North have come out on top of their match-up against Gambit Gaming with a 2-0 map score, securing their place in the semi-finals of the tournament.
The first semi-finalist of DreamHack Masters: Las Vegas 2017 has been established, as the Danish North are able to overcome Gambit Gaming in two of three maps. The series saw a fast de_Nuke, followed by a significantly closer de_Inferno, where the Kazakh team was able to put up more of a fight against their opponents.
Below is a recap of the series, outlining performances on both maps:
North vs. 
Gambit Gaming
de_Nuke - (11:4, 5:7) 16:11, North win
The Kazakh team kicked off on the CT side of Nuke, where the team didn't seem too comfortable. Despite a decent attempt, Gambit fell to none other than René "cajunb" Borg, who had secured his team the first pistol round of the series with a triple kill. Following this early success North were able to extend their lead significantly prior to transferring onto the T side of the map. All in all the Danes were able to secure 11 rounds to Gambit's 4, closing the initial half at a strong lead. Having switched sides, Gambit seemed much more solid on the T side. The Kazakhs were able to secure five consecutive rounds, pistol round included, bringing the score to a fairly close 9:11. Further back and forth motion meant a swaying score line, up until North were at 15:11. In the 27th round all was looking well for Gambit, until in-game leader of North, Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen was able to clutch out in a 1v2 situation, closing out the map at a 16:11 score.
de_Inferno - (10:5, 6:1) 16:6
North set off to another strong start on de_Overpass' CT side. The team secured the third pistol round of the series, along with two subsequent rounds. The Danes didn't stop there, as the team sprinted ahead of the Kazakhs, stopping at a 6:0 score. At this point Gambit Gaming composed themselves and decided to initiate their comeback into the match. The team was able to land four consecutive rounds, closing the deficit gap from 6 to 2. Following these unpredictable performances both teams settled down going blow for blow until the the end of the half, switching sides on a 10:5 score favouring North. The latter half was a real battle for the Kazakhs, as they attempted to regain control of the game. Despite working with the increasing pressure of their opponents' match point, the CIS mix put in work and tried harder than ever. They were able to slowly grind out the rounds, getting closer to the crucial 15:15 stalemate with every round that went in their favour. North choke for the latter half of their T side, leading to overtime on de_Inferno. The overtime was not sole, as both teams were eager to advance further into the tournament. The initial overtime saw a stalemate at 18:18, where neither team seemed to be able to excel past a single round lead. The second one, however, saw North finally close out the match on the very last round, taking away the series at 22:20.
North are officially pronounced first semi-finalists of DreamHack Masters: Las Vegas 2017, whilst Gambit settle with a top eight placement in the tournament.
Image courtesy of DreamHack Flickr
