North overcome Windigo; to EU Minor playoffs

North came from behind in the series to beat Windigo and book their spot in the double-elimination playoffs at the Europe Minor.

The Group B decider match began with North getting off to a flying start as CTs on their opponents' map pick, Overpass. Despite winning their first round when they were down 0-5, Windigo did it with just Deagles, and followed that up with a triple-kill from Valentin "poizon" Vasilev in a successful 2v4 situation, which led them to eventually equalize the score.

Casper "cadiaN" Møller then called for a tactical pause, inspiring his men to keep their cool. The Danes looked sharp from that moment, stringing four rounds together to bag a 9-5 lead, but still could not stop the Bulgarians from winning the last round of the half.

Windigo started the second half well, winning their CT pistol, an anti-eco, and the first gun round as Viktor "v1c7oR" Dyankov denied Philip "aizy" Aistrup from clutching a 1v2 situation. The Bulgarian side would not let go off the gas and went on to take the lead in convincing fashion, 14-9.

North still responded with a three-round winning streak, but there was little they could do to stop Windigo, who saw poizon find two consecutive triple-kills with an AWP to close out the map for his team, 16-12, and top the scoreboard with 31 frags.

Next up was North's map pick, Inferno, where Windigo took control of proceedings after winning four rounds in a row on the CT side. cadiaN's men responded with a trio of rounds, but their opponents quickly got back to the driving seat, eventually bagging a 6-4 lead. However, North got back on the board with an ace and a great flank from Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye, storming to a 9-6 half-time lead from there on out.

North further added to their lead after winning a chaotic pistol on the back of a 1v2 clutch from aizy. Windigo still found a lifeline on the map with Georgi "SHiPZ" Grigorov pulling off a seemingly impossible 1v4 post-plant clutch, which they followed up with two more rounds, but Inferno was done and dusted as North steadily took the series to a third map, 16-9.

The decider, Dust2, kicked off with Kjaerbye winning the CT pistol for his team with a ninja defuse in a 1v1 against SHiPZ. Windigo could not win the next round despite buying up weapons, but still managed to secure the subsequent one with doubles from SHiPZ and Yanko "blocker" Panov.

The game entered a back-and-forth period as neither team could take full control of the map, with North eventually bagging a narrow 6-5 lead. blocker and SHiPZ then turned a 2v5 situation around, however, inspiring their team to go up 8-7 by half-time.

North strung four rounds together to start off the second half on the right foot, 11-8. SHiPZ responded with a triple-kill in a great flank to help his team win their ninth round, and, although Windigo lost the following round, the Bulgarians managed to break North's economy at 11-12.

Still, with nothing but pistols, North reached the 13-round mark, and, from that point, remained calm and collected to seal the deal with a 16-13 scoreline.