While day 1 of the DreamHack Masters Malmö Counter-Strike tournament went mostly the way you'd expect, day 2 had teams lining up to upset stronger opponents.
Chinese team TyLoo were the first surprise of the day, as they knocked MLG Columbus semifinalists Team Liquid out of the tournament. The closely fought game saw each team win their CT halfs with a 10-5 record, sending the match into overtime. TyLoo emerged victorious after two sets of OT, taking the game 22-19.
The winner's match of group B also offered an upset, as Mousesports took on the MLG Columbus champions of Luminosity Gaming. That's a matchup where the Brazilian side is usually favored, but Mousesports were able to shut them down with strong performances by both nex, NiKo and denis. They won the match 16-7 and move on to the quarterfinals.
On paper, Astralis were easy favourites to win their Danish derby match against Dignitas, and they did pull of a good start with an early 3-5 lead. But Dignitas weren't about to let up, and took several rounds to both tie the game and take a decent lead, putting the score at 8-5 before Astralis found a response. After a 9-6 score at half-time, Astralis won the pistol round and built a good economy to tie the game back up at 9-9. But Dignitas hunkered down with patient and efficient play, taking the next seven rounds for a 16-9 win.
That puts Dignitas in the quarter finals, while Astralis will face Ninjas in Pyjamas for the second place decider in their group.
In the other games of day 2, Godsent knocked G2 Esports out of the tournament with much stronger play than in their first game, defeating them 16-8. EnVyUs showed signs of life as they beat FaZe 16-12. Virtus.Pro defeated Tempo Storm 16-9, and Na'Vi fought a close game against Counter Logic, securing their playoff spot with a 19-15 score.
Today, it's do or die for the eight remaining teams who have yet to lock up a spot in the quarterfinals. All matches today are played as a series of best-of-3s. The schedule is as follows.
Thursday, April 14
10:30 - Pre-show
11:00 - Luminosity Gaming vs TyLoo - BO3
14:00 - Counter Logic Gaming vs Godsent - BO3
17:00 - Astralis vs Ninjas in Pyjamas - BO3
20:00 - Tempo Storm vs EnVyUs - BO3