North beat mousesports; Vitality demolish Invictus in StarSeries openers

It took North three maps to beat MOUZ while Vitality had no issues closing out a quick two-mapper against Invictus to kick off StarSeries i-League Season 8.

North were quick to put pressure on MOUZ’ map pick, Mirage, winning the first five rounds on the CT side before the mixed European team were able to make a B strike work. Up 7-2, Nicklas "⁠gade⁠" Gade had a massive four-kill play under wood on the A site to keep widening North’s lead.mouz were able to get one more round on the board on another B strike, but that would be it for Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and company, who were unable to get another before the half, which ended 3-12.

A great read by MOUZ put four players on B as North tried to make their way to the site, eliminating all players. Up 13-7, gade had another big play as his team won the B site, this time getting the opening frag and then cutting rotations. Slowly but surely, MOUZ started to get a grip on the map, hitting double digits as the Danes were unable to scramble. Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye then won a 1vs2 clutch on A against Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool and Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker, and while MOUZ got an 11th on the board to stay alive, they were overwhelmed by pistols as they saw the comeback slip away, 11-16.

MOUZ denied a B plant on the first round of Nuke to get ahead early on. They were then able to take the first three rounds before an eco bash by Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong put a fourth on the scoreboard. Three kills by Jakob "⁠JUGi⁠" Hansen helped North tally their first, but just like the Danes had been in control on Mirage, it was now MOUZ’ turn to cruise by as they dominated the half to a 14-1 partial. North padded the scoreline in the second half, winning four more rounds, but MOUZ closed it out 16-5.

Train started off with MOUZ taking a crucial lead on the CT side. North won the fourth round, but were instantly traded. mouz then stopped a B strike to keep increasing their lead as the defending side. Kjaerbye then had a three-kill round includin a 1vs1 clutch to get the second for his team. North then went on to play a solid Terrorist half to bring it within one, 7-8.

Winning the second pistol round, the Danes put themselves in prime position to take the map. Down 8-11, MOUZ were finally able to win a round in the second half, but it was the North show as they went on to close the map out 16-9.

Vitality were first out of the gate on Nuke, taking the pistol round on the attacking side and following it up for a 2-0 lead. Invictus tied up once guns were in play, but were unable to take the lead, and that was as close as they would get to it in the half as the French team started to run away with it in dominating fashion, ending it 12-3. The second half was a washout as Vitality took the pistol round with three headshots by Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy to go on and win the last four rounds needed to close their map pick, 16-3.

Vitality kept up the pace on the second map, Mirage, going up 3-0. Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire was having a vintage Mirage performance starting out 8-2 as his team went up 6-0. Down 0-9 it looked like Invictus could perhaps win a round, but Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut denied them that pleasure with a 1vs2 clutch on A. Despite losing the previous clutch, Invictus did get a round of honor in the following, punishing Vitality, although that would be the extent of their highlights in a half which ended 1-14. Invictus managed to get two more, but their fates had already been sealed as Vitality closed it out 16-3.