ENCE triumphed at DreamHack Open Winter 2018

This weekend was all about Counter-Strike. First it’s the sunny Malta that had the first CS:GO event ever with $150,000 on the line that we already discussed here. Meanwhile, Sweden - place where competitive CS was born - welcomed 8 teams, mostly from Europe but from North America and Africa. The tournament run from November 30 to December 2 with teams fighting for their share of $100,000 in prize money. 

I would love to talk about the all participating teams like G2 with their new roster, team OpTic as one of the most promising teams in Denmark right now or Swedish mix team of young deadly players like Plopski (watch this guy very closely, he will be a beast one day!) and experienced veterans like BARBARR. However, I will skip this part, because we have been witnesses of something really new for the entire Counter-Strike world at this event. 

There is no secret that in these days, kings of the servers are players from Europe. Mostly from Scandinavia (hello Astralis), but the whole Europe is doing great. Also North American scene has grown up a lot in past 2 years. But what’s really new to us is the lineup from Bravado, originally from Africa. Yeah, you heard right, Africa man… I didn’t even notice they have stable internet to compete on the highest level. Players like Sonic or Detrony put the name of South African CS on the map for the first time ever! They smashed teams like OpTic, G2 eSports or x6tence Galaxy. In best-of-three series and on LAN. Crazy times I must say..

The African five eventually lost in Grand Final to ENCE from Finland (9:16 on Train and 5:16 on Inferno), but still this is a historical moment not only for the African continent, but for the entire Counter-Strike scene as well. Since now, we have to consider players from all parts of the worlds in the “equation”. Which is insane and beautiful at the same time. 

Here is the highlight of the best moment from Jönköping, so if you missed it, video is right below:

DreamHack Open Winter 2018 final placements:

1st - ENCE | $50,000
2nd - Bravado | $20,000
3-4th - Heroic | $10,000
3-4th - x6tence Galaxy | $10,000
5-6th - compLexity | $3,000
5-6th - G2 | $3,000
7-8th - LDLC | $2,000
7-8th - OpTic | $2,000

Oh, I almost forgot that. The MVP medal was earned (not officially yet, but I am sure he will get it soon) by the 16-year-old prodigy from ENCE - Jere “serger” Salo, who is one of the most promising young talents in our game at the moment. 

That's been it, another DreamHack event is behind but there's more CS to follow as the ESL Pro League Season 8 is around the corner!