The main storyline coming into DreamHack Bucharest was centered around teams trying to prove their worth and dominance. In the end, only one team was able to do just that.
With the incredibly strong showing over the weekend, Virtus.pro has cemented itself once again as one of the best teams in the world. Time will tell if it can ride the wave of momentum into ESL One: New York. Cloud9, on the other hand, has shown the world that it may not yet be ready for the big leagues. While it is currently running circles around the NA ESL Pro League, that hasn't translated into international play.
Cloud9 takes victory over Envy
The action got started with Cloud9 vs. Team EnVyUs, which was the most tightly contested series of the tournament. It started off on Cache in Game 1 with Cloud9's Timothy "autimatic" Ta putting on a stellar performance, racking up multiple triple kills which contributed to his 26/11 kill/death ratio (KD) in the game, helping earn a 16-9 win.
Not content to let Cloud9 walk away with an easy win, Kenny "kennyS" Schrub continued his dominant tournament run with another strong performance. He compiled a 24/14 KD in the game that saw Team EnVyUs go down 0-7 before taking a tactical timeout and turning things around for a 16-10 victory.
Ultimately, it came down to a final showdown on Dust 2 to see who would make their way to the grand finals. This time around, Team EnVyUs got off to a great 7-0 start, which led to a timeout from Cloud9. The tactical timeouts in this series seemed to work wonders, as Cloud9 bounced back from the early deficit to secure the series win. Showing that they've got a number of top tier players, Game 3 saw Mike "shroud" Grzesiek lead the charge with a 25/11 KD.
Virtus.pro takes down Dignitas in close set
Next up was Virtus.pro taking on Team Dignitas in the second semifinal. Virtus.pro flew out of the gate in Game 1 of the series and completely dominated Team Dignitas in a 16-4 win on Mirage. The game saw both Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas (20/8 KD) and Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski (20/9 KD) set the tone in the game with their high-level fragging. Game 2 on Cobblestone started off in a similar vein to Game 1, with Virtus.pro getting off to an 8-4 start. They started to take their foot off the gas, though, and Team Dignitas capitalized on it. Emil "Magiskb0Y" Reif was catalyst for Team Dignitas in this game with his 28/17 KD.
The decisive Game 3 would take place on Overpass, and was the closest game of the series. It was an incredibly back-and-forth affair that didn't see Virtus.pro make its final push until late in the game. Virtus.pro snagged two rounds before the veteran Filip "NEO" Kubski decided it was time to end things and sealed the win with a clutch 1 vs. 5 ace in the final round. With the 16-13 win, Virtus.pro punched its ticket to the grand finals to take on the North American juggernaut, Cloud9.
Virtus.pro dominates the grand finals
Unfortunately, the grand final wasn't the clash of titans that everyone hoped it would be. Seeing the current top dogs of the NA Counter Strike: Global Offensive scene take on the reigning ELEAGUE champions should have been a matchup of epic proportions. Instead, the audience was treated to a dominating performance by the veteran European CS:GO squad.
Virtus.pro started off extremely strong in Game 1 on Train. They would go into the half up 12-3, and never looked back in the 16-9 win. NEO, who had a subdued tournament up to this point, turned on the afterburners in this grand final. He posted an impressive 28/13 KD in the opening game win. Game 2 on Cobblestone started off a bit more shaky for Virtus.pro, as Cloud9 started to get into a nice groove and went into the half up 9-6. At the start of the second half, though, Cloud9 simply faded into the background and watched as Virtus.pro ran away with the game. The veteran Polish squad rattled off 10 straight wins in to secure the sweep and take home the DreamHack Bucharest crown.