BIG Top DreamHack Open Summer EU Group

German team BIG have been able to set themselves on top of Group A in DreamHack Open Summer Europe, beating Heroic in 2-0 fashion. They are now through to the playoffs bracket, where they will be meeting either forZe, OG, or compLexity soon.

The fourth play-day of the competition only featured one single Best-of-Three match. So all focus was on BIG and Heroic, who were set to fight for a slot in the semi-finals of the event. In the lead-up to the match, BIG were regarded as favorites. The Germans had recently managed to climb the number one spot in the HLTV world rankings, a first for the organization and German Counter-Strike. We don’t know how much of that can be put down to online play, but they have certainly shown a lot of improvement over the past few months.

BIG VS. HEROIC

Heroic chose to start off on Inferno, a map on which BIG have recorded their lowest win rate in recent time. They were hoping to land a quick punch and then hopefully snatch away BIG’s map pick as well. However, the Germans made a close affair of the first half. Through some clever bomb plants in the second half, BIG narrowly ran away with the victory. A 16-14 scoreline meant that Heroic had to fight for their survival on map 2.

Unfortunately, BIG were much better prepared on Dust 2. On the CT side, the players had little trouble with stopping the Heroic advance right in its tracks. After a 12-3 first half in favor of the Germans, Heroic attempted to mount a comeback. However, their efforts weren’t enough. On a 16-10 scoreline, they had to concede the victory to BIG.

TABSEN AND K1TO IN PEAK FORM AFTER SUMMER BREAK

In this instance, Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz and Nils “k1to” Gruhne led the charge. Both have recorded a 1.41 rating on HLTV, whereas four of the Heroic players went below a 1.0 rating. Only René “TeSeS” Madsen was able to hold his own. Heroic will have another shot at qualifying for the playoffs on Thursday. They will face Endpoint, who took down MAD Lions yesterday. This is certainly a tall order and we might actually see the Danes exit the tournament right after their domestic rivals.

You can watch the VOD right here:

This match certainly bodes well for BIG. They have shown to be competitive on Inferno, which makes Train their only real weak spot – which they perma-ban anyways. The German players will certainly take time to prepare for their upcoming opponents, which will likely be compLexity or OG. Both teams are strong, but not unbeatable. With BIG’s recent form and a strong showing after the player break, they are in a perfect position to win the event. DreamHack Open Summer Europe will resume tomorrow with the Winners’ Match between OG and compLexity. The winner will enter into the playoffs, while the losing side will have one last chance of survival against forZe.