North, who were struggling to keep their position amongst the bottom top 10 took the whole tournament by storm. Not only did North beat Mousesports and Na’Vi in BO3 matches, but they also stole a win over Astralis two times.

After the player break, we expected to see Astralis and Na’Vi struggling somewhat in form. After all, more than two weeks without any official tournaments can slow down any team. However, the two teams who head the dispute for best team in the world were surprised by a challenger in Stockholm.

With DreamHack Masters Stockholm, fans saw North’s resurgence. Their tournament performance wasn’t a fluke, but what lead MSL’s squad to the trophy?

Head Start

North came to Stockholm after managing to qualify for IEM Chicago 2018 via the European Qualifiers. The qualifiers, which started one week before Stockholm saw North falling to ENCE once.

Starting in DreamHack, North opened their run in a BO1 against the Chinese force TyLoo. The Chinese squad couldn’t break North’s CT-side which featured Kjaerbye posing a stronghold as he constantly moved over positions.

More importantly, MSL had a very impactful presence with the AWP in that match. His awping performances would only get better from that point.

The First Danish Derby in Stockholm

Beating TyLoo, North was set to face their country-rivals from Astralis. The Danish Derby heavily favored Astralis as the undoubtedly better team in the tournament. The first map of the BO3 reflected this as Astralis dominated Nuke, which North playing in gla1ve’s hand as he wished.

The match took a turnover in the second map though, as North looked a brand-new team in Inferno. Astralis couldn’t break aizy defense and struggled to build a streak of round wins. In the terrorist-side, North once again shone as dupreeh disappeared from the game.

The Decider Map was Mirage, a map where Astralis didn’t show to be any comfortable in. Although they managed to comeback as North failed to close the game as Terrorists, MSL team beat them in overtime. This was the first time that North beat Astralis since their formation as a team.

With this win, North had booked a spot in the playoffs and Astralis felt to the lower-bracket. Consequently, North was given one extra day to practice.

The Challenge in Playoffs

North once again saw themselves as underdogs as their quarter-final match will be them against Natus Vincere. The second-best team in the world had some struggles their previous matches but still were favored over North.

What happened though, was North completely taking control over Na’Vi in their BO3, which lasted only two maps. North were surprisingly strong in Na’Vi’s map pick Train, beating them 16 – 3 thanks to the duo of valde and aizy. In North’s map pick, Inferno, MSL tactically shut Electronic and Flamie and Kjaerbye helped the aforementioned duo to book a win.

Surprising everyone, North had won over Natus Vincere, home of the world’s best player. The Danish squad of MSL was looking better than they did in the entire year.

The semifinals saw Mousesports beating North 16 – 0 in Dust2, only to lose the following maps. Astralis made their way in the grand-finals earlier and another Danish Derby was set to start, where Astralis could have their rematch.

The Final Danish Derby

There were almost no doubts that Astralis would take the grand-finals and the lion’s share of $250.000 in Stockholm. The Danes were looking much better than they did in the group stage, and they could prove that North win over them was just a fluke.

North in the other hand had discovered themselves as a complete team with niko, the newest addition to the team. Aizy was looking solid as a rifler now that niko took the support role, Valde was able to maintain his star performance. Moreover, MSL, one of the most criticized in-game leaders by his fragging power, was actually very good with the AWP.

Having lost to Mousesports with a 16 – 0 earlier that day in Dust2, North had to replay that map as Astralis picked it as the first map in their series. What happened though was that MSL simply controlled the game. With aizy, valde and Kjaerbye, Astralis couldn’t pose a challenge for them and lost the game 1 – 16.

Astralis made a came back in the second map, Train, comfortably beating North 16 – 6 and setting us to the decider map. Overpass, which is one of the best maps of Astralis made a comeback likely for Astralis.

Device, Astralis main awper couldn’t find his game on late Overpass and Magisk couldn’t carry his team. North took Overpass and the DreamHack Masters Stockholm trophy.

The Factors That Lead North to the Trophy

One of the main factors that were obvious to North’s run are their players performances. Previously, Aizy and MSL would usually sit in the bottom of the leaderboard. With the addition of niko, aizy could take a more open approach to the game.

With aizy free to make plays, the Dane saw his confidence in an all-time high and he converted it in frags. MSL in the other hand took the AWP and contrary to the expectations, he did very well with it.

MSL had a slow but effective approach to the game and applied well his game-sense to it. This made him a threat in CT-side as often we saw him getting a decisive kill during an opponent push.

It was possible to also observe that Kjaerbye had fewer static positions. Opponents would often be surprised by his presence in Mid or in the B-site in Inferno as he switched constantly.

Overall, niko didn’t brought star power to this team. Instead, he holds positions that aizy struggled to. According to North’s coach ‘ave’, he also brought a cheerful atmosphere and had helpful inputs in the team tactical meetings.

After almost one year, North finally worked for the first time as they should.

The Honeymoon Period or The Definitive Resurgence of North as a top team?

Often when a team does roster changes, they initially overperform. This is the so called honeymoon period, and it’s one of the ways that CS:GO viewers try to explain this run.

It’s fair to say that North is over-performing for the time being as they did after the player break last year. Back then, MSL brought a renewed tactical approach that didn’t last long along valde’s introduction to the team.

This time however, ave himself mentioned that North can’t let this book get outdated. Back in 2017, North didn’t keep working on it after the player break, which turned them into readable and predicable opponents. Knowing this, we expect North to actively changes their approaches and do changes to keep them anew.

More importantly, for the first time since aizy joined this roster, he shows more than a glimpse of brilliance. In Stockholm, he shown to be a completely different player, much more consistent and using his smartness to the best.

After losing for the likes of ALTERNATE aTTaX and Imperial, North reached the point that they were last year. This time however, they know well that one must avoid any stagnation to advance as a team. North still has to prove a lot, but they’re in the right path.

Cold Feet at the Major

In North’s opening match at FACEIT Major London 2018, we saw MSL’s squad failing to beat HellRaisers. The CIS powerhouse had ‘woxic’ and ISSAA in a really good form along DeadFox who were playing unusually well.

However, the marks of greatness that we saw in Stockholm were still there. Aizy performed well and so did Kjaerbye, MSL also had a decent impact with the AWP. Only valde failed to impress in early game and DeadFox overperformed in overtime.

The stakes are still high for North but so is their potential at London.

Do you believe that North came stronger? Tell us your opinion below!