A long first day at the DreamHack ZOWIE Open Austin has come to an unspectacular end as the Brazilians dominated day one.
Luminosity vs. 
Splyce – 14:01, 02:04 (16:05)
Winner: Luminosity
Map: de_train
MVP: Lincoln "fnx" Lau
Kicking things off with a Best-of-One of Group A, Luminosity and Splyce met on de_train. The Brazilian superiority was dominant during the first half after coldzera picked up three kills on B-site with his USP in the pistol round. Constantly managing to come out of top of many after plant retakes and clutch situations, LG finished the first half with only one lost round. Splyce tried their best as defender too but it should only be four more rounds until Luminosity managed to close out the series with 16:05.
Tempo Storm vs. NRG – 11:04, 05:01 (16:05)
Winner: Tempo Storm
Map: de_cache
MVP: Gustavo "SHOOWTiME" Goncalves
The first match of Group B saw yet another Brazilian team dominating in Austin, Texas, as Tempo Storm met NRG on de_cache. As seen in the previous match, the defenders started again with a Usp three kill, this time conducted by Henrique "hen1" Teles. Thanks to some well-planned executes, NRG picked up the first gun round as well as the following two rounds. The Brazilians defence however was once again too strong for their opponent, finishing first half with 11:04. Denying further map control, Tempo Storm rushed B-site in their pistol round as attacker and ultimately win 16:05.
CLG vs. Cloud9 – 01:14, 00:02 (01:16)
Winner: Cloud9
Map: de_cobble
MVP: Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert
Many believed the first American face-off would be a rather close affair, but it turned out to be a one-sided game as Cloud9 seemed unstoppable. Starting with a perfect pistol round without a single man lost, Cloud9 quickly took a 03:00 lead. It seemed that CLG would stop their opponents right of the bat as James "hazed" Cobb got the final kill in a pretty hectic round in the last second of the fourth round. Unfortunately nothing went as planned by CLG the following rounds as Cloud9 took a commanding 14:01 lead. It was only a matter of time before Cloud9 closed out the match with 16:01.
Team Liquid vs. Selfless 09:06, 07:04 (16:10)
Winner: Team Liquid
Map: de_mirage
MVP: Spencer "Hiko" Martin
The second North American face-off between Team Liquid and Selfless was different. Selfless looked strong during the opening stages as defender on de_mirage, leading with three rounds twice. Team Liquid however managed to take away more and more rounds, ending with nine rounds on their scoreboard at half time. Continuing where they left off, Liquid took the first two rounds of the second half. Selfless managed a small comeback in the third round of the second half, but failed to succeed any further. A tactical pause when on the brink of match point also had no impact on the outcome of the match anymore.
Luminosity vs. Cloud9 15:00, 01:03 (16:03)
Winner: Luminosity
Map: de_mirage
MVP: Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo
Coming in to this match with the momentum of beating CLG earlier, nothing seemed to work for Cloud9. Not a single round was secured by the North American team in the first half on de_mirage. Cloud9 had everything but given up, winning the pistol round of the second half. Unfortunately the Brazilian team sealed the deal quick with the first gun round, advancing to the playoffs with a 16:03 victory.
Tempo Storm vs. Team Liquid 11:04, 05:06 (16:10)
Winner: Tempo Storm
Map: de_cobble
MVP: Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski
The last game of the day would be between Tempo Storm and Team Liquid. Liquid started as defender on de_cobble with Hiko winning a 1 vs. 2 clutch. Going for the aggressive Tec-9 buy, Tempo Storm quickly broke down Liquid's economy. As Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski managed a three kill, it seemed that Liquid got some space to breath but Tempo Storm continued to power forward for the 11:04 halftime lead. Second half kicked off as crazy as the first half with frags traded back and forth where Tempo Storm eventually would come out of top. Breaking the defense on A-site, Team Liquid broke the Brazilian defence right away and thus starting their comeback. It took a while but the Brazilians managed to stop Liquids run in the 24th round, moving on to the next stage of the tournament.
Day two will continue later today with four Best-of-Three matches split into two elimination and two decider matches to determine to other two teams who will advance to the semi-finals.
