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Dreamhack Masters Stockholm was the first major tournament after the two-week player break and is the last tournament before most of the teams head off to the FACEIT Major: London which starts on September 5th 2018.
A total of 16 teams participated in this tournament and were divided into 4 groups of 4 teams each for the group stage of the tournament. The group stage lasted for 3 days (29-31 August) and the playoffs for 2 days (1-2 September). The prize pool for the tournament was $250,000.
The following teams participated in the event and were divided into these groups:
GROUP –A
1. NORTH (Qualified 2-0)
2. Astralis (Qualified 2-1)
3. TyLoo (1-2)
4. Grayhound Gaming (0-2)
GROUP-B
1. Ninjas in Pyjamas (Qualified 2-0)
2. Natus Vincere (NaVi) (Qualified 2-1)
3. Ghost Gaming (1-2)
4. NRG Esports (0-2)
GROUP-C
1. Faze Clan (Qualified 2-0)
2. Heroic (Qualified 2-1)
3. OpTic Gaming (1-2)
4. Fnatic (0-2)
GROUP D
1.MIBR (Qualified 2-0)
2. Mousesports (Qualified 2-1)
3. HellRaisers (2-1)
4. Gambit Esports (0-2)
Group Stage
Group-A
For the first time in months, Astralis looked shaky and as a consequence lost to their Danish counterparts, North. They also lost the first map (Mirage) to TyLoo in a BO3 (best of 3) which was very uncharacteristic of them. But they managed to get the wins on the remaining 2 maps of the series.
North looked their best and had clearly prepared well with new and interesting strategies. They beat Astralis helped by Aizy's top form and the in-game leader MSL taking on a new role of primary AWPer for the team.
TyLoo also showed that they have enough talent with the likes of Xccurate and DD able to go toe to toe against some of the best like Device and Magisk. However, they lacked a deeper map pool and could not sustain the same level of game-play throughout the course of the 3 maps.
Group-B
NiP (Ninjas in Pyjamas ) were the first to qualify in the group. The likes of vintage F0rest and GeT_RiGhT and their star player REZ wining most of his aiming battles certainly helped their cause.
The North American team Ghost Gaming had a great showing at the tournament, beating NaVi in their opening match (19-16 overtime). They put up a great fight against NiP too in the BO3 but lost (1-2).
They were an exciting new team to watch with the likes of Steel making his return to playing professionally after the expiry of his ban. New talents such as Wardell, Subroza and Koosta made their mark in the tournament, winning aim duels against the some of the best players in the world such as S1mple.
Navi made it to the playoffs, having no easy games in the group stage. NRG had a decent showing but could not convert their performance into wins and therefore got eliminated in the group stage.
Group-C
In Group C, Faze had a very close opening game against Heroic, closing the game in overtime 19-16. Heroic went on to beat Fnatic in the elimination match later and beat OpTic 2-0 to make it to the playoffs.
Optic beat Fnatic convincingly (16-6) in their opening game. Fnatic lost to Heroic (1-2) in a BO3 and still clearly have unresolved issues with respect to player roles after the roster changes.
Optic Gaming got obliterated by Faze in their BO3, barely putting up a fight against a scary Faze with all of its members firing on all cylinders and Niko dropping 32 frags in the first map itself.
Group-D
MIBR was the first to qualify from this group. After being in a slump for many months the team is finally showing positive signs after the introduction of YNK as their coach.
Mousesports took a beating from MIBR but managed to make the playoffs by beating HellRaisers. HellRaisers had to play a game with a stand-in, as Woxic could not make it to the arena due to visa problems.
Gambit did not look comfortable at any phase of their matches and hence did not pose a big threat to their opponents in this tournament.
Playoffs Stage
Quarterfinals
NiP beat Heroic (2-0) with no real problems, thanks to an outstanding performance by F0rest. Lekro has finally started to perform well for the team after he joined the team a few months ago. Acilion of Heroic was the only one on the team to have a positive kill-death ratio across both maps.
Astralis beat MIBR (2-0) in the BO3. MIBR lost on Overpass (16-6) but came back stronger in the second map (Train). However, Astralis managed to come out victorious although only barely (16-14). Astralis looked more comfortable in this game than they did during the ones in the group stage.
After one of their best performances in the group stage against Optic in the group stage, Faze absolutely "rekt" Mousesports on Cache (16-1). However, in the next couple of maps( Dust 2 and Train), Mouse's star player, Ropz stepped up to carry Mousesports to the Semis.
North beat NaVi with ease. They were prepared well against a team that had openly claimed to have not practised at all before the tournament began. They were clearly struggling in the group stage as well. All the players on North contributed to the win, with Aizy in career best form along with great performances from Valde and MSL.
Semi-finals
Astralis looked like the well-oiled machine that they are usually known to be. The first map (Mirage) against NiP was very close(16-14) as GeT_RiGhT and REZ made life hard for Astralis to secure the win. The second map (Nuke) however was a much easier game(16-7) for Astralis who took the series(2-0) against NiP to advance to the grand final.
The second semifinal was another absurd series between Mousesports and North. Mousesports crushed North (16-0) on the first map ( Dust 2). This was one of the biggest defeats in recent semi-finals history. However, North bounced back and rose victorious on the remaining maps (Inferno:16-14 and Mirage:16-12) and proceeded to take on Astralis in the grand final.
Grand Final
The grand final was essentially a rematch between the Danish teams and Astralis were looking to settle the score. After a 16-0 loss on Dust 2 to Mousesports in the semis, North completely turned the tables, bullying Astralis on the very same map and winning 16-1.
The second map of the BO3 seemed equally one-sided. But this time Astralis took the win. The final decider map was Overpass, which is currently regarded to be the playground of Astralis. North, however, seized the opportunity to beat the top-ranked team on their best map and emerged victorious, thanks to great plays and decisions made by their in-game leader MSL.
After changing his role to be the primary AWPer on the team, MSL proved his skill with the weapon and fully lived up to the expectations of his role. He was named the MVP( most valuable player) of the tournament for this performance.
Being the first tournament after the 2-week player break and the last tournament before the FACEIT Major: London, Dreamhack Stockholm was supposed to give followers of the game a taste of what to expect from some of their favourite teams in the Major.
Astralis in this tournament have shown that they are not as invincible as they are usually known to be. NaVi have yet to prove that they can consistently win and play as a team. MIBR, showing signs of improving at a faster pace with the help of the new makes them a scary prospect for opponents in the Major. Also teams like North, Heroic, NiP have shown that they are competing to win and no underdog team is to be taken lightly.
With the general obscurity in the scene in recent months regarding which teams are the best, this Dreamhack Stockholm certainly did not make things clearer and if anything, has probably made it more obscure. There may not be a clear favourite heading into the Major.
