistol was denied commandingly by Tricked, who went onto secure the following round. AVANGAR regrouped with a full buy to prevent the map from getting away from them, however, claiming a 3-2 lead. A HUNDEN triple-kill was enough to switch the momentum back into the Danes' favour, though, as they locked down five more rounds on the defence at 7-3.

AVANGAR pulled a round back with an A execute, with Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali picking up a triple-kill of his own in the next to the narrow the score difference to just two rounds. Tricked eventually were able to secure the first half with an aggressive ramp push to take an 8-7 lead at the halfway mark.

The second half displayed a back-and-forth affair between the two sides, with the scoreline evening out at 12-12. Tricked kicked it up a gear, however, securing four of the next six rounds to take the map 16-14, and the series 2-0.

Tricked's victory means they will face off against OpTic tomorrow in a Danish derby at 10:00 CEST in the semi-finals of DreamHack Open Summer.