The CS:GO Championship kicked off yesterday over in Jönköping with groups A and B, eventually seeing NiP, SK Gaming, Epsilon and Virtus.Pro take the first four slots in the elimination bracket.
Today marks the day where the new Reason Gaming CS:GO squad would make their LAN debut, facing up first against the Ukrainian side of HellRaisers in the opening group C matchup.
As with most of the matches played out in the group stages, the map elected was de_inferno, with Reason Gaming opting to start on the advantageous Counter-Terrorist side. Despite the slight upper hand, the pistol round did not fall the way of the Danes, seeing HellRaisers take the early lead. After taking the subsequent two rounds, Reason Gaming managed to put a point on the board in the first buy round of the game. Following this it seemed as if they were to make it two by taking a man advantage into a B site re-take, however a devastating three-man spray from HellRaisers’ AdreN saw Reason down 5-1.
Following this four round deficit, Reason’s advantage began to rapidly dissipate, being forced on to a save round handing the Ukrainians another round for free. It was not until the Danes were 7-1 down that they began to put up a strong defence, taking their second round of the half after preventing a delayed B site push. Aggressive play from the Reason side saw them take an early lead going into the tenth round, forcing the Ukrainians to move back to the A bombsite where a well formed CT setup saw the score line change to 7-3.
With it being so late in the half, it became crucial for Reason Gaming to take every possible round if they were to go into the second half with a fighting chance. In an attempt to catch HellRaisers of guard, Reason continued their aggressive play, paying off for them as their opponents attempted another B bombsite push. Repeating this style of play saw Reason almost clinch another round with a clearance of an active B site, though were caught short without enough time to complete the defuse.
Another round loss saw Reason low on funds, forcing them to pull together a mixed buy of rifles and shotguns, starting the round off with an early trade off, though ultimately resulting in another round loss. The final round of the half saw a shotgun-heavy buy coupled with aggressive play from Reason, seeing them take a fifth round for themselves before heading in to the second half.
A fast opening pistol round of the second half saw kills exchanged between both teams, though it was HellRaisers who did the most damage and managed to extend their lead from 5 rounds to six. Six eventually turned to eight despite a good fight from Reason, storming the A bombsite equipped with nothing but glocks and taking three men for their troubles. Following this a buy from Reason saw them take possession of the B bombsite with four men remaining, though due to them being low on health, a well structured re-take from HellRaisers saw them fall.
The final few rounds were just more of the same, failed attempts at holding bombsites and well executed play from their opposition. The final score was 16-5 to HellRaisers. A well deserved with for the Ukrainian side, and commiserations to our Danes. Heads up for the next game!
