This article is part of our CS:GO series.
With the group stage now behind us, only four made it through to the semifinals as North, Gambit, GODSENT, and HellRaisers are all one best-of-three away for a spot in the grand final and a share of the $100,000 prize pool on the line.
North and GODSENT both secured their semifinal spots after going undefeated during the group stage, sending teams such as Imperial, AGO, Gambit, and Team EnVyUs to the lower bracket of their respective groups.
Sunday featured the group best-of-three elimination matches where Gambit and the Poles of AGO saw all three maps in their series, with Gambit edging the series on Mirage to send AGO packing. On the other side of the bracket, HellRaisers dominated Imperial and Team EnVyUs to clinch their ticket in the semifinals on Monday.
Matchups: North vs Gambit Esports; GODSENT vs HellRaisers
Advancing: Gambit & GODSENT
Issa "ISSAA" Murad is currently the pied piper of the tournament, leading the pack with a 1.51 rating across five maps for HellRaisers who earned their spot in the semifinals out of Group B. Their journey to the semifinals was rough after a beating from Team EnVyUs in the Group B opening match for a 16-3 loss on Inferno. Since then, the team has been red-hot through the eliminations matches, but the Swedes of GODSENT have taken down the likes of Gambit on Train and even stamped a win over AGO to clinch their semifinal berth. The best-of-three will be tough for HellRaisers to beat a tactical team much like GODSENT, who won't give ISSAA any room to do what he does best.
The Danes of North, meanwhile, have been struggling as of late, missing the ESL Pro League Finals and experiencing several disappointing results offline at ELEAGUE Major: Boston, IEM Katowice, as well as a few notable qualifiers missed altogether. However, North have been solid through Tours, racking up their group stage with an edging win on Dust2 over Imperial 16-14 while stomping Team EnVyUs to claim the semifinal slot. Putting their past behind them, North seem more confident in Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen's calls right from the start; however, the real test has been reaching the playoffs, where the team has yet to surpass the semifinals this year.
Taking on North will be Gambit, a team who have had lackluster results but also spur of the moment games to create upsets. The biggest match of their run thus far was the opening match against Josh "steel" Nissan's Torqued which went into double-overtime where Gambit finally sent the North Americans packing. Since then, Gambit have taken a loss to GODSENT on Train and even saw a close three-map series against AGO, but managed to earn their spot in the semifinals. Interesting enough, the inconsistency from North is their biggest flaw as the team is in a period of weakness. The task won't be easy for Denis "seized' Kostin and company, who will see all three maps but a light at the end of the tunnel.
