Sprout and Illuminar top groups in Gdynia

Sprout took Group A's top seed by defeating DreamEaters 16-9 on Dust2, while Illuminar did the same in Group B after winning on Vertigo in extremis against FURIA, 16-14.

A triple by Paweł "⁠innocent⁠" Mocek and a double by Paweł "⁠reatz⁠" Jańczak on the CT side put Illuminar ahead of FURIA on Vertigo. A clean round followed it up, but a volley of SG553 fire from the Brazilians brought it to 1-2 in the third round. FURIA were then able to follow it up against a buy, tying it up and pushing the Poles on a hard eco. FURIA then took the reins of the half, extending their lead to 5-2 before Illuminar could retaliate. The two teams then struggled to find consistency as they traded rounds, but it was finally the Brazilians who ran away with it 10-5 at the half.

Illuminar got a plant on B in the second pistol round, but were unable to hold on as the Brazilians retook the site with ample time to defuse the bomb. Two SG553 and upgraded pistols were enough for the Poles to take the second round. FURIA kept inching closer to the finish line, but Illuminar didn’t let go and tied it up 13-13 going into the last stretch of the map. Both teams then scored one more, making it 14-14. A 1vs3 afterplant clutch by innocent in the last round with his team in the lead sealed the deal as Illuminar clinched a playoff berth 16-14.

DreamEaters kicked Dust2 off winning the pistol round on the attacking side with doubles by Vladislav "⁠Krad⁠" Kravchenko and Igor "⁠Forester⁠" Bezotecheskiy. Three Desert Eagle kills by Denis "⁠denis⁠" Howell almost tipped the scales for Sprout, but Anton "⁠speed4k⁠" Titov was able to clutch a 1vs2 afterplant situation to keep his team in the lead. A triple by denis and double by Josef "⁠faveN⁠" Baumann in the first gun round got the German side on the board. Sprout then took control of the half as DreamEaters struggled to mount effective offensives. They were finally able to even it out, making it a 7-8 half and keeping it close at the half.

Sprout planted in a 4vs3 situation on A to increase their lead to 9-7 after the first pistol round, furthering their lead against the ensuing forcebuy and eco from the Russian side. Sprout kept charging forward as Nils "⁠k1to⁠" Gruhne and Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische won a 2vs2 afterplant on B. The half got a bit more chaotic, with a lot of back-and-forth rounds, but at 13-9, syrsoN put a nail in DreamEaters’ coffin by killing two players in a 2vs3 afterplant, forcing the last to retreat and save the AWP. Against only the sniper rifle and an upgraded pistol buy, Sprout hit match point before going on to close it out, 16-9.