forZe take down HAVU to book semi-final spot in Rotterdam

FORZE are through to the DreamHack Open Rotterdam semi-finals following a 16-14 victory on Nuke over HAVU in the Group B winners’ match.

FORZE kicked off Nuke in winning ways thanks to a 1v2 clutch from Evgenii "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev in the opening pistol on the T side, but HAVU answered back immediately on a force buy, with Olli "⁠sLowi⁠" Pitkänen picking up a triple-kill with the XM1014. The chaotic back-and-forth from the opening rounds continued moving forward as both sides claimed an additional round apiece before FL1T yet again clutched out a 1v2 to reclaim the advantage for FORZE.

The score levelled out once more at 5-5 before HAVU eventually took the lead for the first time in the game, however, the pattern of the match persisted as FORZE were able to even the score out and lock down the final round of the half to gain an 8-7 advantage as the two squads swapped sides.

The defensive side began with another pistol victory for FORZE as the Russian side capitalised on their success to extend their lead to 9-7. With guns in hand, though, HAVU secured three successive rounds and placed themselves in control. The Finnish squad's advantage did not last long, however, as the nail-biting affair continued to get tied up time and again before a 13-12 lead for FORZE eventually materialised. With the finish line in sight and the playoffs on the horizon, Andrey "⁠Jerry⁠" Mekhryakov and his squad managed to hit map point and finally close the game out 16-14 to book their spot in the semi-finals.

Defeat for HAVU means they drop down to the lower bracket of Group B and will face off against the winner of CR4ZY and Asterion in a best-of-three decider for a place in the playoffs at 13:00 tomorrow.