Dreamhack Valencia Results: Ground Zero Gaming Stuns TSM
By Stax; post will be updated as results come in
Friday marked the beginning of the third Dreamhack Pro Circuit event of 2019, with 32 teams descending on Valencia to lay claim to a $100,000 USD prize pool.
GROUP A
The biggest surprise of the day came very early in the difficult Group A. Oceania's Ground Zero Gaming, coming off an 0-2 performance in the Rocket League Championship Series World Championship in June, went the distance with Splyce in the opening round before being knocked down to the lower bracket. But Ground Zero would get another chance to qualify for day two, if they could beat Team SoloMid. Thanks to an own-goal off a challenge by TSM's EyeIgnite, and an aerial strike from GZG's Julz, Ground Zero took two overtime wins en route to a thrilling 3-2 upset over the ELEAGUE 2018 Champions. Since winning ELEAGUE and signing with TSM, the team is 6-6 against non-European teams, aided greatly by their performance at Dreamhack Dallas last month.
Renault Sport Team Vitality cruised through Group A with a pair of 3-0 victories over Bremen eSports and Splyce (a.k.a. The Peeps.) This was considered by many to be a tryout for Karma on The Peeps ahead of their debut in the RLCS, but the end result was a disappointing day one exit. After falling to the lower bracket, Splyce got one more chance to advance but fell to another fan favorite in Mout Gang. So the pickup team joins Vitality, Complexity, and Ground Zero in advancing to the second day of the Main Event.
GROUP B
In Group B, only a little bit of drama and no suspense whatsoever as the group played out as expected. Cloud9 had to survive a scare against Veloce Esports but managed a reverse sweep to advance along the upper bracket. PSG Esports knocked off Triple Trouble to secure a spot in Saturday's bracket as well.
Triple Trouble had defeated Crazy Crew to reach the upper semis, after Crazy Crew forfeited with 50 seconds remaining in game 4 and trailing 8-1. The team was not further penalized for the early forfeit, as Crazy Crew went on to beat the pickup team Childish Gambimbam before being swept out of the event by Veloce in the lower bracket's qualifying match. Triple Trouble also survived, defeating OCE's Renegades 3-1.
GROUP C
If there was any concerns of the World Championship being a fluke, G2 Esports silenced a few critics on Friday. G2 dismissed Ghost Gaming in the upper bracket semis with a 3-0 sweep, outscoring their North American rivals 8-2 along the way. Joining G2 among upper bracket qualifiers is Europe's The Bricks, with al0t trying out for the role of replacing miztik. The Bricks weathered the early storm against Aeriality, winning the first game in overtime and shutting out Aeriality in games 3 and 4 to secure the win. Up next was F.C. Barcelona, and what followed was another brilliant defensive performance. Three more shutout victories, and The Bricks moved on to Saturday. Without knowing exactly when Aeriality scored its final goal against The Bricks, it's impossible to have an exact number. But we know The Bricks have gone at least 25+ minutes of game time without allowing a goal in the tournament.
It looked like Barcelona was going to casually step over Method after a dominant 5-1 victory in the first game of their series, but Method battled back to level the series. Then Alpha54 took over with a pair of goals to give Barca a critical game three victory, and Method were held scoreless in game four. Barcelona joins G2 and The Bricks in qualifying for Day 2. Those teams will be joined by Ghost Gaming, which had a slightly stronger showing in the lower bracket than against G2. Ghost still struggled to find the back of the net against the defense of Aeriality, but managed to come out on top in a series of low-scoring games. Neither team scored more than 2 goals in a game until Allushin added a few scores in garbage time of game 4.
GROUP D
The top four seeds all advanced into the upper bracket semifinals, with a new-look Dignitas squad being the only team to sweep their opponent. Dignitas is trying out Aztral as they look to replace three-time World Champion Turbopolsa. They will not face Turbo on day one, but they are in the same group. Turbo is playing with North Americans Klassux and CorruptedG as Randy Gibbons' River Rats. In the upper semi, Turbopolsa carried River Rats to game 5 while CorruptedG and Klassux came up with multiple clutch goals in a thrilling decider that went to overtime. In the OT, CorruptedG's far-post strike secured the victory and sent the cross-region squad to Day 2. In the other upper bracket qualifier, Rogue picked right up where it left off at the World Championship, using outstanding passing and defense to dismantle Dignitas.
In the lower bracket, Dignitas battled through over 5 minutes of overtime to secure victory in game 4, and qualified for day two at the expense of Chiefs Esports Club. The new addition of Aztral paid off on the offensive end throughout the day, but he committed critical errors defensively that allowed Chiefs to hang around and even take a game in the series. Yukeo stepped up huge with multiple clutch goals, including the overtime winner to clinch the series. NRG also extended Fireburner's farewell tour with a convincing 3-1 series win over GC AURA eSports. GarrettG stepped up throughout the series, striking with pinpoint accuracy and leading the way for the top-seeded North American side.
DAY TWO MATCHES
GROUP A
Renault Sport Team Vitality vs. Veloce Esports
PSG Esports vs. Ground Zero Gaming
Randy Gibbons' River Rats vs. Ghost Gaming
The Bricks vs. Dignitas
GROUP B
Cloud9 vs. MOUT GANG
Complexity Gaming vs. Triple Trouble
G2 Esports vs. NRG Esports
Rogue vs. F.C. Barcelona
Storylines abound tomorrow as the field of 16 is narrowed down to the last 8!
Main "A" Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/dreamhackrocketleague
Secondary "B" Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/dreamhackrocketleague2
Friday marked the beginning of the third Dreamhack Pro Circuit event of 2019, with 32 teams descending on Valencia to lay claim to a $100,000 USD prize pool.
GROUP A
The biggest surprise of the day came very early in the difficult Group A. Oceania's Ground Zero Gaming, coming off an 0-2 performance in the Rocket League Championship Series World Championship in June, went the distance with Splyce in the opening round before being knocked down to the lower bracket. But Ground Zero would get another chance to qualify for day two, if they could beat Team SoloMid. Thanks to an own-goal off a challenge by TSM's EyeIgnite, and an aerial strike from GZG's Julz, Ground Zero took two overtime wins en route to a thrilling 3-2 upset over the ELEAGUE 2018 Champions. Since winning ELEAGUE and signing with TSM, the team is 6-6 against non-European teams, aided greatly by their performance at Dreamhack Dallas last month.
Renault Sport Team Vitality cruised through Group A with a pair of 3-0 victories over Bremen eSports and Splyce (a.k.a. The Peeps.) This was considered by many to be a tryout for Karma on The Peeps ahead of their debut in the RLCS, but the end result was a disappointing day one exit. After falling to the lower bracket, Splyce got one more chance to advance but fell to another fan favorite in Mout Gang. So the pickup team joins Vitality, Complexity, and Ground Zero in advancing to the second day of the Main Event.
GROUP B
In Group B, only a little bit of drama and no suspense whatsoever as the group played out as expected. Cloud9 had to survive a scare against Veloce Esports but managed a reverse sweep to advance along the upper bracket. PSG Esports knocked off Triple Trouble to secure a spot in Saturday's bracket as well.
Triple Trouble had defeated Crazy Crew to reach the upper semis, after Crazy Crew forfeited with 50 seconds remaining in game 4 and trailing 8-1. The team was not further penalized for the early forfeit, as Crazy Crew went on to beat the pickup team Childish Gambimbam before being swept out of the event by Veloce in the lower bracket's qualifying match. Triple Trouble also survived, defeating OCE's Renegades 3-1.
GROUP C
If there was any concerns of the World Championship being a fluke, G2 Esports silenced a few critics on Friday. G2 dismissed Ghost Gaming in the upper bracket semis with a 3-0 sweep, outscoring their North American rivals 8-2 along the way. Joining G2 among upper bracket qualifiers is Europe's The Bricks, with al0t trying out for the role of replacing miztik. The Bricks weathered the early storm against Aeriality, winning the first game in overtime and shutting out Aeriality in games 3 and 4 to secure the win. Up next was F.C. Barcelona, and what followed was another brilliant defensive performance. Three more shutout victories, and The Bricks moved on to Saturday. Without knowing exactly when Aeriality scored its final goal against The Bricks, it's impossible to have an exact number. But we know The Bricks have gone at least 25+ minutes of game time without allowing a goal in the tournament.
It looked like Barcelona was going to casually step over Method after a dominant 5-1 victory in the first game of their series, but Method battled back to level the series. Then Alpha54 took over with a pair of goals to give Barca a critical game three victory, and Method were held scoreless in game four. Barcelona joins G2 and The Bricks in qualifying for Day 2. Those teams will be joined by Ghost Gaming, which had a slightly stronger showing in the lower bracket than against G2. Ghost still struggled to find the back of the net against the defense of Aeriality, but managed to come out on top in a series of low-scoring games. Neither team scored more than 2 goals in a game until Allushin added a few scores in garbage time of game 4.
GROUP D
The top four seeds all advanced into the upper bracket semifinals, with a new-look Dignitas squad being the only team to sweep their opponent. Dignitas is trying out Aztral as they look to replace three-time World Champion Turbopolsa. They will not face Turbo on day one, but they are in the same group. Turbo is playing with North Americans Klassux and CorruptedG as Randy Gibbons' River Rats. In the upper semi, Turbopolsa carried River Rats to game 5 while CorruptedG and Klassux came up with multiple clutch goals in a thrilling decider that went to overtime. In the OT, CorruptedG's far-post strike secured the victory and sent the cross-region squad to Day 2. In the other upper bracket qualifier, Rogue picked right up where it left off at the World Championship, using outstanding passing and defense to dismantle Dignitas.
In the lower bracket, Dignitas battled through over 5 minutes of overtime to secure victory in game 4, and qualified for day two at the expense of Chiefs Esports Club. The new addition of Aztral paid off on the offensive end throughout the day, but he committed critical errors defensively that allowed Chiefs to hang around and even take a game in the series. Yukeo stepped up huge with multiple clutch goals, including the overtime winner to clinch the series. NRG also extended Fireburner's farewell tour with a convincing 3-1 series win over GC AURA eSports. GarrettG stepped up throughout the series, striking with pinpoint accuracy and leading the way for the top-seeded North American side.
DAY TWO MATCHES
GROUP A
Renault Sport Team Vitality vs. Veloce Esports
PSG Esports vs. Ground Zero Gaming
Randy Gibbons' River Rats vs. Ghost Gaming
The Bricks vs. Dignitas
GROUP B
Cloud9 vs. MOUT GANG
Complexity Gaming vs. Triple Trouble
G2 Esports vs. NRG Esports
Rogue vs. F.C. Barcelona
Storylines abound tomorrow as the field of 16 is narrowed down to the last 8!
Main "A" Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/dreamhackrocketleague
Secondary "B" Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/dreamhackrocketleague2
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