AVANGAR and Renegades reached the semifinals of the $1 million StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 with opening victories in the New Champions Stage on Thursday.
The field is comprised of the final eight teams competing in best-of-three single-elimination matches.
Renegades opened the day with a 2-0 victory over the Finnish team ENCE. Renegades removed Overpass while ENCE removed Vertigo.
The match then began on the Renegades’ pick of Mirage. They jumped out to a commanding 11-4 lead at halftime and went on to a 16-5 victory.
It was then onto Nuke, and ENCE’s map pick appear to bring better fortunes with a 9-6 lead at halftime. However, Renegades quickly rallied to outscore ENCE 10-3 and close out the match.
“WE DID IT, BOYS,” Renegades tweeted with a video of the team celebrating at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
WE DID IT, BOYS#RNGWIN #BerlinMajor pic.twitter.com/TEPChJrjb9 — Renegades (@Renegades) September 5, 2019
WE DID IT, BOYS#RNGWIN #BerlinMajor pic.twitter.com/TEPChJrjb9
— Renegades (@Renegades) September 5, 2019
AVANGAR’s match against Vitality would prove to be much more competitive, and ended in a stunning upset.
After Train and Nuke were removed, Vitality picked Mirage. A tight battle saw AVANGAR lead 8-7 at halftime and then cruise on to a 16-9 victory. Next up was AVANGAR’s pick of Inferno, but Vitality returned the favore, going up 9-6 at halftime and earned a hard-fought 16-11 map win to even the match.
Dust2 would be the final battle over Vertigo and Overpass were removed. AVANGAR quickly build a dominating 12-3 lead at halftime. With their backs against the wall, Vitality managed to close the gap to 12-6 before AVANGAR sealed the victory 16-10.
AVANGAR and Renegades will meet in one semifinal on Saturday. The other semifinal will be determined by Friday’s matches: NRG vs. Natus Vincere and current No. 1 Liquid vs. former No. 1 Astralis.
1. $500,000 + Legends status 2. $150,000 + Legends status 3-4. $70,000 + Legends status 5-8. ENCE – $35,000 + Legends status 5-8. Vitality – $35,000 + Legends status 9-11. CR4ZY – $8,750 + Challengers status 9-11. G2 – $8,750 + Challengers status 9-11. mousesports – $8,750 + Challengers status 12-14. MIBR – $8,750 + Challengers status 12-14. FaZe – $8,750 + Challengers status 12-14. North – $8,750 + Challengers status 15-16. NiP – $8,750 15-16. DreamEaters – $8,750
This is the 15th Major in CS:GO history. … The Mercedes-Benz Arena was also the venue for the 2015 League of Legends World Championship and the 2018 PUBG Global Invitational. … This is the first Major to be hosted by StarLadder.
–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)
The San Francisco Giants will look to further close the gap in their all-time rivalry with the visiting Oakland Athletics when they seek a second straight win Wednesday night in…
The Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Angels will play the third game of their four-game series Wednesday night in Anaheim, Calif., as the Guardians try to rediscover their offense. Cleveland’s…
The Los Angeles Kings are playoff-bound for the first time since the 2017-18 season. The Kings (43-27-10, 96 points) punched their postseason ticket Tuesday night when Dallas defeated Vegas in…
Guardians, slumping Franmil Reyes take on Shohei Ohtani’s Angels
Playoff-bound Kings seek to keep Kraken reeling
Six-man rotation kicks in as Astros, Cristian Javier face Rangers
Jason Robertson, Stars can lock up playoff berth vs. Coyotes