In one of the more unlikely outcomes of the year, The Imperial absolutely dominated the competition on their way to becoming champions of the DreamHack Open Summer 2018.
Rag-Tag group stuns
Formerly under the name MANS NOT HOT prior to their acquisition back on 4 March, this entire squad is essentially a rag-tag group of players who were either discarded by other teams or considered too inexperienced compared to other available stars.
Some of the more well-known players are nexa, who had a less than stellar time with the Australian side Renegades, tenzki, who is known for his time with the likes of Team Dignitas, and kRYSTAL, who had a three year stay with PENTA.
North fall early
The Imperial established themselves early in their best-of-one first game of the tournament, beginning Group A play against one of the tournament favourites, North. On Train the first half was a back and forth battle, with The Imperial narrowly edging out North on the CT (counter-terrorist) side 8-7. The second half remained close even after the teams had swapped sides, with The Imperial eventually winning 16-12, pulling away late with four of the final five rounds.
AGO Esports brushed aside
Next up for The Imperial were AGO Esports, who have been on the rise of late with fairly decent results. However, The Imperial completely dominated AGO on Mirage, largely based around a 12 round CT side. The best-of-one match quickly ended with AGO only finding just one round in the second half, enabling The Imperial to claim a 16-4 victory and top spot in Group A.
Gambit no match
In the best-of-three semifinals, The Imperial faced Gambit, another team alongside North who were looking to break through at this tournament and regain some confidence.
The first map of Cache was rather odd, with each team having an incredible CT half. The Imperial dropped just two rounds on their way to a stunning 13-2 advantage on a map considered advantageous to the T side, yet Gambit nearly ran the score all the way back, eventually going down 16-12, with the comeback falling just short. The Imperial’s EspiranTo had an absolutely absurd game, with an astounding 35 kills in the 28 rounds played.
The second and what would be the final map of Mirage was close throughout the first half, with The Imperial securing an 8-7 advantage. After the opening two rounds of the second half went Gambit’s way, The Imperial flipped a switch and refused to lose a single round thereafter, closing out the final eight rounds for a 16-9 victory and a place in the Finals against OpTic Gaming.
OpTic also blanked
OpTic were riding high entering these Finals, with both cajunb and k0nfig defeating their former team North during the semifinals.
However, the first map of Overpass, which was OpTic’s selection, saw The Imperial edge the first half before routing the second. After securing a 9-6 lead going into the break, The Imperial lost a single round before closing out the game at 16-7 in what suddenly had turned into a blowout.
Mirage was the second map, with yet another 8-7 half for The Imperial, but this time on their CT side. The second half was a tale of two streaks, with OpTic securing the first five rounds to push their lead to 12-8 before The Imperial claimed the final eight rounds in a row, giving them the perfect 6-0 sweep through the DreamHack Open Summer as they secured the championship.
Conclusion
While this was an impressive win for such an unknown squad, given how out of nowhere this side came, more solid results will be needed before they are seen as a legitimate contending team. That said The Imperial will be happy with their $50,000 first place prize and will be looking to build on this title.
