FURIA inflict Liquid's first defeat with Grim to win DreamHack Open Summer NA

The Brazilians picked up their second title of 2020 after another tightly-contested final against the North Americans.

FURIA came back from a map down to beat Liquid 2-1 in the grand final of DreamHack Open Summer's North American division. The Brazilians looked a bit shaky at first as they stumbled on their map pick, but then put up a much better fight on Nuke thanks to strong displays by Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos and Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan. Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo stole the show on Inferno with one of the best performances of his career to help the team to win their second title of the year.

This was the first defeat for Liquid since picking up Michael "⁠Grim⁠" Wince as a replacement for Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella. The North Americans, who started out brightly but looked a bit deflated on the last two maps, will have little time to lick their wounds as they will return to action in just two days in ESL One Cologne, in which they will be chasing their first title in over four months.

The North Americans came out the brighter of the two sides, racing to a 4-0 lead on the T side of Vertigo. The Brazilians, who were playing the map for the first time since the player break, then enjoyed a spell of dominance, taking the lead at 6-5, but Liquid came back fighting towards the end of the half to head into the break up by one.

Now playing on the T side, FURIA picked up the initial three rounds of the half, but their joy was short-lived: after buying up, Liquid took the game by the throat and did not let go, with Grim raising eyebrows with two key multi-kill rounds over on the A site that prevented the Brazilians from building any momentum.

FURIA took an early lead on the CT side of Nuke and then saw arT pull a rabbit out of the hat with a miraculous 1v3 clutch in the third round. The Brazilians' grip on the game loosened as Liquid began to post a few rounds, but yuurih and arT stepped up to the plate, combining for 33 frags to put the team on double-digits.

The second half began at a break-neck pace, with rounds going both ways as neither side managed to assume control of proceedings. After trading back Liquid two times in a row, FURIA gained the economical and psychological advantage, and they rode that momentum to a 14-7 lead. They were unable to deliver the finishing blow, however, as Liquid began to eat away at the deficit, eventually forcing overtime after surviving five map points.

Things were starting to look bright for Liquid, but Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato came to FURIA's rescue in overtime. The 20-year-old, who was sitting at the bottom of the scoreboard at the end of regulation with just 11 kills, finally woke up as he delivered eight frags, two of which in a decisive clutch situation, to carry the team through the finish line.

FURIA came out on Inferno with all guns blazing as they raced to a 7-1 lead on the offense, but then they suddenly ran out of steam. Liquid put some rounds together to restore parity before the final round of the half went to the Brazilians. And then the VINI show began. The 21-year-old, who had already ended the first half with 17 kills to his name, took over on the CT side with multiple frags in key situations as the Brazilians out-aimed and out-fought Liquid in this one-sided half.

DreamHack Open Summer 2020 NA final standings:

1. FURIA - $35,000
2. Liquid - $20,000
3-4. TeamOne - $8,750
3-4. Chaos - $8,750
5-6. Cloud9 - $5,000
5-6. Ze Pug Godz - $5,000
7-8. Triumph - $3,750
7-8. Yeah - $3,750