AVANGAR outshine Renegades to secure first Major grand final spot

Following a successful 2-0 semi-final series against Renegades, AVANGAR are first to make the grand final cut in Berlin.

The first semi-final commenced on Mirage, where Sean "⁠Gratisfaction⁠" Kaiwai kicked things off with a Glock triple kill, creating space for a three-round lead to be accrued. AVANGAR faltered in their buy round, but managed to recuperate in an ensuing force-buy, thanks to a CZ-75 hold from Aleksei "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev, which subsequently allowed the Kazakh squad to equalise the scoreline at three rounds apiece.

Following these lop-sided exchanges, the teams brawled for an advantage, where AVANGAR ended up on top of things, as Renegades found themselves with a fragile economy in the middle portion of the half. Despite remedied finances towards the latter rounds of the first half, the Australian side was unable to produce much impact, conceding the initial half with a 6-9 deficit.

Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage ensured his team brought a foot back into the match with a triple kill USP-S hold on the B site, and despite conceding momentum to AVANGAR's first full-buy, the squad accrued six of the initial seven rounds of the second half. The Kazakh offense found success after a string of consecutive losses, assuming the lead once more, but an astonishing 1v2 B site post-plant that was successfully converted by jks gave the Australian side the needed inspiration to secure map point. The boost was insufficient in ensuring map one for Renegades, as AVANGAR denied their opponents a fast closure, forcing affairs into overtime.

Overtime #1 very nearly saw AVANGAR snatch the Australians' map pick after double map point was secured, but faltered in the process of closing, meaning a second batch of extra rounds. A flawless CT-side performance from AVANGAR meant triple map point for Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali and company, and following a single round conversion from Renegades, the Kazakh quintet closed out map one with a 22-19 victory.

Dust2 followed, with jks once more spearheading Renegades' advancement through a USP-S quad kill in the first pistol round of the map. A further three rounds followed in favour of the Australian squad, producing a significant lead, but it proved to be short-lived, as AVANGAR established their dominance from the fifth round onwards.

The unyielding onslaught of the Kazakh offense saw a total of 10 consecutive rounds secured, with Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov and Qikert leading the charge at 14 and 12 frags each. This left Renegades stunned, as the Australian squad was only able to secure a single additional round in conclusion, faced with a 4-11 predicament going into the second half of map two.

AVANGAR did not relent after switching to the CT side of Dust2, continuing their successful campaign in the second pistol round. The following two rounds saw the teams exchange force-buy victories, leading to weakened economies on both sides. The pivotal 19th round went in favour of the Kazakh squad, courtesy of a strong middle hold from buster. Persisting issues on the offense for Renegades eventually led to map point for AVANGAR, and without hesitation the team cruised to a 16-6 closure on Dust2, securing the first spot in the grand final.