DreamHack Masters concluded on Sunday with an emotional roller coaster of a grand final series at the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Virtus.pro took down SK Gaming in an extremely close best-of-three series to take the DreamHack Masters crown for its first at a premier tournament since DreamHack Bucharest last September.
Virtus.pro Edges Astralis for grand finals berth
The first semifinal of the day was a rematch from the ELeague Major grand final from January - Virtus.pro was looking for revenge on Astralis. VP came out red-hot on Nuke, commanding a 12-3 lead at the half. Astralis couldn't pull it together, losing another four rounds to fall in Map 1 16-3.
Virtus.pro got off to another great start in Game 2 on Overpass by winning the third pistol round in the series. The Danish Astralis easily bounced back to take a 5-1 lead, however. Although VP strung together a few more rounds, the Danes took the first half 10-5. Astralis won the pistol round in the second half, but Virtus.pro caught the defense off-guard to win four straight. Unfortunately, Virtus.pro couldn't keep the momentum and Astralis evened the series 16-9.
The final game came down to a map historically known to be one of the best maps for both teams, Train. Virtus.pro jumped the gun taking the first three rounds as the Counter-Terrorists. The Danes tried to get fancy with trick plays, but the veteran Polish squad wasn't fooled, ultimately killing any momentum from Astralis, earning a 12-3 lead at the half. VP came out incredibly strong in the second half, only allowing the Danes to win one round to register a 16-4 series win.
SK Gaming sweeps North
The second semifinal came down to SK Gaming and North. On Cache to start Map 1, SK Gaming won the first pistol round and jumped to a 5-1 lead, but at the half it was a close 9-6 game. North went on an amazing run in the second half until SK equalized the score at 14-all before finishing up the game with a 16-14 win.
SK dominated early on the T-side of Mirage in Game 2, winning the first five rounds against North. The Danes then went on to minimize the deficit to six rounds at the half as SK took the lead 9-6. SK continued their dominant performance in the second half, only allowing North to take three rounds before finishing off the sweep with a 16-9 win.
Virtus.pro overcomes SK Gaming in grand finals
The grand final first kicked off on Virtus.pro's pick, Cobblestone, with the first pistol round going to the Polish side early. However, SK, playing on the Terrorist side, utilized the B-site for a 10-4 score before Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski blasted SK with a quad kill on the AWP to close the half 10-5. Switching sides, SK took the pistol round in the second half and remained strong on the defense, stopping Virtus.pro to record a 16-8 win.
Game 2 featured Train, a map that both teams have been known to dominate on. Virtus.pro got off to a great start by winning the pistol round but were immediately stunned by SK in the following round with Marcelo "coldzera" David clutching with a pair of Dessert Eagle kills. As a result, SK took the reins and built an early lead, but the VP came back to end the half up 9-6. SK took the first three rounds in the second half to tie the score, but then a failed Molotov play on the post plant denied SK from making the defuse and snuffed out any momentum it had, leading to the 16-11 loss.
The final map of the tournament came down to Mirage. While Virtus.pro controlled the majority of the first half with a 6-2 score, SK rallied back to take a 8-7 lead into the half. SK carried its momentum into the second half with four quick rounds before the Virtus came back to equalize the score 12-12. SK again took back the lead, but then Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas came up with a miraculous 1-vs-2 clutch in Round 26 that fully swung the momentum into Virtus.pro's favor and allowed them to push for the 16-13 win, taking the DreamHack Masters crown.