fnatic sweep BIG to win DH Open November; MAD Lions secure ESL Conference spot

fnatic didn’t lose a map throughout the whole event on the way to a sweeping victory in the grand final.

fnatic made it through the DreamHack Open November gauntlet undefeated to claim the title with a 3-0 victory over BIG in the grand final, sweeping the Germans on the way to a clean tournament record with 9 maps won and none lost in four matches.

MAD Lions and FORZE provided the preamble for the DreamHack Open November grand final with a 3rd-4th place decider match that would provide the victor with an ESL Conference spot as the two finalists, fnatic and BIG, are partnered teams and already have a spot in the next Pro League season.

The group stage runners up, who lost their semi-final series against the two undefeated teams at the event, started their clash at noon on Overpass, MAD Lions’ pick, but a very strong CT side by FORZE that ended 12-3 in their favor put the Russian team in great place to win the map, which they did after the half to set up a possible 2-0 scenario.

Andrey "⁠Jerry⁠" Mekhryakov and company had everything in their hands to sweep the series going into Inferno, especially after taking an 8-7 lead at the half on the terrorist side, but Volodymyr "⁠Woro2k⁠" Veletniuk led MAD Lions to a 16-9 victory as they went on to put up an overwhelming 9-1 scoreline on the attacking side.

Despite a weak CT side on Vertigo, going down 5-10, the international squad persevered and once again got things going on the attack with Pere "⁠sausol⁠" Solsona Saumell taking point this time around as MAD Lions completed the reverse sweep with a 16-13 victory on the decider.

The grand final pitted the two undefeated teams at the tournament, fnatic and BIG, who topped Groups A and B, respectively. It was Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin’s men who made the first move, with a statement victory on Inferno by winning a 12-3 half on the attack before finishing things off cleanly on the CT side, 16-3.

The British-Swedish side then looked solid on Vertigo, as well, hitting double digits on the defense before switching sides, although BIG didn’t let things snowball out of control as they had on Inferno and brought it back to a 12-12 tie. Ultimately, however, it was once again Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin and company who prevailed to go up 2-0 in the best-of-five final.

The third map, Ancient, was a close affair in the first half, with BIG showing signs of life by taking a minimal 8-7 lead on the CT side. After the switch the Germans weren't able to transfer momentum to the attacking side, however, as fnatic put up a wall to close it out 16-10 and be crowned DreamHack Open November champions.

The final DreamHack Open November standings are:

1. fnatic - $50,000
2. BIG - $20,000
3. MAD Lions - $10,000 + ESL Conference
4. FORZE - $10,000
5-6. ENCE - $3,000
5-6. MOUZ - $3,000
7-8. Spirit - $2,000
7-8. GamerLegion - $2,000