AGO are the first team to claim a spot at DreamHack Open Tours with a 2-1 win over Imperial (9-16 on Overpass, 16-14 on Mirage, and 16-10 on Cache) in the European closed qualifier.

The match between AGO and Quantum Bellator Fire was the first semi-final to take place, with AGO sweeping the series on Inferno and Cache. On the other side, Imperial were relentless in their three-map series against Windigo, resulting in a convincing win on Cache to secure their grand final spot.

The final series kicked off on AGO’s map pick, Overpass, where the Poles struggled on their T-side after a close pistol round was secured by Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković in a 2v1. Imperial showed relentless aggression through their anti-ecos and continued to press on through the first half (14-0), giving AGO no room. In the final round of the half, Damian "⁠Furlan⁠" Kislowski got a quick double entry and the round came down to a 2v2 after plant. Together with Dominik "⁠GruBy⁠" Swiderski, Furlan was able to win the post-plant and the first round for AGO.

AGO secure first spot at DreamHack Open Tours 2018

AGO carried their momentum into the second half to secure the pistol and the following anti-ecos. Imperial were finally on the buy round, where Rokas "⁠EspiranTo⁠" Milasauskas came out on top of a 1v1 post-plant situation to reach map point. AGO wouldn’t go down without a fight and fired back with five straight, but in round 25 Žygimantas "⁠nukkye⁠" Chmieliauskas bested Furlan in a 1v1 post-plant to secure the lead in the series.

The series moved onto Imperial’s map pick, Mirage, where Asger "⁠AcilioN⁠" Larsen and co. once again firing on all cylinders through the first half to pick up seven straight. AGO finally broke the streak with a double AWP setup, thanks to Michał "⁠snatchie⁠" Rudzki’s triple kill hold on A. From there, both sides traded rounds with little to no economy, but in the end AGO came out on their buy round to pick up the remaining two rounds of what was an 11-4 Imperial half.

Imperial started the second half securing the second pistol and the following anti-eco, but a force buy from AGO crippled their economy, which led the Poles to tack on three. AcilioN’s miraculous quad kill in a 1v4 shed some light on Imperial’s future, but after numerous saves and a couple of pauses, Imperial had nothing against the eight rounds straight that AGO put together to force the decider.

The series came down to Cache, where Imperial came out red-hot, but AGO quickly turned the tides on their buy round, which started a seven-round streak (7-2). Imperial tried to get back at the Poles, who, however, would only give up two more rounds as they secured an 11-4 lead.

Jesper "⁠TENZKI⁠" Plougmann nearly secured the second pistol for Imperial, but AGO’s smooth retake resulted in a defuse. Imperial fought with everything they had but a huge flank from Tomasz "⁠phr⁠" Wójcik put final the nail into Imperial's coffin, denying the Copenhagen Games champions the chance to compete at DreamHack Open Tours.