North cruise past MVP PK to book StarLadder Major spot

North punched their ticket to New Challengers Stage of the StarLadder Major after dispatching MVP PK in two maps in the Minor Play-in.

The Danish team delivered on their status as favourites for the Minor Play-in and put up a solid team performance against an MVP PK side who had to play from behind throughout the match. The victory marks North's return to a Counter-Strike Major after missing IEM Katowice, with the Koreans still having one more chance to make history and qualify for the biggest tournament in the game for the first time.

North got off to a solid start on Nuke, looking very composed on the CT side as they cruised to a 3-0 lead without hassle. MVP PK responded with guns in hands with a winning streak of their own, but the rest of the half was all about North's compact defense as the Danes picked up 11 rounds before switching over to the Terrorist side.

A successful A split in the second pistol saw North move further into the lead, leaving MVP PK with an even more monumental task. The South Korean team then put together a string of rounds, but a comeback was beyond them as the holes in their defense were exploited by North, who calmly put the game to rest in the 26th round.

North are back in a Major after missing Katowice

The first half of Inferno was closesly contested, though North never really looked in danger. Every time that MVP PK tried to close the gap, North retook control of proceedings, with the half ending with a 9-6 scoreline in favour of the Danes.

Carrying their momentum into the second half, North surged into a 14-6 lead with a series of solid retakes. MVP PK still attempted a response, but the Danes were simply too far ahead, eventually locking down the map in the 26th round off the back of a trio of kills from Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye.

StarLadder Major 2019 Minor Play-inBest of 3

North

Matchpage

2

0

29th July 2019

MVP PK

16

Nuke

10

16

Inferno

10

North	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Nicklas 'gade' Gadegade	48 - 33	+15	98.8	84.6%	1.45
Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangsåvalde	45 - 33	+12	88.9	90.4%	1.35
Markus 'Kjaerbye' KjærbyeKjaerbye	41 - 25	+16	80.0	76.9%	1.30
Philip 'aizy' Aistrupaizy	30 - 28	+2	62.6	78.8%	1.03
Jakob 'JUGi' HansenJUGi	26 - 28	-2	52.6	76.9%	1.01

MVP PK	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Hyun-Pyo 'XigN' LeeXigN	39 - 41	-2	82.0	76.9%	1.08
Seon-Ho 'xeta' Sonxeta	34 - 36	-2	71.1	67.3%	1.00
Gu-Taek 'stax' Kimstax	27 - 38	-11	60.6	55.8%	0.79
Hae-Sung 'HSK' KimHSK	25 - 39	-14	65.9	65.4%	0.77
Min-Seok 'zeff' Parkzeff	21 - 36	-15	47.7	59.6%	0.66

The StarLadder Major's New Challengers Stage will run from August 23-26 at the Verti Music Hall, with 16 teams duking it out for eight spots in the New Legends Stage. The team list for the initial stage looks as follows:

Vitality
Complexity
HellRaisers
MOUZ
CR4ZY
FORZE
Syman
North

G2
AVANGAR
NRG
FURIA
Grayhound
TYLOO
DreamEaters
Minor Play-In #3

The final spot in the New Challengers Stage of the StarLadder Major will be determined through the Minor Play-In, pitting INTZ against MVP PK, with the match scheduled to start at 18:30 .