Cloud9 have won DreamHack Open Denver after defeating BIG 2-0 in the final.

Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik opened up the action on Cache with a trio of kills during a B retake, with Cloud9 following that up by taking the next anti-eco. A successful third-round buy sparked a great run from BIG, who won four of the next five rounds, but then the North Americans tightened up their defense to retake the lead.

Down 4-6, BIG clinged on to life with an A execution thanks to Fatih "⁠gob b⁠" Dayik winning a 1v1 against Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip, who was left fuming. The North American player would redeem himself just two rounds later as he single-handedly won a round with everyone else on his team on eco, setting Cloud9 up for a 9-6 half.

The second half began with a near-flawless B execution from Cloud9, putting them on double digits. BIG hit back on eco, however, after Kevin "⁠keev⁠" Bartholomäus had found three kills early on, and they kept their defense very tight, never letting their opponents run away with the lead.

Cloud9 win their first title since the last Americas Minor

With the score 13-12, Cloud9 pushed A on eco hoping for a bomb plant, but they got much more than that as they won a very messy round. Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz still kept the deficit to a minimum with three quick kills, but then the North Americans picked up two rounds in a row to lock down the map, 16-13.

Next up was Train, where Cloud9 got off to a flying start, winnning eight of the first nine rounds to put BIG in danger of getting blown out. gob b then rescued his team with a 1v3 clutch on the outer site, but BIG's inability to string rounds together made it impossible for them to build up an economy, with the half ending in a 12-3 scoreline in favour of the North Americans.

Cloud9 piled more misery on their opponents by taking the opening three rounds of the half to hit match point. With their backs against the wall, BIG finally adjusted their offense and took a round, wreaking havoc in the North Americans' economy. Cloud9 took some time to recover, but once they did it was all over for BIG, with Stewie2K hammering the final nail into the Europeans' coffin with a 1v2 clutch after William "⁠RUSH⁠" Wierzba had picked up three key kills.

DreamHack Open Denver final standings: