This article is part of our CS:GO Recap series.
Much like the opening day of DreamHack Bucharest, everything on Day 2 went according to the script for the most part. Key phrase: for the most part. The main source of drama came from the continued fall of one of the European juggernauts of the Counter Strike: Global Offensive scene.
The beginning of the day started out as expected when Gambit eSports took on Team EnVyUs in the loser's match of Group A. Kenny "kennyS" Schrub once again rose to the occasion and put up some gaudy numbers - he finished with a 45/27 KD in the quick series - to allow Team EnVyUs to grab the 2-0 win. Team EnVyUs moved on to a rematch with Heroic in the decider match of Group A.
The Group B loser's match saw some much more competitive play between Team Dignitas and FlipSid3 Tactics. This series went the distance with both teams upping their level of play in the do-or-die series. While FlipSid3 Tactics put up a strong 16-9 performance on Cobblestone in Game 2, led by Yegor "markeloff" Markelov's 25/14 KD, the team was handled fairly easily in Games 1 and 2 on Train and Mirage, respectively. René "cajunb" Borg was the point-man for Team Dignitas in this series with his 59/37 KD. With the win, Team Dignitas moved on to face FaZe Clan in the Group B decider match.
Of the two decider matches, Group A's was by far the most competitive, with the contest going the full slate of three games. After the first game saw Team EnVyUs take a fairly easy 16-8 win off Heroic, it almost looked as though Team EnVyUs would secure the sweep on Nuke in Game 2. Heroic was not content to let that happen, and fought back with an extremely hard fought, 16-13 win in the second game. It seemed, though, that was all Heroic had left in the tank, as it dropped the final game 16-9. Nathan "NBK" Schmitt was a beast in this series, posting a game-high 71/46 KD in the series. Team EnVyUs will now face Cloud9 in the semifinals of DreamHack Bucharest on Sunday morning.
The Group B decider match was supposed to be FaZe Clan's shot to show that it could make it out of the group stages of a major tournament, but that didn't happen in the slightest. For the second time in as many weeks, FaZe Clan were unceremoniously bounced from the group stages. This time, the group was swept by Team Dignitas in a series that wasn't even close. Both games were won handily by Dignitas, securing victories by a 16-7 and 16-6 margin, respectively. While FaZe Clan will have to head back to the EU ESL Pro League and try to continue to prove itself, Team Dignitas will move on to the semifinals of DreamHack Bucharest to take on Virtus.pro.
The playoffs of this tournament certainly have plenty of storylines to watch out for: Will Virtus.pro snag a grand finals win and prove that its the best in the scene? Will Cloud9 continue its recent dominance into the international scene? Will Team EnVyUs or Team Dignitas complete its run all the way from the loser's match to win the whole thing? We'll find the answers out when the action kicks off Sunday at 3:30 AM EST.
