The first match of the tournament saw Kinguin beat Dignitas 22-20 in a double overtime brawl on Mirage, while Renegades upset the favorites of their match-up, Cloud9, in a 16-14 victory on Dust2.

The match started with Dignitas pushing A site and instantly getting cleaned up by the defenders’ pistols. After losing the first three rounds, Dignitas played for mid control on the first gun round which René "⁠cajunb⁠" Borg eventually won in a 1vs2 afterplant on B. After winning the two first rounds Dignitas quickly took the reins of the match, leading into the half by 9-6.

The second half started with Kinguin winning the terrorist side pistol round win after a play on the B site. The Polish side then followed it up with two anti-ecos to level out the match at 9-9. Lead by Michał "⁠MICHU⁠" Müller on the scoreboard, Kinguin were able to take a 13-11 lead as they racked up rounds on the Terrorist side. The Danes won the following round to get within one and forced Kinguin on an eco for a 13-13 tie.



Kinguin upset to get into the winners’ match

After the tie, Dignitas took the lead and put Kinguin on another eco. An aggressive play on A by the Poles got them Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif’s AK early in the round, which coupled with A site controlled allowed them to stop Dignitas’ retake efforts. Kinguin then won the following round with a clean B take to get on match point and forcing Dignitas to take a tactical pause. The Poles threw away their golden chance on the last round of the regulation time getting crushed on A for a 15-15 score.

Kinguin took an early lead winning two rounds on the terrorist side, but then Dignitas did the same after the switch for a second overtime. Finally, Kinguin, who had been leading the match were able to close it out in the last round of the second overtime, taking the match 22-20.

DreamHack ZOWIE Open Winter 2016 Best of 1 Dignitas Matchpage 20 22 Kinguin 20 Mirage 22

Kinguin K - D +/- ADR Rating 2.0 Mikołaj 'mouz' Karolewskimouz 37 - 26 +11 88.6 1.37 Michał 'MICHU' MüllerMICHU 36 - 32 +4 90.3 1.22 Grzegorz 'SZPERO' DziamałekSZPERO 26 - 26 0 62.9 0.94 Karol 'rallen' Rodowiczrallen 24 - 29 -5 71.5 0.91 Damian 'Furlan' KislowskiFurlan 25 - 33 -8 66.5 0.81 Dignitas K - D +/- ADR Rating 2.0 Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk 30 - 29 +1 84.0 1.15 Kristian 'k0nfig' Wieneckek0nfig 34 - 35 -1 92.0 1.12 René 'cajunb' Borgcajunb 30 - 27 +3 66.3 1.09 Mathias 'MSL' LauridsenMSL 26 - 30 -4 73.2 1.05 Ruben 'RUBINO' VillarroelRUBINO 26 - 27 -1 61.3 0.93

The second opening match of the day between Cloud9 and Renegades started on Dust2 with the North American side taking the pistol round on the defending side. The second round was the Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage show as the talented Aussie got a triple to cancel out Cloud9’s first round win. Renegades then went on an all-out offensive taking a 6-1 lead. When things looked safe for the Australian side with Cloud9 on an eco, a 2vs1 clutch by Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip got his team back in the game.



Renegades were able to take Dust2 despite losing both pistol rounds

Cloud9’s comeback was short-lived, though, as Renegades picked up where they left off taking an 8-2 lead which turned to 11-4 at the half. Cloud9 then picked up the second pistol round to start their climb back into the game. It was indeed on the terrorist side when Cloud9 were able to display their game, winning most opening duels and making it to double digits, 10-11.

Finally, it was Aaron "⁠AZR⁠" Ward with a three kill round to break the North American team’s streak. Renegades then followed it up to get a three round lead, 13-10, going late into the second half. Cloud9 found their game again, though, as they were able to cleanly take the A site on a short push to keep the Australian team at bay. A 1vs1 clutch by Timothy "⁠autimatic⁠" Ta against Ricardo "⁠Rickeh⁠" Mulholland on B got Cloud9 within one round. Renegades didn’t falter after getting tied 13-13 by Cloud9, and won two rounds for two match points, but a long retake on the following round meant Renegades wouldn’t have time to defuse on their first match point. Finally Cloud9 executed A on the last round, but playing too conservatively gave Renegades the advantage, and after running out of time it was the Australians taking the win, 16-14.

DreamHack ZOWIE Open Winter 2016 Best of 1 Cloud9 Matchpage 14 16 Renegades 14 Dust2 16