DreamHack Masters Spring started yesterday with EU and NA teams having played their first matches. The EU division has been split into 4 groups, NA into 2 groups, Asia and Ocenia have 1 group of 4 teams.
It was Group A of both Europe and the North American region who kickstarted the tournament yesterday. Here is our review of Day 1 of the competition.
1. Europe Group A Day 1:-
Group A had the ESL One: Road to Rio EU finalists Astralis and G2 Esports along with North and Heroic. It was an historic day for Astralis though, as their IGL “gla1ve” stepped down from the team for 3 months citing burn out as a reason. “JUGi” the new member of the team replaced him while “magisk” took on the IGL role.
Heroic were Astralis’s first opponent and they tested them to their fullest. Astralis won 2-0 but both the maps were closely contested. Astralis won Train in overtime winning 19-16, Inferno 16-14 to start on the right foot. “JUGi” struggled in the first map but was influential on the second map slotting perfectly for the aforementioned “gla1ve”.
In the second match G2 faced off against North, who replaced “Kjaerbye” with “kristou”. “Kjaerbye” is also on medical leave after he experienced some breathing issues and decided to step down from the team for a short period.
North however were ready for the challenge against G2 and showed that this team could reach the highest level. They won 2:1 against G2 who I think were reeling from their loss against Astralis two days back.
North won 16-10 on Vertigo, after which G2 replied with a victory on Inferno winning 16:8. Dust II was the final map, which North edged out winning 16:14 to break G2 hearts. “kristou” was looking settled in the team and showed glimpses of his potential on the team.
2. North America Group A Day 1:-
Group A of the North American division consisted on the Brazilian duo of Furia and MiBR along with NA powerhouse Team Liquid and Chaos Esports Club.
Liquid faced off against Chaos in the only match for the day and lost surprisingly 2:1 to the underdogs. Liquid comfortably won Inferno 16:4, but Chaos replied with solid victories on Mirage and Overpass winning 16-11 and 16-13 respectively.
It was “Naf” however who had the mist number of kills in all 3 maps combined, but he did not have an ally in his teammates.
Todays matches are as follows:
G2 vs Heroic
Astralis vs North
MiBR vs Furia
Note:- DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 was originally to take place in Jonkoping, Sweden but was shifted online due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The compeition will now have four regional events all taking place in between from 19th May to 14th June. 32 teams have been divided on their regional baese; Asia, Oceania, Europe & North America. DreamHack on its part have increased the prize pool from $250,000 to $300,000.
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