AVANGAR and FORZE have secured victories in their DreamHack Open Rotterdam opening matches against Besiktas and Asterion, respectively.

The first match of day one saw AVANGAR take on Besiktas on Overpass in group A's opening match. The European mix team, featuring stand-in Steven "⁠blackie⁠" Groeneveld, secured the first pistol round thanks to a triple kill from Anastasia "⁠kr4sy⁠" Khlobystina.

A force buy from AVANGAR shifted the momentum into the Kazakh five's hands, and the team persistently outplayed the defence, with Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali landing an AK-47 triple kill in the process. Besiktas were only able to produce two rounds over the entire half, concluding their defensive campaign with a worrisome 2-13 deficit.

qikert demolished Besiktas, concluding Overpass with a 1.93 rating

A consecutive pistol round in the way of AVANGAR effectively served as the last nail in the coffin for the underdogs, as a pistol buy from Besiktas fell through, as did a force buy on the leaders' map point, concluding Overpass in 16-2 fashion for Alexey "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev and company.

DreamHack Open Rotterdam 2019Best of 1 AVANGARMatchpage 16 2 18th October 2019 Besiktas 16Overpass 2

AVANGAR	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Alexey 'Qikert' GolubevQikert	18 - 5	+13	111.2	1.93
Dzhami 'Jame' AliJame	15 - 5	+10	83.9	1.56
Sanjar 'SANJI' KulievSANJI	12 - 7	+5	72.3	1.39
Timur 'buster' Tulepovbuster	15 - 11	+4	83.7	1.27
Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevAdreN	14 - 13	+1	71.0	1.24

Besiktas	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Steven 'blackie' Groeneveldblackie	10 - 14	-4	75.7	0.91
Zainab 'zAAz' TurkiezAAz	9 - 17	-8	61.8	0.61
Julia 'juliano' Kiranjuliano	10 - 15	-5	56.9	0.51
Petra 'Petra' StokerPetra	7 - 15	-8	61.6	0.51
Anastasia 'kr4sy' Khlobystinakr4sy	5 - 14	-9	30.4	0.43

Group B's opening match witnessed FORZE collide with Asterion for a spot in the winners' bracket on Inferno. The Russian collective kicked off to a fruitful CT-side start, as a pistol round victory was ensured by Almaz "⁠almazer⁠" Asadullin who posted a triple kill. The defence kept the pressure up to a five-round lead, after which Asterion finally posted their first digit of the half.

The prior mentioned digit proved to be all she wrote for the underdogs, as FORZE demonstrated extreme confidence on the defence, at times even cocky with aggressive plays towards Apartments and Banana. A 1v1 between Bogdan "⁠xsepower⁠" Chernikov and Bernardus "⁠Bernard⁠" Stornebrink very nearly meant a second round for Asterion, but the Russian AWPer culled the last T, concluding the first half 14-1 in favour of FORZE.

xsepower stood out on Inferno with a 2.05 rating

A consecutive pistol round, this time on the offense, ensured a brisk conclusion to Inferno, as Andrey "⁠Jerry⁠" Mekhryakov and his men made quick work of Asterion at 16-1.

DreamHack Open Rotterdam 2019Best of 1 FORZEMatchpage 16 1 18th October 2019 Asterion 16Inferno 1

FORZE	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Bogdan 'xsepower' Chernikovxsepower	21 - 6	+15	114.5	2.05
Evgenii 'FL1T' LebedevFL1T	18 - 7	+11	108.8	1.72
Almaz 'almazer' Asadullinalmazer	17 - 8	+9	99.7	1.59
Andrey 'Jerry' MekhryakovJerry	14 - 8	+6	96.6	1.45
Dmitriy 'facecrack' Alekseyevfacecrack	12 - 6	+6	66.5	1.29

Asterion	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mark 'NexFox' BreetveldNexFox	9 - 16	-7	54.9	0.62
Thomas 'Thomas' UttingThomas	8 - 16	-8	63.6	0.59
Joseph 'Luzuh' LooseLuzuh	7 - 17	-10	51.2	0.57
Bernardus 'Bernard' StornebrinkBernard	7 - 16	-9	57.8	0.52
Nino 'NiNo' RoosNiNo	4 - 17	-13	29.1	0.21

Dzhami 'Jame' Ali Age: 21 Team: AVANGAR Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 658 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.55 FORZE #15 Dmitriy 'facecrack' AlekseyevAlmaz 'almazer' AsadullinEvgenii 'FL1T' LebedevBogdan 'xsepower' ChernikovAndrey 'Jerry' Mekhryakov Bernardus 'Bernard' Stornebrink Age: 23 Team: Asterion Rating 1.0: 0.90 Maps played: 81 KPR: 0.62 DPR: 0.71 AVANGAR #6 Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevSanjar 'SANJI' KulievTimur 'buster' TulepovAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' Ali Andrey 'Jerry' Mekhryakov Age: 21 Team: FORZE Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 653 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.68 Almaz 'almazer' Asadullin Age: 20 Team: FORZE Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 575 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.66 Asterion #97 Bernardus 'Bernard' StornebrinkMark 'NexFox' BreetveldPatrick 'Pat ' van der BijlNino 'NiNo' RoosSteven 'blackie' Groeneveld Alexey 'Qikert' Golubev Age: 20 Team: AVANGAR Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 739 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.65 Steven 'blackie' Groeneveld Age: 20 Team: Asterion Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 10 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.74 Bogdan 'xsepower' Chernikov Age: 21 Team: FORZE Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 495 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.59 Anastasia 'kr4sy' Khlobystina Age: 18 Team: Besiktas Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 25 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.63 Besiktas Zainab 'zAAz' TurkieJulia 'juliano' KiranMeyssa 'Missa' BellouatiPetra 'Petra' StokerAnastasia 'kr4sy' Khlobystina