Recap of Elisa Invitational Day 4 – Playoffs
The last day of Elisa Invitational ended with Dignitas qualifying for BLAST Premier Showdown Europe by beating North 2-0 and Heroic 2-1.
Dignitas-North (2-0)
Both teams had their veto normally, as North banned Train and Dignitas removed Mirage. Both picked their best maps, as North took Vertigo and Dignitas followed by picking Nuke. Dust2 would have been the deciding map, but it wasn’t needed.
Vertigo (Dignitas 16-13)
Both teams had a solid pistol round record coming to this match, as North had won 5/6 and Dignitas 4/6. Dignitas started on the CT-side and they won the pistol round and the following anti-eco easily. North bought guns and won three rounds to take the lead 3-2. Dignitas almost tied the game as they had 2v1 against Rene “cajunb” Borg, but the 30-year-old veteran clutched.
North managed to win one more to make it 5-2, before Dignitas locked the doors completely. During those eight rounds, North managed to plant the bomb only once. Half-time score was 10-5 to Dignitas.
All the pistol rounds of the match ended with CT side celebrations. North came back to 8-10, before Dignitas grabbed the momentum back and made it 14-8. North didn’t give up so easily though, as they came back to 12-14. B-site defence crumbled after that, as Håkon “hallzerk” Fjærli won the opening duel against Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye, cajunb lost his duel in the middle and Dignitas stormed the empty B-site.
Somehow North won 3v4 in the following round to cut the lead to 13-15 and keep the map alive. Once again in Vertigo, T-side half-buy was too much to handle for CT-side, when it mattered the most. Dignitas conquered A site with pistols and two rifles to close Vertigo 16-13.
Nuke (Dignitas 16-10)
North won CT-pistol and two following rounds to start with clean 3-0, as they needed to win opponent’s map pick to keep their hopes alive. Dignitas hit back with a win streak of five rounds, but then North found their rhythm. Dignitas tied it 6-6 with excellent effort by Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg and hallzerk, but North took the rest to make it 9-6 half-time score.
Dignitas had a stellar performance on their CT-side, as North couldn’t get anything going. Only one T-round for the Danish side, as Dignitas cruised to comfortable 16-10 victory. North managed to plant bomb only once during the ten rounds they lost. Clean and easy 2-0 for Dignitas.
Player highlight: hallzerk
Norwegian sniper hallzerk had only 11 AWP kills, but that’s just a sign of his versatility, as he still top-fragged both maps. After 55 rounds of fighting, he had 51 kills, 94.6 ADR and 1.37 Rating. Dignitas won entry duels 30-25, and hallzerk’s 12-8 entry duel record was a big part of that.
Heroic-Dignitas (1-2)
Dignitas removed Mirage like they always do. Heroic removed Vertigo, and Dignitas reacted by picking Train. Heroic picked Dust2 and Nuke was left over as the deciding map. There were four playoff matchups during Elisa Invitational, and only this match went the full distance, as a three-map thriller.
Train (Dignitas 16-8)
There isn’t much to say about the first half of Train. Heroic won first two rounds, but then Dignitas dominated massively and took the half 12-3. Heroic won only one gun round, as Dignitas teared their defence apart time and time again.
T-side pistol win kept Heroic alive, as they made it 6-12 before the first gun round. Dignitas won with guns, but Heroic won the next one, forcing Dignitas to half-buy next round. Danish team made it to 8-13, but then Dignitas solidified their defence. Three rounds in a row and Train ended 16-8 with a quick fashion.
Dust2 (Heroic 16-11)
Heroic had no chance in the first map, but Dust2 a completely different story. Dignitas started with a CT pistol win and went on to 3-0 lead. Then it was all Heroic, as they won eight out of nine following rounds, before Dignitas woke up to make it only 8-7 half-time lead for Heroic.
Dignitas won the second pistol too, but this time Heroic stole the second round with force-buy and destroyed Swedes’ economy. Dignitas had a couple of good T-side gun rounds – like Round 21 with Adam “friberg” Friberg opening up A long beautifully.
Dignitas came close – 11-12 – but then Heroic locked down B site with a Famas play by René “TeSeS” Madsen and A site with M4A4 play by Johannes “b0RUP” Borup, assisted by Martin “stavn” Lund‘s perfect flashbang. Heroic closed Dust2 16-11 to ensure the ninth and last Nuke of Elisa Invitational.
Nuke (Dignitas 16-11)
Similarly to Train, Dignitas had to start as terrorists. Knife round win didn’t seem to help Heroic though, as Dignitas smashed the first half 11-4. Heroic’s defence couldn’t even save weapons, as Dignitas won nine of their win rounds by eliminating the opposition completely. The tenth round definitely ended with the best clutch of the tournament.
It looked like f0rest was in a completely unwinnable 1v3 situation, but the 31-year-old legend showed Danish youngsters how it’s done.
Dignitas won CT-pistol without allowing bomb plant for Heroic, making it 12-4 and seemingly impossible task for Heroic to come back. Of course, Heroic won force buy when it mattered the most. Dignitas couldn’t make a stop, until they stole their 13th round win with pistols and friberg’s MAG-7.
Heroic didn’t lose their momentum though, as they sneaked in A hall and won the round with explosion, despite good retake attempt by Swedes. Once again, Dignitas had no money and Heroic narrowed the gap to 10-13.
Beautiful yard setup by hallzerk and Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund won Dignitas their 14th, but then Heroic struck back with a force buy. This time it was b0RUP who made the hero plays to surprise retakers completely.
That loss forced Dignitas to awful force-buy with three pistols, scout and the AK saved by friberg. You probably guessed it already, but that was everything they needed. Richard “Xizt” Landström and hallzerk started 2v3 retake with pistols in their hands. They found two guns, two kills and the defuse as Casper “cadiaN” Cadian couldn’t stop it.
This time Heroic couldn’t force their way to victory anymore and Dignitas closed the match 16-11. The second BLAST Premier Spring Series Showdown Europe spot goes to Dignitas, as ENCE took theirs the day before.
Player highlight: GeT_RiGhT
Even though hallzerk was the star of the deciding map with 27 kills, 105.4 ADR, 1.65 Rating and 5-1 entry duels – GeT_RiGhT wasn’t far off. He top-fragged the series with a consistent performance through all three maps. He was the best player in three categories: Kills (62), ADR (87) and Rating (1.31).
Honorable mention: f0rest had a very similar performance number-wise (59 kills, 81.2 ADR, 1.27 Rating). His 1v3 clutch might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for Heroic.
It’s over, for now
Elisa Invitational featured 21 maps – nine Nukes by the way – full of surprising results. ENCE proved their strength with the latest addition Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen. Dignitas showed everyone that they still got it.
Tournament is over, but our website won’t stay silent too long. Stay tuned and remember to follow our Twitter and Twitch.
Final standings
| Placement | Team | Blast Premier Spring Series European Showdown |
| 1-2 | ENCE | Qualified |
| 1-2 | Dignitas | Qualified |
| 3-4 | Apeks | |
| 3-4 | Heroic | |
| 5-6 | KOVA | |
| 5-6 | North | |
| 7-8 | GODSENT | |
| 7-8 | Nordavind |
