This article is part of our CS:GO Recap series.
The second day of the $100,000 prize pool DreamHack Leipzig Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Open is in the books, and we now have our full slate of playoff teams set in stone. Team LDLC.com and BIG put up strong performances during the day to join FlipSid3 Tactics and Heroic in the playoffs.
Having lost the winners match yesterday against Heroic, LDLC had to win one series in order to secure its spot in the semifinals. Before they took the stage, Fnatic Academy and qwerty faced off for a chance at the Group A deciders match.
Team LDLC.com rises from the dead
The series was the most one-sided of the day, with the junior Fnatic team making short work of the newly formed German squad, winning by scores of 16-9 and 16-2. While qwerty had great prospects considering the roster that they had amassed at the end of last year, their play at this tournament left a lot to be desired.
Despite the win over qwerty, hopes were not very high for Fnatic when they took on LDLC in the deciders match. Against all odds, they turned in a great performance on Cache to take the map 16-14. The defining moment of the match was when David "Jayzwalkingz" Kempner pulled off an insane 1-vs-3 clutch to take a 15-14 lead they wouldn't relinquish. LDLC recovered in Game 2 on Overpass with an easy 16-8 win.
Game 3 is where the money was at for this series. Fnatic took an impressive 12-3 lead into the half before LDLC staged a major comeback in the second half. They went 13-2 in the second half to take the map 16-14 and advance to the semifinals. Alexandre "xms" Forté was far and away the MVP of LDLC in this series, finishing with a 66/56 KD (kills/death) and 89.8 ADR (average damage per round).
BIG finally lives up to their name
After a bit of a sputter on Day 1, BIG finally pulled themselves together and strung together two impressive series to punch their ticket to the playoffs. They started the day with a match against Rogue, which served more as BIG's warm-up for the main event than anything. They won these games by scores of 16-12 and 16-6, barely breaking a sweat in the process and setting up a tussle with Vega Squadron.
BIG showed that they had carried the momentum from their prior series, handily taking the first game by a lopsided score of 16-7. While the first game was a largely one-sided affair, the second game of the series was one for the ages. Vega Squadron threw the first punch with a 10-5 halftime lead before BIG threw the next one by storming back and taking a 15-11 lead. Vega Squadron weathered the storm and won four straight to send the game into the first of a whopping four overtime periods.
The teams traded back and forth throughout all the rounds before the players of BIG made a series of plays that saved the day. First it was Nikola "LEGIJA" Ninić's insane 1-vs-3 clutch that put them up 26-25. Then Johannes "nex" Maget punctuated his impressive day with a triple kill in the final round for the 28-26 win. He ended the day with a stellar 80/47 KD, including a 57/35 in Game 2. He had more kills in that final game than seven players in the series had in both games combined.
With all the playoff teams now confirmed, all that's left to do is play out the final games of the weekend. The action kicks off at 4 a.m. ET with Heroic taking on BIG, followed by FlipSid3 facing off against LDLC.
